Culturally responsive books for our students for the win!
Wow, what a weekend!
Without a doubt, the Educators2Educators Teacher Summer Reboot 2020 conference was amazing! There were 70+ sessions of teachers sharing their expertise on a plethora of relevant and “right now” topics. Consequently, this was my third time presenting via the Educators2Educators teacher conferences. From my heart, it truly means so much to be able to share my thoughts with fellow educators and to be able to learn from so many gifted educators. Graciously, I appreciate each of you that took the time to watch my presentation so much.
My session was Diversity in Children’s Literature: Why We Need It! I loved speaking on this topic! First, it is so important that our students see reflections of themselves in their environment and in literature. Equally as important, is that they are able to see others that do not look, think, believe, or act just as they do. In addition, differences can show us different outlooks on the world, increase our knowledge base, teach us more about ourselves, and challenge our beliefs in a healthy way. Unequivocally, choosing culturally responsive books is a beautiful way to do this for our students.
Literature is a great way to share the beauty that our similarities and differences offer. Even more beautiful, is the fact that presenting these lessons through children’s books can be safe, non-threatening, accessible, and very easy to implement. Specifically, being purposeful in choosing culturally responsive books for our personal and classroom libraries will help to make such a big difference for our students.
Culturally Responsive Books From My Session
Several of you asked for a list of the culturally responsive books that I shared during my presentation. In response, I have created the list for you showing the text, as well as, the images of the covers to help you identify the ones that you would like to purchase for your own library quickly. Hopefully, you will find new texts to help take your lessons and classroom environment to the next level!
Please note that I am using my Amazon Affiliate links within this post.
- Hair Love by Matthew Cherry
2. Salam Alaikum: A Message of Peace by Harris J
3. This Little Trailblazer, A Girl Power Primer by Joan Holub
4. Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History by Vashti Harrison
5. The Gold Cadillac by Mildred Taylor
Don’t forget to pre-read each book before sharing it with students
6. Celia Cruz, Queen of Salsa by Veronica Chambers
7. Blackout by John Rocco
8. She Persisted: 13 American Women That Changed the World by Chelsea Clinton
9. She Persisted Around the World: 13 Women Who Changed History by Chelsea Clinton
10. Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African Americans by Kadir Nelson
**You know how much I LOVE Kadir Nelson! : )
11. Brave by Stacy McAnulty
12. Beautiful by Stacy McAnulty
I truly hope that you and your students/children love these books as much as my students and I have loved them! Most importantly, being intentional about what books and poems we choose to share with our students is oh so crucial. Now, just think of all of the power, pride, sense of self, and self-confidence you give to a child by showing them themselves and others in beautiful and powerful ways. Keeping this in mind, we can change the trajectory of our sweet children’s minds and all of our future!
Additional Books That You Might Love
In addition, I have two other blog posts that you might enjoy reading. Other books that I love are featured in these posts. Specifically, One post shares a list of books that would be great for building a home or class library. Then, the other post that I wrote was about encouraging African American boys to read more. Even more so, I hope that you enjoy reading these posts as much as I enjoyed writing them!
Thank you for adding more culturally responsive books to your home and school libraries! Without a doubt, your students will benefit from it so greatly.
