23 Books to read (and gift) in 2023

For the littlest ones (babies/toddlers!): 

1. How We Eat by Shuli de la Fuente-Lau - we love food in our families (and together as a duo)! This book nails it for us for the content and especially for the inclusion, the real photos of sweet kiddos and their diverse families enjoying food in so many ways. This one is fantastic for the baby who is enjoying looking at faces AND will be fun and has tons of content to talk about together for years to come. (The 4 year old has this book memorized and went through a phase where he read it almost every day before bed!)

2. Dog’s First Baby/ Cat’s First Baby by Natalie Nelson - We were gifted these last holiday season and I love them. POC mamas, cute brown little babies, simple images, simple text that delivers and adorable message. Refreshing from what has been out in the board book market and a great gift for the families you know with pets! 

3. Mama Loves You So by Terry Pierce - board books that nail tempo, loving messages, and provide enjoyment for adults too are gold standard. This one always hits right with me when I read it to my little. It’s not too long and it also lands in POC single mama rep if you are looking for that, too! 

4. A Beautiful House for Birds by Grace Lin - a board book that includes Math/STEM AND has a fun/relatable story? Clearly, only Grace Lin could pull this off. The Math tie is about patterns and problem solving, so very age appropriate.

Picture books (these works as gifts for really any age):

5. Let’s Do Everything and Nothing by Julia Kuo - got this for two of my single mama by choice friends and they both loved it. It is my current favorite single mama rep <3, so important.

6. The Surprise by Zadie Smith and Nick Laird. Disclaimer-- I love Zadie Smith. This picture book she created with her husband (illustrator) is weird and an acquired taste (a hamster who loves martial arts), but hey, I am weird and I enjoyed how it was different from the slew of picture books I typically see/read. 

7. My Name by Supriya Kelkar - Nina has already recommended this one as it is just that great of a book! Beautiful, relatable, and engaging for readers of all ages, especially those who have felt marginalized in the past.

8. I’m From by Gary Gray Jr and illustrated by Oge Mora - another one that was on Nina’s back to school new books list for good reason! Gorgeous illustrations and message. Really would be a wonderful gift for anyone you know! 

9. The Great Banned Books Bake Sale by Aya Khalil - the last one that was on Nina’s back to school new books list for obvious reasons. We are huge Aya Khalil fans and have loved and used all of her books. This one is sadly more and more relevant to kids today and also a good reminder that we have agency and can always speak up and take action.

Early Reader:

10. I have been revisiting Kate DiCamillo books especially the Deckawoo drive crew (My personal favorite is Eugenia Lincoln and the Unexpected Package with close runner up being, Where are you going, Baby Lincoln?  and The Magician’s Elephant, Edward Tulane etc. Raymie and Louisa and all her books from each girls’ perspectives are also so beautifully written. Kate really pokes at the push and pull of connectedness and loneliness as part of the human experience and I love her for that (and for our kiddos). If you haven’t done a Kate DiCamillo deep dive, I highly recommend it. If you don’t believe me, you can read Ann Patchett’s essay from her new essay collection, These are the days and find the one entitled “Reading Kate DiCamillo”. She’ll convince you! 

11. Heartwood Hotel by Kallie George- this is a series so maybe cheating to only count it as one book! But it’s such a sweet story and achieves the unicorn status of excellent writing maintained through the series while still being an early reader level. Highly recommend, great for reading aloud too.

Middle Grade:

12. Frizzy by Claribel A. Ortega - this graphic novel was highly recommended to me by a 5th grader so can’t really argue with that. I love the representation and the message about learning to love your hair.

13. Duel by Jessixa Bagley - yes, another graphic novel, but I couldn’t help myself as this one is just so great - brown sisters who fence? Say no more.

14. The Lost Library by Rebecca Stead and Wendy Mass - this book almost seems too good to be true as we are both huge Rebecca Stead fans and she is teaming up with Wendy Mass? With a ghost, cat, and library? So much to love.

Young Adult:

15. Imposter Syndrome and Other Confessions of Alejandra Kim by Patricia Park - this one also came highly recommended and has so much going for it! It’s a perfect book for high schoolers and as private school teachers we are always here for stories about students who feel alienated by their school settings. This book tackles hard topics with a beautiful tone and story.

16.  We Are All So Good at Smiling by Amber McBride - magical realism, fantasy, mental health, poetry and more (extra gorgeous cover) all in one book! 

17. Where You See Yourself by Claire Forrest - coming of age, romance, and disability representation - please gift this book to anyone in your life who is thinking about next steps after high school.

Adults:

18. Women Without Shame: Poems by Sandra Cisneros - beautiful poems by the one and only Sandra Cisneros. 

19. These Precious Days: Essays by Ann Patchett - beautiful essays by Ann Patchett. Please gift to an unexpected friend! Essays and poems are great gifts for people who don’t have a lot of time to read as they can be enjoyed in tiny bursts. 

20. Tomorrow, Tomorrow, Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin (at least so far!) is a super fun read and perhaps worth the buzz!? (Goodreads choice award 2023 and so many more awards.) Give it to anyone who loves reading! 

Grandparents (we love you, but find you hard to shop for - we can only give you so many photo themed gifts!):

21. Drawn Together by Minh Lê is such a beautiful book on so many levels. We have recommended it to everyone we know and think it would be such a beautiful gift for anyone, but especially a beloved grandparent.

22. A Grand Day by Jean Reidy is another gorgeous picture book that celebrates grandparents (and all kinds of families) in the loveliest way. 

23. Global Baby Grandparents by Maya Ajmera - if you don’t know the Global Babies series, run to the bookstore and discover it! Who doesn’t love photos of babies? Add loving grandparents to the mix, and it gets even cuter. Both of my (Nina’s) babies loved these books as the photos of babies/people really intrigue them.

Happy reading and gift giving!

Banned Books Week 2023

Banned Books Week is next week (October 1-7, 2023). As you can see from the infographic above, censorship continues to increase. I read about new books being banned or challenged almost everyday. Often they are books I love and have used in my classroom. Apart from supporting and celebrating librarians and libraries (as we advocated in our Banned Books Week 2022 post!), it’s hard to know what to do. Penguin Random House shares some resources and ideas for activism and advocacy here. For Banned Books Week in schools, we have some ideas below as well.

Attend this free webinar from the Illinois Library Association on October 2nd to learn about their important work and what you can do.

Request a Free RIGHT TO READ KIT from Rally for the Right to Read.

Participate in Let Freedom Read Day. This year is the first time Banned Books Week has included a day of action.

Read banned books with your students (if you are in a position to do so). Two books that would be a great place to start are and related author interviews are:

The Banned-Books Bake Sale | Author | Aya Khalil 

Interview with ARABIC QUILT author Aya Khalil - Storytime Solidarity

A Library by Nikki Giovanni 

Nikki Giovanni is against banning any book - The Washington Post

More ideas here: Books about Banning Books - ALSC

If you are in the classroom or in a school, you can talk to kids about Banned Books Week and take action. Start by asking students what they know about banning books or banned books. You can also introduce the vocabulary word censorship. Once they’ve shared what they know, I like to give students a real life example and then we come up with a definition together. 

For elementary school students, the best way to make banning books tangible is to show them books you have already read as a class that are banned in certain places. You can show students this image of some banned books in York, PA or this site with pictures of banned books and ask if there are any books they recognize. Penguin Random House also has a site with resources and banned books. For younger students, it would be helpful to have physical copies of banned books (if you are able/allowed to do so!)

Some books we love and recommend that have been banned are:

• Papa, Daddy, and Riley by Seamus Kirst

• Thank You, Omu! by Oge Mora

• Bilal Cooks Daal by Aisha Saeed

• Those Shoes by Maribeth Boelts

This interview with Seamus Kirst about Papa, Daddy, and Riley being banned would work for students (until 0:51) Syracuse author speaks out about book banning | WRVO Public Media.

