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Books about kids of color that aren't about their colorSubmitted by Emile on Wed, 04/18/2007 - 7:51pm.
This post is inspired by Mamaneen's blog about trying to find a growth chart for her daughter and the responses about books. For a while now I've been thinking that I'd like to ask you all for recommendations of picture books featuring kids of color, in which "difference" is not the theme of the book. I don't have in mind anything along the lines of biographies of famous people of color, or books that celebrate differences-- these are important and valuable, but what I really want to find for my (milky white) children is picture books in which the fact that the kids don't look exactly them is not even important enough to mention. I want to help them to understand that white isn't the default. Oh, and books about a bunch of children, where maybe one out of ten is black, don't count either. on mother's lap- ann herbert scott (notice a trend? good times with baby induced sib rivalry around here...) hmmm, we've had a bunch more out from our library this week, i'll have to go check... She makes BEAUTIFUL kids' picture books with a variety of people represented. Only other thing off the top of my head is "Lulu's birthday" by Elizabeth Fitzgerald Howard. Great idea, btw. thanks. "A chicken does NOT need a jet!" ~Danger Boy, for no apparent reason i don't know why it's never occurred to me to share this link before! the author is a friend of my parents and every encounter i've had with her has been captivating and interesting. every book she's written that i've read, i've really enjoyed! i hope you all do too! "We coffee drinkers in the developed countries can pay $2 or more for a premium cup of coffee. But many small farmers in the underdeveloped world are lucky to live on $2 a day." -SoJoBlend:Brewing Up Justice My daughter loves animals and i read this every day about 50 million times, ok, maybe only 8.... Youpala, Queen of the Jungle/Anthea Bell ""Youpala is a little girl who asks questions-a mischievous but loved member of her African village community. As she sits alone at the edge of the forest at sunset, she dreams of being "Queen of the Jungle". One evening, her dream takes her into the jungle, where she meets a series of improbable animals:a lion that climbs trees, a crocodile that knits, and a giraffe that drinks tea out of a cup and saucer. What happens next makes all of Youpala's dreams come true."" It's such a sweet, fun book and perfect for the age of your kids. by Vera Williams. There are a few families and one is a white grandma taking care of a brown baby, there's also a dorky-looking daddy in jogging shorts. One Mama at the end of the book puts her baby to sleep on a couch she turns into a bed. It is a simple book but it to me reflects warmth in families. Plus it is all about physically playing with your child and kissing them and I am the MOST kissy Mama ever (and oddly non-touch with anyone else besides husband). I believe Williams also authored the story A Chair For My Mother which I really loved and has a hispanic family in an apartment building and deals with neighbors, community, multi-family living, and a working Mama - again, a simple warm story though. "When you're so high you're dropping your stash, well, you're too high." The dad in flip flops always kills me, and little bird is so sweet. and you can listen to the stories read by him on his website as well and see if you want to purchase them. My son is 3 and he likes many of the stories but some are too old for him. The stories are all crazy things happening to kids, like pigs taking over the school, mud puddles attacking them or finding a baby in their sandbox. His books: My son really likes Up, Up, Down and Angela's Airplane. In Up, Up, Down the family is biracial if anyone is looking for stories with biracial families. He is such an awesome kids writer and does stories with all colors of kids, handicapped kids and adopted kids too. it's an old story about a teddy bear who tries to find the button on his overalls and a little girl named Lisa takes him home. has two (girlpie and buzz be boy(?) that feature black kids and aren't about being black. Girlpie is about a girl who is loved by her parents, sometimes makes mistakes and is forgiven and who feels safe and loved, the boy book is about being a boy, rowdy, sweet, smart and funny. I love both, my son loves girlpie. We are white (got a damali ayo reminder yesterday to state my race in discussions as it may matter and it shouldn't be assumed that no stated race = white or that if I am participating in the discussion that I am not white. Anyhow...) And she has another book called something like happy to be nappy (really) that is about "girls and hair and fun and stories" that our library doesn't carry. but we have the book about girlpie, and it's called _homemade love_ on the cover. there's also _skin again_ which i haven't read yet, but keep meaning to get a copy of for dd . . . bell hooks rocks!
dd loves The Goggles but the snowy day by ezra jack keats features a little brown boy, and says nothing about his color. it's meant for toddlers though. then there's "courtney's birthday party" by loretta long (susan on sesame street) which is about a white girl having a party, and her black friend couldn't come because her mother wasn't comfortable with it. so, that kind of is about color.... (ms long herself came to dd's school and read it to the kids, and autographed a copy for her) i'm sure there are more if i think about it.... how old a child is this for? p.s. i LOVED why mosquitos buzz in people's ears. p.p.s. the story of Ping takes place in china. i loved that one too. Oh, yes, Ezra Jack Keats is great. His books were around when I was a kid, but I don't think it would have occurred to my parents in a million years to read books about black boys to their white daughters. I wish they had. Thanks for the suggestions. I'll get the ball rolling with a couple of our favorites: Rain Talk by Mary Serfozo. This is a lovely picture book, without much story, just about a girl enjoying the rain. The text is lyrical , with lots of onomatopoia (sp?) in the descriptions of the noises the rain makes. I never get tired of reading this one aloud. Chugga Chugga Choo Choo by Keven Lewis. A great book for train-obsessed toddlers. A toy train travels through a boy's bedroom (he happens to be black, but it's hardly the point of the story because he only appears in the last picture). Some of the toys in his room, a couple action figure, and a fairy princess doll are also black. I include the links just in case you want to see the books, not because I expect you all to rush over to Amazon to buy them. If anyone wants to tell me how to make a neat little one word link, please do! |
"The Hello Goodbye Window", "Everywhere Babies" but that is more for babies, and one I think called "The Adventures of Sparrow Boy" or something like that.