Teaching Cultural Compassion

Teaching Cultural Compassion is Growing!

After some silence in the last month, you finally get to see the latest efforts... *drumroll*
You can now subscribe to Teaching Cultural Compassion via Patreon!  With different levels of support, you can give with no extras in return, get more book recommendations each month, or even receive a story time guide to help create conversation with kids while reading together!  It is ready and launched and you can see the details of how to subscribe by clicking this link!  (There are even pictures to walk you through, if it's your first experience of Patreon!)

On the subject of growing, I've picked four books to feature -- with more via Patreon if you subscribe!

I'm Growing Great by Mechal Renee Roe is a great reminder, especially to Black girls, that it's ok to still be growing.  One can be strong and smart and compassionate already, and still be "growing great!"

The Tree in Me by Corinna Luyken reminds us that much like trees, humans are strong and connected and always growing. 

The Wall and the Wild by Christina Dendy and Katie Rewse is a great reminder that we are not only the things we want to plant... but a much more complex and even more beautiful garden of life!

And for our littlest ones, I highly recommend Maple by Lori Nichols which comes in board book form.  It is the story of a little girl, and the tree planted for her when she was born.  (And watch for I'm Growing Great's board book release this winter!

Reminder that  a small commission for books purchased through TCC's bookshop.org list links go toward furthering the work of Teaching Cultural Compassion.

National Library Week!

I grew up loving my local library.  I was even a junior librarian, helping make sure everything looked good and learning the Dewey Decimal System!  I have loved books my whole life.  I see a reflection of myself in these books about libraries, and I hope you will, too.  (I've described my favorites below, but in the Bookshop.org links, you'll see there are many more!)

There are two beautiful books that have been released in the last couple of years that show the library as a second (or maybe first) home.  A Library by Nikki Giovanni and Erin K Robinson  and Dear Librarian by Lydia M. Sigwarth and Romina Galotta  both feature girls who see their local library as a place of solace and a place to be themselves.

Stacey's Remarkable Books by Stacey Abrams and Kitt Thomas  and Nour's Secret Library by Wafa' Tarnowska and Vali Mintzi are both about girls who start book clubs... very different book clubs.  However, in peacetime or war, kids who gather other kids around books find escape and belonging in the same place.

And what happens when your library disappears?  Does the town still need one?  In Nia and the New Free Library, Ian Lendler and Mark Pett show us a new version of the legend of Stone Soup and the building of a new library.

I would love for you to buy these books to have them for the future, but I would also like to remind you of WorldCat.  WorldCat.org is a largely inclusive catalog of public (and some private) libraries!  If you go to the Book Search page, you'll notice that there's a little blue library logo to the left of each title.  That link will take you to WorldCat where you can enter your zip code and find the nearest library with that title!  And remember, be kind and appreciative of your librarians.

Reminder that  a small commission for books purchased through TCC's bookshop.org list links go toward furthering the work of Teaching Cultural Compassion.

International Day of Human Space Flight!

I was not aware until this week that April 12 is the United Nations' International Day of Human Space Flight.  But now that I know, I want to help all of you celebrate with biographies and training books and fun stories about humans and our relationship to space.

Most people who have heard of Nichelle Nichols know about her time acting on Star Trek, but fewer know that she was also heavily involved in diversity recruitment at NASA.  To Boldly Go by Angela Dalton and Lauren Semmer tells her story, from her youth performances, her groundbreaking performances on Star Trek, and through her work with NASA.  One of the astronauts encouraged by Nichelle was Mae Jemison.  Mae Among the Stars  by Roda Ahmed and Stasia Burrington is an imagining of her early life. 

She Stitched the Stars by Jennifer Harris and Louise Pigott is the biography of a woman named Ellen Harding Baker.  In the late 1800s, women were not encouraged (or sometimes even allowed) to study science, but that didn't stop Ellen from studying the stars!  Because she wasn't allowed to express her knowledge in a "masculine" way in academia, she chose to embroider the solar system on a quilt.

If you already know you want to go to space someday, you'll need some guidance.  Check out Go for Liftoff  by Dr. Dave Williams and Loredana Cunti, with fun photos and some encouraging illustrations by Theo Krynauw.

Counting on Katherine  by Helaine Becker and Dow Phumiruk and Counting the Stars by Lesa Cline-Ransome and Raúl Colón are two retellings of the now-much-more-famous story of Katherine Johnson, the female, Black, NASA "calculator" who saved the Apollo 13 mission!

And two of my favorites that might aid in pretending while space camp is still far away are Astronaut Training by Aneta Cruz and Olivia Aserr and Love, Sophia on the Moon by Anica Mrose Rissi and Mika Song.

Hope this reading helps you blast off!!

Reminder that  a small commission for books purchased through TCC's bookshop.org list links go toward furthering the work of Teaching Cultural Compassion.

National Craft Month

If you didn't know it, March has also been National Craft Month--don't worry, there's still time to add some crafting to your life--you can implement that at any time!  For inspiration, here area few of my favorite books about crafting and crafters:

As an avid knitter myself, I have to start with two great books about knitting and intergenerational love.  A Hat for Mrs. Goldman: A Story about Knitting and Love by Michelle Edwards and  G. Brian Karas is a story of two neighbors, young Sophia who thinks knitting is hard and Mrs. Goldman who knits for everyone she knows.  Sophia learns about taking care of others from her older neighbor... and knows just what to do when Mrs. Goldman gives her own hat away.  Nana in the City by Lauren Castillo tells the story of a loving grandmother who lives in the city, the grandkid who is wary of the city, and the knitted cape that gives them the bravery to explore together!

Crafting can also be part of one's heritage and tell a family story, the next two recommendations include family quilts and family visits to school.  In both The Arabic Quilt: An Immigrant Story by Aya Khalil and  Anait Semirdzhyan and Nana Akua Goes to School by Tricia Elam Walker and April Harrison, kids are able to teach their classmates about their heritage through the beauty of  their family's quilts.

Crafting doesn't just have to be knitting, crocheting, quilting, etc, but envelops many forms of creative expression.  The last two recommendations are less traditional crafting stories.  Ari Arranges Everything by Katie Vernon is about a kid who loves to arrange things (and animals and even people!) to create a different vision.  Unbound by Joyce Scott (Judith's sister), Brie Spangler, and Melissa Sweet tells the true story of mixed media artist Judith Scott who was born deaf and with Down Syndrome, and didn't let that stop her from creating inspired art!  You can see a little more detail about her art here.

There are a few more titles I couldn't leave out on the list at bookshop.org, check them out, too.  March may be almost over, but let your creative juices flow and find a craft to try!

Reminder that  a small commission for books purchased through TCC's bookshop.org list links go toward furthering the work of Teaching Cultural Compassion.