However you choose to introduce the concept and books to students, make sure you ask questions and let them ask questions afterward. I would start with:

What do you notice about the books that have been banned? 

Why might someone want to ban these books? 

Another potential question for older students could be: Is it ever okay to ban a book? Why or why not? If it is, when?

You can also show students the images above. The Native- Authored books graphic is from the invaluable Debbie Reese, more details here, and I took the 2018 Diversity in Children’s Books infographic from Dr. Sarah Park Dahlen’s blog and the updated 2021 version from this tweet. Students may need help reading the fine print on the 2021 graphic that says only 2% of children’s books feature Indigenous characters. So there are proportionally very few books with Indigenous characters AND many of those books are being banned. You can ask students the same questions above, or simply ask them what they notice and wonder. If applicable, you could also share how it feels to see yourself in a book and why that is important to you (for example, I LOVE daal, and having it so lovingly depicted in Bilal Cooks Daal is incredibly validating after a childhood “explaining” Indian food to non-South Asians).
Show them these posters as an example of students taking action against book bans: “Free Our Books” Say Fourth Graders After Studying Representation and Book Bans and ask students what they want to do to take action themselves. They might want to write letters, make posters, make videos, make a podcast, have a protest, or something else!

Disability Pride Month

July is Disability Pride Month in recognition of the fact that the Americans with Disabilities Act was passed on July 26th, 1990. I missed the opportunity to write about Disability Pride Month last month, but saw this event: Centering Disabilities in the Classroom and felt inspired so figured a week late isn’t too bad. Also, with classroom set up and back to school looming, I know I appreciate reminders about setting up my classroom in the most accessible way possible and thinking about all the different voices and perspectives I want to showcase.

I share some resources and ideas below, but really, this event on Wednesday, August 16th from Lee & Low Books with Patty Cisneros Prevo (author of Tenacious: Fifteen Adventures Alongside Disabled Athletes as pictured above) looks fabulous and valuable on many fronts. 

As Emily Ladau says, “language is one of the most important signals that we have to demonstrate our acceptance or rejection of a person’s identity.” This quote is a great place to start with students as you work to examine your language, how your class wants to choose their words wisely and thoughtfully, and language practices in your classroom/school/community.

This exhibit Disability Rights from the National Museum of American History is also a wonderful resource and would work for artifact or analysis work.

I’ve used All the Way to the Top: How One Girl’s Fight for Americans with Disabilities Changed Everything by Annette Bay Pimentel with students, but with caveats. This Book Review from Social Justice Books does a great job summarizing my concerns. I feel like so many children’s books minimize movements and decades (or more) of work to one person or one action when this is not how organizing and change making works. It feels like we are setting kids up to believe that there will be a dramatic moment that will change everything instead of recognizing the reality of activism and incremental change. 

Here are two disability rights timelines to help with background about the disability rights movement:

Disability Rights Timeline | Temple University College of Education and Human Development, Institute on Disabilities

DISABILITY RIGHTS HISTORY TIMELINE

When working with timelines and students, I really recommend putting the time into perspective by thinking about when you were born or when students family members’ might have been born (this happened when your grandparents were kids, etc), of course being sensitive to the fact that not everyone’s grown ups are the same age. 

This New York Times article pairs the moments featured with photographs, which is always a plus:  ‘Nothing About Us Without Us’: 16 Moments in the Fight for Disability Rights

As I shared in our Disability Awareness Month post from last year, always remember that representation matters. I remember when, “We invited a brilliant storyteller to our school to introduce our storytelling unit: Anne Thomas. She happened to use a wheelchair and it featured in her story. She also talked to the students about how strangers sometimes perceived her and then treated her as voiceless and only saw her wheelchair. Our students made connections to the stories she shared for months afterward. Children understand what it is like to be denied a voice or only seen a certain way. Anne visited us as an expert storyteller, not as someone with a disability to “teach” us about what it is like and we intentionally framed her visit this way. She shared an anecdote about how at restaurants, wait staff often ask someone else what she would like to eat or ignore her. It’s as if the wheelchair is all people see about her, to the point that they do not register when she is speaking. One aspect of her visit that was challenging was that our school is not wheelchair accessible. We talked to students openly about this and had to make alternate arrangements. They were frustrated we could not host Anne in our own classroom as it was on the second floor and felt that the lack of accessibility was unwelcoming.”

Two other resources I share in that post that are always worth re-sharing are the Disability in Kidlit blog and this amazing database of young adult and middle grade books featuring disability representation. You can find it here: http://yadisabilitydatabase.com. Huge thanks to Struck by Stories ☕ for compiling it!

I also wrote a post for Deaf History Month with some resources and lots of book recommendations.

Happy (belated) Disability Pride Month!

It's Arab American Heritage Month!

Happy Arab American Heritage Month!

Some reminders and tips: 

• Note that Muslim characters or a Muslim author or illustrator is NOT the same as Arab. Not all Muslims are Arabs (as this map of the Muslim population by country shows). 

• If you feel like going down a maps rabbit hole, here are some more maps: 40 maps that explain the Middle East!

• Arabs are not all Muslim. 

• Arabs are speakers of Arabic which is different from Middle Eastern people. Read more here: Arab, Middle Eastern, and Muslim? What’s the Difference?! - TeachMideast

• Persians are not Arabs. Read more here: MYTH vs. FACT: Persians and Arabs - American Iranian Council. (We’ll have to do a separate post about some of our favorite Persian authors and books!)

• If these designations are confusing for you and your students, start by looking at a map (cover photo) and talking about what you know and brainstorming how you could figure out who is Arab-American and who is not.

• Newsela also has a related article: Who Are Arab-Americans? 

• Try to have a diversity of stories: not only immigrants and not only stories about Islamophobia. Recognize all the joy and beauty too. Students love stories about kids being kids.

• Ask your students: Why do we recognize Arab American Heritage month? What do you think? And see where they go with their replies.

• A lot of the book lists out there for Arab-American Heritage Month include South Asian authors (for example, Reem Faruqi and Rukshana Khan are both of Pakistani origin which makes them South Asian, not Arabs) and Persian authors (we love It Ain't So Awful, Falafel by Firoozeh Dumas, but Firoozeh is Persian). Even if the list is from a trusted source, double check!

Recommended Books and Resources:

We wrote about Learning & Teaching about Ramadan last year (of course, not all Muslims are Arabs and Arabs are not all Muslim so Ramadan stories are not necessarily Arab or Arab American stories!)

Follow #30DaysofArabVoices to hear from 30 different writers. Great way to grow your awareness and find excerpts to share with your students depending on grade level. You can find the main page where all 30 authors will be featured by the end of the month here.

NCTE is also having a virtual Ode to Arab Voices: An Exploration and Celebration - National Council of Teachers of English on April 25th!

BOOKS | Rhonda Roumani - I’m very excited about Tagging Freedom, a middle grade novel about a Syrian graffiti artist, but when I went on her website to find out more about it and a release date (Fall 2023), I learned Rhonda has two other soon to be released books that I also can’t wait to share with kids!

The Sandwich Swap by Rania Al-Abdullah: there is so much to like about this book. It is very relatable and such an important message. Never miss an opportunity to remind students to be kind and respectful, especially about someone’s food. Do not say someone else’s food is gross. It’s rude and disrespectful. You can say, that’s new for me, or I haven’t tried that yet. This explicit modeling is really important for kids (and many adults). 

The Arabic Quilt by Aya Khalil (read her #30DaysofArabVoices contribution here) - she also wrote The Night Before Eid, which belongs in classrooms and kids’ hands! Also a great mentor text or a text to use for character analysis. Aya Khalil also has The Great Banned-Books Bake Sale coming out in August, which I am eagerly awaiting! Basically, just read all her books and share them with kids.

