Teaching Cultural Compassion
Pride Month
The more you talk to me about kids books, the more you will hear me reiterate again and again that educational books aren’t nearly as moving as the stories of experience. Books that normalize “non-traditional” experiences of children are the best way to help all kids understand that there is no one way to be in the world. So, in that spirit, I want to offer these books, sharing stories of kids with LGBTQ+ experiences, either themselves or their households. This in no way is a full list, just some of my current favorites:
Kaylani Juanita gave her beautiful illustrations to When Aidan Became a Brother, a story by Kyle Lukoff about gender and the stress and pressure that societal norms put on our kids. By focusing on the birth of a new child, Lukoff is able to point out just how much our society emphasizes binary gender and its stereotypes.
You may know Karamo Brown's name from his TV fame, but he has recently blessed us with I am Perfectly Designed. He joined his gender non-conforming child to write this reminder that we are all wonderful just the way they are!
An instant classic, Harriet gets Carried Away is the story of a girl who loses herself in a fantasy world of costumes--worrying her dads. Luckily, you can find out what happens by watching the author read the story herself!
Though it's now over 10 years old, this book continues to withstand the test of time. Focusing on the love this same sex couple has for their children, make sure you have tissues ready when reading Patricia Polacco's In Our Mothers' House for the first time.
If you do want a Pride Month history lesson, I do suggest Stonewall and Pride: The Story of Harvey Milk and the Rainbow Flag by Rob Sanders, Rainbow: A First Book of Pride by Michael Genhart, PhD, and On this Day in June (and several other wonderful LGBTQ+ history books by Gayle E Pitman)!
May is Asian-Pacific Island Heritage Month
For this special month, I thought I would offer up some of my favorite #OwnVoices books!
First, if you haven't read Amy Wu and the Perfect Bao by Kat Zhang, you're missing out. Luckily, she has read it for all of us via youtube!! When Amy wants to participate in one of her favorite traditions, she, in a Goldilocks kind of way, can't figure out how to make the tradition fit her. (Click the link above to see how she solves her problem! ) I also recommend Jama Kim Rattigan's Dumpling Soup. A similar story to Amy Wu, a little girl in Hawaii learns of her Asian-Hawaiian heritage through generational food traditions. The author also has a lot of wonderful suggestions for foods you can make and activities you can do to augment the experience of this book!!
If you like hearing from authors, Meera Sriram, author of The Yellow Suitcase (and some books on the way) discusses The Yellow Suitcase and her creative process on Youtube here! The Yellow Suitcase is the story of a girl, living in two worlds, and a new experience of grief. A beautiful but not overly sad book about losing someone you love.
Recently, His Holiness the Dalai Lama published his first picture book!! It begins with his own story and leads into some of the teaching that has been the most important to him. Seeds of Compassion (see picture at right) is a great story full of personal experience and life lessons--as well as great illustrations by Bao Luu!
I hope these books help you get through this unprecedented time,
Tura
