Blogging A to Z: Openness

Openness can mean a lot of different things, but for today’s post we’re talking about diversity. And the importance of creating a purposeful home library full of books that open your child’s world beyond their lived experiences. On a very basic level, that shouldn’t be too difficult. Because small children haven’t had a lot of life experience yet, right? But, studies show more and more that we can not choose to teach our children to be color blind. Rather, we want to encourage kids to understand and celebrate differences. Studies have shown that infants as young as 3 months “prefer faces from certain racial groups”. Which means if you’re waiting until elementary school or older to talk to your kids about bias and discrimination, it’s already too late.

But this has to expand beyond just skin color. Diversity should also include culture, religion, ability, socioeconomic class, and so much more. Telling your child not to stare at someone in a wheelchair, may lead them to think of disability as something that is shameful. Rather, have a conversation with your child. It can be as simple as, “This person has trouble walking and uses a wheelchair to help them move around.”

Diverse Books

Having books that share experiences that your child may not be familiar with can be a really wonderful way to open the conversation about how people are different. What I love more and more is that there are amazing books that celebrate diversity and their are others that incorporate it so seamlessly into the story and it’s wonderful to have both options.

A great suggestion for all that extra time you have on your hands, is to do a diversity audit of your book collection at home. Take a quick glance – do you have BIPOC authors and illustrators on your shelf? What about characters that celebrate different holidays that your child? Over a quarter of the picture books published in 2018 had animals as the main characters and not people. That’s cute, but that also means there are fewer books with diverse humans published.

Don’t Forget the Library

Again, if you don’t have a situation where a HUGE home library is an option, use your public library! In our library, we try and highlight all different sorts of celebrations and diversity even just in our displays. Now is the perfect time to borrow a couple of titles about Ramadan right now! I could probably talk about the importance of diversity on your bookshelf for many, many more paragraphs, instead here are just 12 beautiful titles that celebrate diversity!

Today’s books are all focused on diversity. But as I’m sure you’ve already noticed, diversity is not just something that is discussed as part of one letter of the alphabet. I’ve included diverse books in all the previous 14 book lists and will continue to do so for the rest of the lists this month.

Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links, meaning at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.

Book List #15 – Openness

1. Alma and How She Got Her Name by Juana Martinez-Neal
   Alma’s name is really, really long, but when she learns about each part and where it came from she is proud of it!
2. Drawn Together by Minh Lê, illustrated by Dan Santat
   A young boy and his grandfather don’t speak the same language, but learn to communciate through drawing together.
3. Eyes That Kiss in the Corners by Joanna Ho, illustrated by Dung Ho
   This is my new favorite picture book with gorgeous text and equally gorgeous illustrations!
4. Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story by Kevin Noble Maillard, illustrated by Juana Martinez-Neal
   A modern Native American family shares fry bread and their own history.
5. G My Name Is Girl: A Song of Celebration from Argentina to Zambia by Dawn Masi
   Celebrate girls from around the world with this alphabet book.
6. Hair Love by Matthew A. Cherry, illustrated by Vashti Harrison
   A little girl wants to have a beautiful hairstyle for her mom, so she enlists the help of her dad.
7. I Am Every Good Thing by Derrick Barnes, illustrated by Gordon C. James
   An ode to Black boys everywhere – this is a powerful message!
8. Jabari Tries by Gaia Cornwall
   A sequel to Jabari Jumps, Jabari is building something in the backyard which requires patience, determination, and a little extra help!
9. Julián Is a Mermaid by Jessica Love
   A story of self-love, Julián dresses up like the mermaid ladies he sees on the subway one day!
10. Just Ask!: Be Different, Be Brave, Be You by Sonia Sotomayor, illustrated by Rafael López
    Celebrate all the ways that make you different in this story written by Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor.
11. The Proudest Blue: A Story of Hijab and Family by Ibtihaj Muhammad and S. K. Ali, illustrated by Hatem Aly
    A young girl is excited about the first day of school, especially because it’s her sister’s first day wearing a beautiful blue hijab.
12. Your Name Is a Song by Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow
    When a young girl is upset after school because her teacher can’t pronounce her name, her mom teaches her that her name is a song and that she can help her teacher learn her name too.

If you’re interested in purchasing any of the titles on this list, please use my affiliate link for Bookshop.org. When you purchase from this link, I will earn a commission as an affiliate.

For the month of April, I’ll be sharing early literacy tips and book lists as part of the Blogging A to Z Challenge. Learn about the importance of early literacy and ways to incorporate tips and tricks into your family’s daily routine. Developing language skills before kids head to school helps them to be ready to learn when they reach school-age. In addition to great content, you’ll also get a new book list for each letter, resulting in over 300 board book and picture book suggestions for your family to enjoy!