 I haven’t read this one, but really want to! Homeland: My Father Dreams of Palestine by Hannah Moushabeck.

Other Words for Home by Jasmine Warga. I can’t resist novels in verse or middle grade novels and this story of a young girl leaving Syria to move to the USA is both. 

Farah Rocks Series by Susan Muaddi Darraj. This series looks so fun and relatable on many levels. Also love that the main character is Arab-American, but her stories are not necessarily about her identity, just being a kid in the world. 

More great ideas are available here: National Arab American Heritage Month: Classroom Resources and Activities - Waterford.org and from PBS: Arab American Heritage Month: Facts, Activities & Resources | PBS.

Please share any other recommendations you have! We especially love book recommendations.

Baby Books I'm Giving this Spring

BABY BOOKS I LOVE THEM BABY BOOKS I LOVE THEM 

Baby baby baby books.. I looooooove them. 

(sung to the unicorns I love them song from Despicable Me) No one will get this reference but this is how my brain works, alas. 

We’ve had 3!? New babies in our lives this Spring. All nearing the 2 month ish mark and I feel that means it is officially time to start overwhelming their parents with board books. I joke!! Sort of. 

In the world of all the baby crap and the ways people can be supportive postpartum, baby gifts can be more fraught/annoying/clutterful than helpful. Quick tips if you are gifting to postpartum loved ones (from my perspective and my perspective only!) 

Food- always helpful. (groceries, bagels & fixings delivered to their house, Spoonful of comfort soup, a takeout place with an order of stuff you’ve had with them before,a gift card to one of the many delivery food service apps...) 

Beyond that- I think books, while not helpful in at all the same way especially in the first year, are a solid forever fair game gift that won’t make your minimalist or multi child loved ones fighting clutter feel overwhelmed. And who knows, you just might give them a real memory making treasure of a book. If not, it is easy for them to regift it, pop it in a little free library or enjoy the duplicate because the baby chewed up the first one. Yay for books. 

As a general overview: my favorite baby books tend to have: 

POC, art I love, solid rhythm/text, are enjoyable for all ages (baby to toddler to adult reading them). 

Below are a few of the ones I have been gifting this Winter coming into Spring season.

For your loved ones who refer to their pets as their baby’s siblings (this is not me, I’m sorry I just won’t do it, but we do love our pets and love these books) 

Why: brown! Playful! modern/vibrant art. Spot on narrator voice and amount of text per page. Content is growable/applicable/enjoyable for all the ages. 

Dog’s First Baby  (cover pictured above)

Cat’s First Baby 

For our friends who love music - my family gifts board books from each person in our family along a chosen theme. Our most recent favorite music related board books to our friends were the ones below. 

Jazz Baby - fun, funky, genuinely jazzy 

Woodland Dance - I never tire of this one. A lovely imaginative place to be taken to, great music vocab, great tempo and musical in itself. 

Snuggle Puppy- we’ve made a lot of versions of this one in our house musically and it is just a jam, what can I say. Sandra Boynton is a classic for a reason. 

For the soon to be 1 year old

Peek-a-Who? It’s simple, it’s fun, it has the right amount of text (read: barely any!) for how fast their little chubby hands turn pages without you being upset that you didn’t get to read the words before they turned the dang page! I’ve tested this one on many a pre/1 ish year olds and it lands. They dig it. 

Hands On! -brown, single mama rep, perfect tempo, and just around where this age group is at. I love this one (if I was the editor I’d change the title and then it would be *chefs kiss* perfect). 

For someone missing a morning book

There are so many bedtime books (and we LOVE those) but it is nice to snuggle and read a morning themed book sometimes too. Below are our current two faves in the morning. 

Llama Llama Wakey Wake - again, tempo! I don’t love the art (just a stylistic preference, do love the scenes depicted), but I think otherwise this book is perfect. 

Too Early - POC, sweet dad time, brown fam, a special slice of time, art nails it. 

For spring time prepping 

Planting a Rainbow - we are about to do this in my house and my little loves the colored pages at the back and I love the specific plant names 

Leaves - found this at Goodwill and lost myself in it for the 1 minute read. It’s almost exactly perfect. If I were the editor I would get rid of the very last page and have the second to last page be the end. But it’s lovely all the same. 

ABC Insects - I’m the person who takes my child to arthropod exhibits so for me, what a treat. But the pictures are big, it is a bigger than average board book (fun!) and we’ll grow into this one. I love reading about each insect and then going on my own rabbit holes later about them. 

For the loved one who wants the book my 1 year old actually currently loves 

ABCS Xavier Deneux- she flips fast, she touches the indents, she moves on. We like the Robot page best. 

For loved ones pushing gender and its wonkiness 

The Pronoun Book - great art, simple, joyful, brown, celebratory-- I honestly love just seeing it out of the corner of my eye- great colors. 

For the mama 

Mama Loves You So - nothing like a book full of I love you to bring peace to a mamas insides too. 

Our next themed board book gift batch to friends with babies, theme: favorite board books about food!

Monster Food

The Very Hungry Caterpillar - they likely have it but it truly is a perfect board book. The flaps, the colors, the simple plot, the butterfly at the end. Bravo. 

How We Eat - we’ve featured this one before but its so great. 

I’ll never grow out of board books. All recs always welcome.

Banned Books Week

Banned Books Week, from the American Library Association (ALA) is September 18-24th this year. Their website has lots of ideas, resources, and more information. We worked with a wonderful librarian in the past who always recognized Banned Books Week with students and we learned a lot from her. While the ALA has been recognizing Banned Books Week for 40 years, this year librarians are facing unique challenges and a record number of book bans (or attempts). These book bans and attempts to control or limit curricula are affecting teachers as well on many levels. Here are some ideas for how to recognize and introduce this week to your students.

*Important reminder: Always support librarians! They are amazing humans who do everything under the sun for our communities. We always knew this, but it was reinforced yet again during the early days of the pandemic when libraries provided meals, technology, and resources for students, vaccine clinics, COVID tests, resources and support for people experiencing homelessness, access to books, computers, and information for all, and so much more. So many of us trace a love of reading aloud or books or learning to libraries and librarians. They are also incredible researchers and know (or can find out) about ANYTHING. School librarians do so much for kids and teachers and can be incredible allies and sources of support for us. Banned Books Week is a great opportunity to collaborate with your school or local librarian! 

I would start by asking students what they know about banning books and what banning books means. ALA provides these webinars, but a simple definition might be all you need to make sure everyone is on the same page (ha). I explain banning books as removing books or not allowing people to read or access certain books because of their ideas or content. You can add that book banning is a type of censorship as well, depending on your students’ ages and what you want to introduce.

Historical book bans are also a great entry point, but of course so much depends on the grade level you teach. With elementary school students who developmentally are not ready to differentiate between ten years ago and one hundred years ago (both were a long time ago/potentially before they were born!), I usually find it best to either stick to the present or use a few international historical examples (this timeline is very helpful) for upper elementary. 

You can also ask students why they think someone might ban a book. They will have lots of ideas! Next, have students analyze who or what ideas are represented in and who is writing and illustrating frequently challenged children’s books. Looking at representation (either through characters, ideas, author or illustrator) might lead students to notice certain trends and wonder why so many books by or about LGBTQIA+ people and/or people of color were targeted. This is an activity students of any age can do - younger students could look at picture book covers and share what they notice.

Newsela also has articles about book banning, but some are only available if you have a school subscription. I also enjoyed the book Ban This Book a lot and really recommend it for middle grade readers. 
The ALA provides many other ideas about how to get involved and share how you’re celebrating. However you celebrate, happy reading and remember to appreciate a librarian next (every) week!

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Choosing Nonfiction Resources Critically

As I said in this post, choosing nonfiction (or any) resources critically is SO IMPORTANT, so here are some do’s and don’ts when looking for mentor texts or any type of media for students to consume.

