Diversity New Releases for toddlers through YA
You know I love bringing you diversity book reviews, right? Today I’m bringing you a list of new books that contain diversity and the best bit is, there’s one book for every age group: toddler through YA!
-
Beautiful by Stacy McAnulty Illustrated by Joanne Lew-Vriethoff
I love this book so HARD. You know how I love opening lines? The opening line here is simple: “Beautiful girls…”
And the graphic contains five girls of different colors doing what they do best, being themselves. What’s especially great is the back of the drawing, on the next page, shows the backsides of the girls: the girl wearing the tutu and sporting a fan also wears a pirate’s sword, which feels alot like yours truly. The rest of the book is full of beautiful girls in wheelchairs, camping, pirating, in a science lab, playing in water with frogs and other critters, and more! Girls activities reimagined. The last line: “Because they make the world..” Reminds me of the old Chinese saying that women hold up half the sky. Beautiful girls make the world?
Yes.
2. Kid Artists: True Tales of Childhood From Creative Legends by David Stabler, Illustrated by Doogie Horner
Quirk has done it again! Ever imagine what your favorite artist was like as a kid? Here it is. For example, did you know that the great artist Frida Kahlo (whom I love) suffered from polio as a child? And did you know that Pablo Picasso was labeled as a problem child? There’s also interesting very short readable bios about Leonardo da Vinci, Charles Schulz, Andy Warhol, and Jean-Michel Basquiat. Check it out!
3. The Last Cherry Blossom by Kathleen Burkinshaw
Based on a fictionalized account of her mother’s childhood during the bombing of Hiroshima it’s a tale of war through a 12 year old’s eyes.
Yuriko was happy growing up in Hiroshima when it was just her and Papa. But her aunt Kimiko and her cousin Genji are living with them now, and the family is only getting bigger with talk of a double marriage! And while things are changing at home, the world beyond their doors is even more unpredictable. World War II is coming to an end, and Japan’s fate is not entirely clear, with any battle losses being hidden fom its people. Yuriko is used to the sirens and the air-raid drills, but things start to feel more real when the neighbors who have left to fight stop coming home. When the bomb hits Hiroshima, it’s through Yuriko’s twelve-year-old eyes that we witness the devastation and horror.
Right? If you think you’ve read all the WWII books there are, you haven’t read this. Teachers, I think this title could be added to your collection, right next to Anne Frank.
So you know what else I just noticed? All these books are about kids who are BEAUTIFUL and DIVERSE. Have you read any of these titles?
Diversity Reading Challenge additions galore today!