• Look at publication dates.  In general, older (sometimes “classic”) books tend to have stereotypical portrayals of people of color and gender roles (and more). Also, sometimes “classic” books are viewed with nostalgia and problematic and/or factually incorrect depictions are excused by saying “it was a different time.”

  • Some examples: Little House on the Prairie, George and Martha (George dresses up as an “Indian”).  

  • We are not saying you cannot use these books, but be prepared to address the problematic images, language, or events.

• Avoid anything stereotypical, overly simplistic, or cartoonish (think of the Cleveland Indians logo).

• Look at IMAGES closely in the media. Does every African person look the same? Are they hanging out with animals or somehow depicted as less “modern” than white people? What messages are the images sending?

• Ask yourself these questions (as applicable):

  1. Who wrote this piece? (Even Encyclopedia Britannica articles can be used as examples of problematic language/bias). Use the resources list and look FIRST for own voices on the topic. 

  2. What is the time period? 

  3. Is the history accurate? How do I know? 

  4. How does the author/illustrator present gender?

  5. What does the author's word choice indicate?

  6. (Some of these questions are from Tips for Choosing Culturally Appropriate Books & Resources About Native Americans).

• Be mindful of the language used (by the resource and by you).

  1.  If you aren’t sure what language to use or what word is best when referring to a particular identity or community, do some research! Or present multiple options to students and make it clear that people choose how they like to be represented and how they want to be addressed or what they would like to be called. 

  2. Watch out for evasive language or euphemisms (for example, enslaved people went on a trip). 

  3. Be mindful of false equivalencies (my personal pet peeve when reading the news). 

  4. Look out for passive voice that is used to obscure the actor. For example, “African-Americas were attacked when they tried to register to vote” instead of “white people attacked African-Americans when they tried to register to vote.” 

  5. Read and listen closely for normalization or assuming that a dominant identity is the default. “It’s okay to be a different color” assumes that there is a default color, instead of saying that all or any colors are okay.

• Think about how the historical context is presented and if it is tied to the present at all. This is a little more abstract, but ask yourself, what message is this text sending (or potentially reinforcing) about the world today? For example, Native Americans are still here - they should not only be spoken of in past tense. Resistance movements should not be idealized as “fixing” the problem. Always watch out for white savior figures!

*These are general recommendations and guidelines to help frame your thinking as you choose new resources or look for mentor texts, not hard and fast rules. When in doubt, ask for help! There are so many wonderful book lists out there (we have complied so many so this blog is one place to start).

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Nonfiction!

I know it is the middle of summer, but I finally had time to reflect on and write about one of my favorite units in both reading and writing: nonfiction! I’ve tried out many different kinds of nonfiction units over the years and while I still love our Biographical Essays: Researching People Who Inspire Us unit, I have enjoyed the students’ enthusiasm and engagement in all of them. 

Nonfiction literacy is so important. It ties into media literacy and understanding and learning about the world around you, is a life skill (you will always need to understand and explain information!). There are so many facets to it between learning about facts vs opinion, critical literacy, synthesizing information, and more. But most of all, it is fascinating and FUN.

Some essential elements: you MUST have great mentor texts (we had a lot of success with Pink is for Blobfish by Jess Keating, fun and unexpected biographies, and were amused and enthralled by the Disgusting Critters series by Elise Gravel). I should (and hopefully will) write a separate post about choosing resources critically, but in the meantime, just a reminder to consider perspective/voice/stereotypes/bias especially when thinking about biographies or informational texts that talk about the past. It’s key to show students that there is variety in types of nonfiction as too many people write off nonfiction because they’ve only been exposed to textbooks or “boring” books. Remember research is a fascinating challenge! You can use many different types of materials (people, books, articles, photos, videos, other graphics like maps) to discover more about something. We wrote a post about Learning Through Photos and another post about how we used photographs as primary sources in our Black History Lesson: Sit Ins.

While we love essays and the painted essay especially (as detailed in this post that’s also linked above), there are many ways to share nonfiction and talking about cool facts is the first one! Let students talk about what they learn. Research or reading nonfiction does not have to be silent independent work. Finding our more should be joyful, collaborative learning with lots of opportunities to share. We once wrote books in groups about different countries in Africa, and students were so excited to share what they learned with other groups and pool their research together within their group. They also used a lot of resources that were not books or written texts, like videos, photos, maps, and people (whom they interviewed).

Also, don’t insist that everything needs to be shared in a written format. Nonfiction books use all kinds of graphics and sometimes they are more effective than explaining something in words. We allowed our students to find a certain number of photos online and explicitly taught into what makes a good illustration or accompaniment to some text, using lots of mentor texts and examples of different kinds of graphics. Read our review of One Word From Sophia by Jim Averback to hear about a wonderful read aloud to introduce using different graphics.

What I’ve learned from teaching nonfiction over the years is that CHOICE is huge here. Students are already so knowledgeable about so many things, so let them use their expert status at school too! We had our students write all about books and our only caveat was that their topic had to be something they knew a lot about and that was appropriate for school. They are excited to share what they know about something they care about, we all get a reminder about how reading and writing are fundamentally communication tools above all else, and we (teachers) get to be amused by all the hilarious and creative topics, details, and facts students generate.

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Summer Reading

We wrote about some of the ways we set students up for summer reading a few years ago, and I still am not a fan of forced or assigned reading. There is research that reading logs actually reduce students’ motivation to read and negatively affect their attitudes toward reading. And honestly, they are just annoying! Imagine having to log how long you read and how many pages you read when you are reading before bed to relax. This applies to summer reading as well. Assigning a book or list of books students must read takes the joy out of reading. It’s much better to give them freedom and encouragement to find something they want to read and (hopefully) enjoy it!

This has been a long, hard year for teachers, so it’s also really important that you find your own summer reading that is rejuvenating! When everything feels out of my control, I find detective novels or mysteries help me escape into another world and provide a solution that I can try to figure out or guess, but am not at all responsible for. Your summer reading does not have to be books about teaching or really anything “productive.” Just find something that you’re excited to read.

That should be your assignment for your students as well. We try to give customized, thoughtful book recommendations and get students into series through recommendations, book clubs, read alouds, and more. We also try to provide opportunities for students to review or share their thoughts on books in ways that are fun and genuine. When we taught 5th grade, we used Goodreads for this and it was really great as well as being on the computer so students loved using it. You can read more about how we introduced Goodreads to our students here. However, for younger students, we give opportunities to share book reviews, recommend books to each other, and create “shelfies” (see cover photo)! We drew our shelfies using this linked template, but students could also take pictures of themselves with books they enjoyed over the summer and share them with their teachers in the fall. 

Some do’s and don’ts that I’ve learned over the years are: definitely encourage public library use, have students think about their own reading goals and routines for the summer, and model and promote excitement around books, book reviews and recommendations, and reading all year long. Remember that listening to audiobooks is another way to read and a lovely way for a family or group of people to enjoy a book together. Avoid telling students they need to read books at a certain level or a certain number of books. If parents ask about summer reading, tell them to help students to find books they enjoy and make reading part of their daily routine (for example, reading before bed or reading after dinner) as a family, whether that means listening to an audiobook, reading aloud, or reading independently.. Remember that librarians are magic and always have amazing, customized book recommendations. 

Happy almost summer!

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Asian Pacific American Heritage Month

Happy May! Teachers (and students!), you are so close to the end of the school year.

Before the school year ends, it is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month! This year, more than ever, it is important to uplift and share AAPI (Asian American Pacific Islander) voices as we are facing a huge increase in hate crimes and anti-Asian sentiment. The Library of Congress hosts this site with lots of teacher resources, both historical and current. Another helpful resource is Standing Together from the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center which addresses the need to stand together against rising racism, hate, and violence. This site also provides facts and resources.

Newsela has a lot of articles and text sets that would work for AAPI Heritage Month depending on what you want to focus on. Also, make sure you look at a map! It’s always helpful to talk about what “Asian” actually means, learn about the different regions in Asia, and think about population, religion, languages, food (my personal favorite) and more. I often find students are confused about terminology and appreciate the clarification. For example, I share how I identify (American, Asian American, Indian American, South Asian American, etc.) and how these terms all work for me and they are just more or less specific. We look at different maps to make sure we understand exactly what these terms mean, and I explain my preferences and emphasize that how I chose to identify is unique to me, and you should always ask or let people share with you before you assume. 

Last year,  Gabby shared this post with some book suggestions for everyone from babies to adults. Here are a few more (new-ish) books that I couldn’t resist sharing that would work for so many purposes. There are so many wonderful books out there, but I challenge you to make sure your AAPI protagonists aren’t all immigrants or focusing on their immigration experience. 

Picture books:

Bilal Cooks Dal (cover photo) by Aisha Saeed and Anoosha Syed (illustrator): this one isn’t that new (from 2019), but it is such a wonderful book on multiple levels! First of all, it is very important that everyone knows about dal, it’s eaten by over a billion people and is delicious and so versatile. Also, I love this relatable story about a child who wants to share his favorite food with his friends (and is confused that they don’t already know about it and later scared that they might not like it). And there is a recipe at the back of the book! 

What I Am by Divya Srinivasan is a thoughtful and colorful response from a young girl to someone asking her “What are you?” Those of us who’ve gotten that question before and those of us who might have asked someone that question (and just all of us) could benefit from reading about her answers. This would be a great book to start a discussion or exploration about the complex facets of identify and how we can all adapt and change in varied settings.

Love in the Library by Maggie Tokuda-Hall and Yas Imamura (illustrator). This new release is on my “to read” list. It’s based on a true story about love blooming in the library at the Minidoka prison camp during World War II (where Americans of Japanese descent where incarcerated). 

Drawn Together: also not that new, but such a gorgeous book! I’ve been waiting to read this book for Grandparents and Special Friends Day at our school for years now, but it keeps being canceled due to the pandemic. But you can use this book in so many ways, the theme of togetherness is not limited to language barriers and students really relate to the drawings and the idea of using your imagination. 

Middle Grade/Young Adult:

Finding Junie Kim by Ellen Oh: while there is so much to admire in this book, I loved the element of students fighting back against racism with actions and organization. Parts of the story are dark (mental health struggles, the protagonist learns about her grandparents’ experiences during the Korean War), but it fits with the current times in an honest, realistic, but still hopeful way. Also, it tells an immigration story, but is really a story about someone who is a third generation American, but not always perceived that way, which is an important distinction to share with students.

Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo: set in 1950’s San Francisco, I learned so much from reading this! And couldn't put it down. While this is historical fiction, the injustices in the book really happened. Chinatown is a legacy of days when Chinese and Chinese-American people were not welcome in any other neighborhoods. The “Red Scare” and the discrimination and intimidation that went along with it did involve threats of deportation and taking away citizenship. This is all the backdrop to Lily, the main character, coming of age, grappling with her identities and opposing loyalties, and discovering lesbian culture in San Franciso

Almost American Girl by Robin Ha: this is a fun memoir graphic novel that I read in one day. It is an immigration story, also touches on gender norms and expectations in different cultures. 

Adult:

The Fortunes of Jaded Women by Carolyn Huynh: I read this book as an eARC from NetGalley and LOVED it. From my review: There is an amazing cast of characters and we hear from all of them. The shifting narrative is really well done as each character has their own voice which is impressive as there are so many characters. Also, so many funny/relatable moments. I'm not Vietnamese-American, but as the child of immigrants, so many details rang true for me. And I loved all the descriptions of food. There was nothing predictable about this story, but so many things to enjoy: a curse, fortune tellers, lots of family and relationship drama, and other surprises I won't mention because of spoilers. Some of the family reunion scenes made me laugh out loud. 

The Verifiers: this is on my “to read” list and has so many things going for it: identity, family expectations, detective agency, potential romance, and a technology twist with a Chinese-American queer protagonist.

Happy Reading and almost summer!

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March Book Madness

Happy March! I usually find there is so much to look forward to this month: spring, Women’s History Month, spring break (at my school at least), more sun, and MARCH BOOK MADNESS! March Book Madness is exactly what it sounds like. It is March Madness, but for books! There are 3 categories: picture books, middle grade books, and young adult books. Each gets its own bracket and anyone can vote on the website for each round. They start with 16 books (“Sweet 16”) and have “games” between two books and slowly go through rounds until we reach the championship. 

When I taught 5th grade, we followed the middle grade bracket, and in 3rd we follow the picture book bracket. It is so much fun and gets students excited about reading in so many ways. Often, students who are resistant to trying out a new genre are happy to expand their reading horizons when they get to vote on books. Also, it encourages social reading habits and joy around reading. Students love to explain why you should vote for a certain book and often get into passionate debates about which book(s) should win. So much critical thinking about comparing literature is fun and also essential practice for being a lifelong, thoughtful reader. 

We have collaborated with younger classes in the past. One year when we had Kindergarten reading buddies (we haven’t been able to reinstate this due to the pandemic), we introduced March Book Madness (MBM) altogether and buddies had the option to read MBM books when they read together. We’ve also worked with 1st grade and shared our predictions and books. We usually start by explaining the contest, looking at the map of participants on the website and adding a pin for our school. Students love that this is an international activity. We always take time to go over what a bracket is and how it works. There are usually a few March (basketball) Madness fans who are happy to share their knowledge!

Last year, we gave our students their own copies of the bracket so they could make their own predictions or follow along as they wished. They loved having their own copies and took each round of voting very seriously. We also used MBM as an opportunity to review genres of books as we worked together to figure out what genre each book fit into and explain why. Some students even asked to write book reviews to include in the book or to share when voting came around again. 

The wonderful thing about MBM is that it can be as big or small of a deal as you want! If you can’t buy the books you can get them from the library or just watch video read alouds of them and put up photos of the covers if you want a display. Our former school librarian would make a MBM bulletin board recreating the bracket and students loved seeing it in the hall and sharing what was happening with other classes. 

This year (as always), the books look wonderful. There are many I already like under picture books, but some that I am excited to discover. MBM always ends up being an opportunity for me to genuinely model and share my love of books and constant quest for new books I love to my students. They love hearing about how I am torn and can’t decide what book to vote for and sometimes even suggest ways to help me make up my mind. Everything about this activity makes reading (even more) fun and exciting. If you are interested in participating, 1st round voting is open today (March 2nd) and closes on March 8th at 7PM. We usually vote as a class, but students could also vote individually. Happy reading!

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Anti-Oppressive Education in "Elite" Schools is here!

We wrote about this last spring, but wanted to share that Anti-Oppressive Education in Elite Schools: Promising Practices and Cautionary Tales From the Field is out (Nina received her copy!). We co-authored a chapter and it’s very exciting to see our words in print.

You can read more about the book and enjoy some excerpts (including our chapter and an interview with us) here. We’ve been lucky enough to work with Katy Swalwell in the past and Gabby knows Ayo Magwood who we hope to collaborate with in the future. They are both doing really important work and are definitely worth following, but really the whole book has so much to offer. Please let us know what you think!

Thanksgiving & Native American Heritage Month Resources & Reminders

Resources & Great Place to Start

American Indians in Children's Literature (AICL) 

Teaching for Change 2021 Indigenous Peoples’ Day Curriculum Teach-In (especially the section about Native Voices in Children’s Literature by Dr. Debbie Reese, the creator of AICL)

Native American Heritage Month Resources For Teachers

Our ideas for addressing Thanksgiving in 3rd grade this year

(on top of expressing gratitude to all the people who take care of us at school):

• The word Indigenous - explained l CBC Kids News

• Newsela article: A Native American poet reimagines Thanksgiving and the poem referenced in the article: America, I Sing You Back by Allison Adelle Hedge Coke

•  Read aloud: We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga by Traci Sorell

• We also just bought two new books that we are VERY excited about:

  • Classified, The Secret Career of Mary Golda Ross, Cherokee Aerospace Engineer by Traci Sorell

  • JoJo Makoons by Dawn Quigley (an early middle grade series with a Native American main character!)

General Tips for Choosing Resources about Native Americans

1. Look at publication dates.  In general, older (sometimes “classic”) books tend to have stereotypical portrayals of Native American peoples or kids dressing up as “Indians” or playing “Indian” games.  

   1. Some examples: Little House on the Prairie, George and Martha (George dresses up as an “Indian”).  We are not saying you cannot use these books, but be prepared to address the problematic images, language, or events.

2. Avoid anything stereotypical, overly simplistic, or cartoonish (think of the Cleveland Indians logo).

3. Look at IMAGES of Native peoples depicted in the books. Does every Indigenous person look exactly the same? Are the characters displayed as 'savage' 'non-human' in some way? Avoid the “how” hand gesture, tomahawks, gratuitous headdresses, dancing around a fire, taking hostages, etc.

4. Ask yourself these questions:

   1. Who wrote this piece? (Even Encyclopedia Britannica articles can be used as examples of problematic language/bias). Use the resources list and look FIRST for Indigenous voices on the topic. 

   2. Does the author/illustrator specify a tribal nation?

   3. What is the time period? 

   4. Is the history accurate? How do I know? 

   5. How does the author/illustrator present gender?

   6. Does the author's word choice indicate bias against Native peoples?

   7. (Some of these questions are from Tips for Choosing Culturally Appropriate Books & Resources About Native Americans).

5. Be mindful of the language used (by the resource and by you): avoid the words chief, squaw, savage, natives, and remember that “Native Americans” refers to thousands of diverse tribes (which means thousands of different cultures and histories) and not just one group of people. 

6. Make sure to proactively balance historical representation of Native American peoples with contemporary voices so as not to perpetuate the idea that American Indians only existed in the past. If a piece speaks of Indigenous peoples only in the past tense-- double triple check why it does that and why you are using it! 

7. Remember that many Indigenous peoples are Americans and were the first Americans.

8. Avoid resources (or saying yourself) that say "We are all immigrants". Not all of us are. Utilizing that immigrant 'melting pot' rhetoric as the foundational metaphor of the US erases the (long) history of Indigenous Americans. 

For more details and tips, please see Tips for Choosing Culturally Appropriate Books & Resources About Native Americans andUnderstanding Prejudice: Teaching About Native American Issues

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Book Review: From the Desk of Zoe Washington

I just finished From the Desk of Zoe Washington by Janae Marks and this book has so much potential for classroom use! It is a delightful read and a wonderful middle grade novel to share with kids in many ways. The main character is having both friend and family drama which will be so relatable to many upper elementary students and middle schoolers. Also, she loves to bake and wants to be a pastry chef so the descriptions of cupcakes alone will pull some students in. I’ve always loved books that included letters between characters, and Zoe (the main character) exchanges letters with her biological father, Marcus, who is in prison. Many students (and adults) don’t hear any humanizing stories about people who are incarcerated or the toll our massive incarceration rates has on families and children. 

Zoe’s father, Marcus, says he is innocent, and Zoe talks to her grandmother about how that could even be possible. She connects this new information with what she knows about Black Lives Matter and systemic racism. The connections are clear and not overly simplified, yet also at a kid-friendly level. She also learns about The Innocence Project and grapples with the mystifying fact that innocent people can go to prison. The author doesn’t shy away from the fact that this knowledge is heavy and many parts of what Zoe is learning are scary for her. Her parents and grandma try to shield her and forbid her from following up with what she has learned and the depiction of the frustration of being dismissed as just a kid is very accurate and would strike a chord with many students.

This book could be a wonderful whole class read aloud or book group book, as the chapters are a good length for both of these formats. Students could learn about wrongful conviction, the toll of incarceration on families (at least 5 million children have had a parent behind bars), advocacy and representation, systemic racism, justice system reform, and more. Zoe’s choice to defy her parents’ and grandma’s restrictions would also be a wonderful discussion point with students. At one point, Zoe thinks to herself, “All of the lying was wrong, I knew that. But maybe it was okay to do something wrong if you were doing it for the right reason.” (p.180). I’ve talked to students in the past about when it’s okay to break the rules and how you might still have to accept the consequences of your actions, but you choose to break the rules because of something more important. Zoe models this as she gets in trouble and apologizes for lying and breaking her family’s trust, but her actions end up setting some changes in motion.

While this book ultimately has a happy ending, it still talks about the reality that appealing a wrongful conviction takes years and is very difficult and complicated and that many people who get out of prison (whether they are innocent or not) have trouble finding jobs and struggle financially for a variety of reasons. There are educational resources available through the Equal Justice Initiative to help you give students more background and understanding of the scale and scope of the issues. The Marshall Project is also a great resource. It’s targeted towards adults, but will help you have the background you need to have these important conversations with students. If you haven’t read this book yet, run and get a copy! It belongs in the hands of readers!

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Read Aloud Ideas for Back to School

While “teacher new year,” as I call the beginning of the school year, is normally my favorite time of year, I am having a hard time with the uncertainty surrounding the beginning of the school year and am still processing everything that happened last year. I’m sure many others are feeling the same way (including lots of our students!). However, it is August already, so back to school is around the corner. So I am thinking about books I want to read to my students at the beginning of the year or have read in years past as sharing books with kids is always something I enjoy, whether it’s done at a distance, virtually, or side by side! 

These are books that came to mind or that I’ve used in the past, but obviously the possibilities are endless. Hopefully this list will help you with some back to school planning (more beginning of the school year ideas here and some that are specific to distance learning here) and introduce you to or remind you of some wonderful books! I find reading a book to students is always a good place to begin and choosing excellent literature to share is one thing we can control right now.

Chapter Books (You can use these as a longer read aloud or read an excerpt.)

• Save Me a Seat by Gita Varadarajan and Sarah Weeks: love this book! We started the year with this read aloud and students were hooked. You can read more about how we used it in our class here.

• The Top Ten Ways to Ruin the First Day of School by Ken Derby: we read the first chapter of this book on the first day of school and had students make top ten lists (the top ten things to know about me are..). We had examples about ourselves to share, it was a fun community builder! 

• 100 Dresses by Eleanor Estes: great read aloud and a relatively quick one for a chapter book. It’s also an amazing book club book! This story really sets the tone for respect and inclusion.

• House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros: in the past, I’ve used an excerpt from this book as a mentor text when students write their name stories.

• Brown Girl Dreaming by Jaqueline Woodson: I’ve found you can use individual poems for almost anything! Also a great whole class read aloud, you can read a poem or two whenever you have a minute.

• My Name is Maria Isabel by Alma Flor Ada: also a relatively quick read aloud for a chapter book, but so much potential for community building and respect. Also a great names tie in.

Picture Books for Welcome to School/Names/Get to Know You

• First Day Jitters by Julie Danneberg: great for the first day, reminder that everyone can feel nervous!

• My Name is Yoon by Helen Recorvits: use for name stories or a create or share your name activity

• Becoming Vanessa by Vanessa Brantley-Newton: covers start of school jitters, introducing our names, best for K-1st age range

• Thunderboy Jr. by Sherman Alexie: we read this and then “created” our names to be displayed on the bulletin board

• Milo Imagines the World by Matt de la Peña: reminder not to make assumptions about people, but get to know them!

Picture Books for Hopes & Dreams/Goal Setting

• Jabari Jumps by Gaia Cornwall: this is a great book for all ages, but especially little ones! I’ve used it before having students write their hopes and dreams for the school year with this framing: Jabari accomplishes his goal with a plan and some support and love. What goals do you want to work towards this school year? Also, now there is a sequel called Jabari Tries which is on my want to read list!

• Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney: I had this book as a child and it still resonates with me. It’s also a great way to start thinking about goal setting and hopes and dreams for the upcoming year.

• The Curious Garden by Peter Brown: A gorgeous book with an environmental message, Liam, the main character, sets a goal of taking care of a struggling garden and is wildly successful. I’ve never used it for goal setting, but have always had it as an option.

Picture Books for Creating Class Contract (Rules)/Setting Expectations

• The Day You Begin by Jaqueline Woodson: we used this before we brainstormed what to include in our class contract and asked how we could create a class community where everyone felt comfortable sharing their stories

• What If Everybody Did That? By Ellen Javernick: helps to get to the purpose of rules and working/living together as a community.

• No David! By David Shannon: great for younger kids, helps them focus on what we should do instead of what we should not do.

• Interrupting Chicken by David Ezra Stein: funny story that is a real hit with students - use for introducing participation norms, being a good listener, dealing with frustration - oh so many applications!

• Each Kindness by Jaqueline Woodson: I could really only read Jaqueline Woodson books all day, every day, but limited myself to 3 for this post! The title of this book says it all, great for beginning of the year or anytime as a reminder.

• The Wedding Portrait by Innosanto Nagaro: talk about when is it okay to break rules? Also great to tie in to protests and the purpose of our class contract.

• The Girl Who Never Made Mistakes by Mark Pett and Gary Rubinstein: taking risks, being kind to yourself

Picture Books related to Managing Emotions/Uncertainty 

• Saturday by Oge Mora: used this to talk about managing our disappointment during the pandemic

• The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Dawalt: we’ve used this before creating our emotions continuum and to introduce letter writing (if you have students write a letter to you or to themselves the first day or week of school)

• What Do You Do With a Problem? By Kobi Yamada: how could some of the restrictions we might still experience this year be a proble-tunity? Or just challenges in general. (Also, by the same author, What Do You Do With an Idea?)

What are your favorite back to school read alouds?

Reminder: Representation Matters

After reading Weeding Out Racism’s Invisible Roots: Rethinking Children’s Classics | Opinion by Padma Venkatraman in the School Library Journal, I thought about book choices in classrooms and schools. I know most teachers right now are grappling with how and if they will be able to be with students in person this fall and of course, everyone’s safety and health is the most important thing. However, if you are like me, you are trying to plan and organize for what little we can control. One thing we can control is what books we choose to share with students. 

Children receive so much information and so many ideas through their surroundings and exposure from a very young age. Racism and institutional exclusion through societal messaging starts so early. At school (and out in the world, in the media, and more), students are shown that certain voices are more important than others. They see only certain categories of people in positions of authority. While we might try to teach students that everyone is equal, the reality of society and the world around them sends a different message. I’ve learned through experience that we cannot and do not always anticipate the messages that kids internalize. 

A six year old girl once told my sister (who is a physician) that she didn’t know girls could be doctors until she met her. She had never expressed that sentiment out loud, so no one knew to tell her or show her female doctors. Another time, a child was reading a board book about the US presidents to me. The last page of the book is a mirror that says something about how YOU (the reader) could be the next president. She looked at me and said, “I can’t be president because I’m a girl.” The second to last page of the book depicted all 44 presidents (this was a few years ago), who of course, are all male. Naturally, she assumed only men could be president. I explained how only men have been president so far, but she (or other girls) could still be president one day. She looked skeptical (and who can blame her!) so we talked about women leaders in other countries. 

I think about these instances when I buy books for my classroom, choose read alouds and book club books for my students, recommend books to students, write curriculum, and more. We teach a biography/nonfiction writing joint unit in the spring and we try to highlight people who will inspire our students, interest our students, and push back against a dominant narrative or messaging. I’m fortunate to have a budget from my (private) school to buy books, and I totally understand that some (many) teachers are constrained by district mandates, administration set curriculum, standardized testing, no budget for books, and more. When I taught public school, I was encouraged to teach certain books because the school owned class sets of them. I’ve gotten around this in the past by borrowing books from other teachers and using the public library, as well as using a document camera or an online edition of a book to project the text so kids can follow along if needed. 

Modeling your excitement about new books for students is a great way to encourage them to become lifelong readers. What are we telling students if we teach the same books year after year? If we want children to be constant readers and learners, we need to do so as well. And even if you love a book, that doesn’t mean it’s right for your classroom or that you should share it with students. It’s not about you or your feelings. Good memories don’t negate problematic messaging. Teach books you love AND that have important representation and counter messaging for kids. 

When looking for new books, ask yourself: can my students see themselves in this book? Do they learn about someone different from them? Do they learn about a different lifestyle, socioeconomic status, race, language or culture? And please, BE CRITICAL: representation is key but make sure it is not otherizing or stereotypical. If you’re not sure, use the internet to read reviews! Some great resources:

• Common Sense Media

• We Need Diverse Books

• Disability in kidlit

• American Indians in Children’s Literature

• Teaching For Change Book Lists

• The Brown Bookshelf

• Our blog! We are always reviewing new books or sharing lists of books we love

Remember, don’t just avoid stereotypes. Practice image and message replacement. Of course brown women are scientists/doctors/people with authority. Also, books about kids who just happen to be [fill in the blank] are also valuable. Characters should not be reduced to their “difference.” For example, all your books with Black main characters should not be about slavery or civil rights. Also, make sure you have books about Native Americans that are set in the present! 

Please comment below with any other resources you love. We love hearing and talking about new books!

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New Fall 2018 Books to Snag!

Hi everyone-- Gabby here writing to you from Oregon! 

While one of us gearing up for another great year leading the classroom, the other one of us is actually getting ready to be a student again... (cue the student-esque excitement annnd cue the whining about homework... well, hopefully I’ve outgrown that!). When I wasn’t packing or convincing cats that it’s fun to fly on planes to their new home, I have been doing my best read some soon to be released middle grade and YA lit. I have been loving the ARC (advanced reader copy) life. 

Here are a few of the recently released or soon to be released (!!) notable reads from the summer. Hopefully, you haven’t spent your whole classroom budget (like we did last year!) and you’ve got room to add a few of these to your shiny classroom library to kick off the year right!

Picture books-

This cover is so fabulous we won't even try to make it smaller! 

• Julián Is a Mermaid by Jessica Love (cover photo from this beautiful book, too), is hands down my favorite picture book of the summer, likely the year. If you cry reading this too, we should probably be friends? This book is absolute perfection. Buy it for every room, gift it to every friend!

• Splat the Cat by Rob Scotton, is a new addition to the Splat collection. This one is fun and back to school relevant for home reading or in the classroom. Yes, sometimes even we can get behind an animal book (then we can all relate to them and they often don't get too gendered!). 

• Love, by Matt de la Pena. This one isn’t all that new, but it is new enough and we continue to adore it!

 

Middle grade picks- 

• Sheets by Brenna Thummler was a fantastic surprise and our recent favorite kid-appropriate graphic novel. The art is gorgeous, you are totally pulled in, the characters are so very human (doing the best they can), Socio-economic status is part of the story (so great to see a white characters struggling with class), OH, and there are supernatural ghosts ... I mean, how cool and different is that ? This one is unique and melancholy and good.

• Front Desk by Kelly Yang is one of our current favorites for the year. Don’t miss this one! We waited patiently for it to come out, and it was worth the wait!

• Love Like Sky by Leslie C. Youngblood (if this cover alone doesn’t make you swoon I don’t know what will!) This is the book to have ready in your classroom library. This one takes you on a real emotional rollercoaster from blended family dynamics to friendships to just growing up. It’s very well done and would be an easy win recommendation for many students— with its charming, relatable characters and loving family. There’s some sadness and nerve wracking moments that will definitely provide drama and keep readers hooked. I wish I had this one last year to pass to my kids, but now you can!

• Merci Suarez Changes Gears by Meg Medina. Ah, I just loved this one. This one has so many great pieces and it is done so naturally. A thoughtful feisty 6th grader (Merci) figuring out life and getting a scholarship to a private school, all the while a multi-generational family going through the changes as everyone gets older. Merci has to be a buddy to a new kid she doesn’t like and figure out friendships at her new school-- an excellent coming of age story. This is my vote for classroom read alouds this year.

• The Magic of Melwick Orchard by Rebecca Caprara. This one was just lovely. This one has beautiful nature, a super loving family, and an awesome main character (11 year old) who is trying to keep her family afloat when her baby sister gets deathly ill. A great book for those readers who love one of those good, sad-feels ones. This was done so well, we’re amazed this is Caprara’s first MG novel.

• All Summer Long by Hope Larson (graphic novel). This one would be especially solid for late 4th, but even more so 5th for relatability about navigating friendships (and shifts), and finding your ‘thing’. The main character is an artsy rocker girl so this would be an extra win for any super musically inspired young people who might ‘get’ her.

• The much anticipated Rick Riordan presents, Storm Runner by J.C. Cervantes has its strong points. It wasn’t quite as beautifully written as we would’ve hoped, BUT the Mayan mythology and story turns were super fun.There were also some great female characters. We would definitely pass this one on to Percy Jackson lovers and see what they thought! We are moving on to read the next Rick Riordan published author, Yoon Ha Lee’s ARC of Dragon Pearl next!

Middle/high school teachers here are a few we would love to teach-

• “Light-Skinned Girls and Kelly Rowlands”, the first short story from How to Love A Jamaican by Alexia Arthurs is a must-use this year (and for years to come). This piece would be incredible for the discussions students would have on this layered identity piece.. let’s just say if you teach this one please invite us to be flies on the wall! Discussions would be brilliant. BRILLIANT.

• Autoboyagraphy by Christina Lauren. This super cute, super gay book packs a punch with its look into navigating relationships, differences, and identity. It was even better than we thought it would be! Nuance and conflict and love and getting to know yourself and others..it was so good.

• Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor. So full disclosure this one isn’t new (2011), but I’m late to the party and I want to plug it here. I’m thinking early middle school for this one, but it had spectacular world-building, fun characters, and some great features. It’s especially great to enjoy Sunny, the go-getter main character as she analyzes her identity (both the fantasy one and the one where she was born in NY but now lives in Nigeria), and to enjoy her new ‘schooling’ as she learns more about her more magical self...

• Emergency Contact by Mary H.K. Choi. The texting is done so well in this one, and speaking of another beautiful cover! This one is for the older end of middle school, it’s pacing and (hipster?) style is just for older teens, but its characters are moody and lovable and doing their best.

• A Darker Shade of Magic series by V.E. Schwab. A well-written sci-fi / fantasy to rehook that crew who thinks they’ve read everything good. It’s got some blood but not in a gory kind of way, and for once, we don’t have vampires or a bunch of kids who have to kill each other. This one has great worldbuilding and the best (cross-dressing!?) female character we have read in sci-fi in a while.

• Not new, but could someone please let us know if you teach any Shaun Tan? We would choose The Arrival. We LOVE his work, but it is over younger student’s heads. Older kid teachers should definitely try using his thoughtful, relevant, provocative, and beautiful work! His work makes me want to teach middle school, I can only imagine the beauty middle schoolers would create in an integrated art unit using some of his pieces as inspiration!

For high school specifically -

• Circe by Madeline Miller. Why teach the Odyssey when you can teach Circe?! (I loved reading the odyssey for the first time so I don’t entirely mean that but I do!). I imagine this as an incredible journey and there are so many incredible ways i could see high schoolers discussing feminism and what it  means through this one.. There are some tough scenes/ pain and it really is an epic, which is why it’d be for a high school seminar class... or something! I can’t wait to see educators using this one.

Up next! -

Of course there’s so many we haven’t gotten to yet (Children of Blood and Bone!? new Jackie Woodson ?! Oh, the list is always long). I recently learned a new word, “Tsundoku”, which is Japanese and is loosely and modernly translated to someone who has/buys a bunch of that they don’t read and can’t get to, or a great big book pile. That might be me.

Alas! What are some books you’re already excited to reccommend this school year? Any upcoming releases you cannot wait for ?? Ask us about any of these in more detail if you’d like (or other books:), and be sure to check out some of our favorite all class read alouds for other ideas on what to bring into your classroom this year! Happy reading and sharing love of reading with your new crews. Or if you are in my boat, happy school reading and may we make time for fun reading, too! 

Setting Students Up for Summer Reading

It’s so close to the end of the year (and summer!) that we have started getting questions about summer work and summer reading. We absolutely want to encourage students to read over the summer in order to maintain their good reading habits (which are important life skills) and avoid the dreaded summer slide. In our class (and at our school), we’ve found our students tend to have consistent access to books and reading options all summer, so for the population we work with, the most important way to encourage summer reading is to promote reading all year long!

All year, we have read alouds in our 3rd grade class. While we know this takes up a lot of instructional time, we have found that reading chapter books out loud to our 3rd graders has improved their comprehension, fluency, vocabulary, and engagement as readers (and more!). They have developed (or maintained) an incredibly high level of appreciation for wonderful books, reading, read alouds, authors, sequels, new vocabulary, cliffhangers, and more!

Apart from read alouds, we also encourage solid independent reading habits. We gave up on reading logs early this year as they felt like a drag and a chore and instead added a section on homework grids (they receive a new one every week with homework choices that are due Friday) that says, “What is one book you enjoyed this week?” Some students write as many as three or four books they enjoyed that week, and some add comments about the books too! We also have students share out periodically about books they are enjoying and encourage them to recommend books to each other. This genuine sharing of books and authentic pleasure in reading is gold.

Another amazing tool to prep students to be readers all summer long (and beyond) are book clubs! We are just wrapping up a book clubs unit that has been so powerful. Again, talking to each other about books you enjoy is a life skill and a genuine, authentic way to communicate about books. We also tried to tap into books that were the first in a series so some of our more reluctant readers would be really into the first book because they read it with their book club, and now have many more books with the same beloved characters to read all summer.

Finally, (and we can’t emphasize this enough), encourage library use! We are so lucky to be in DC where we have an amazing public library system that runs a phenomenal summer reading program for kids. However, just reminding students that libraries exist is important. For all of our research projects this year, we’ve brought in books from the DC public library (and reminded our students to take extra good care of them since they are “our personal library books.”) Modeling library use (and of course, active reading as adults/teachers) can motivate students to use the public library themselves (and of course, provide them with books all summer). Librarians are our priceless and valuable partners in our quest to get kids reading. If your students may not have consistent access to books this summer, ask a librarian for help! Depending on your flexibility with taking students out of the building or inviting people in as guest speakers, there are multiple ways to set students up to be public library users.

A student's summer reading goals: "read as many books as possible!"

We don’t assign a list of required reading over the summer (and are fortunate to have this flexibility at our school), but we do have students set summer reading goals and create lists of books they might like to read over the summer (and we share our own). This “Summer Reading Bingo” from the Curriculum Corner looks fun. How does summer reading work in your classroom (or school or household)?  We’d love to hear more ideas!

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Asian American Heritage Month

Oh how we love representation, it is so essential and of course, it benefits all of us. As we typically note, designated 'months' for any given demographic of humans is not something we follow-- every day is a day to learn about communities and cultures you do or don't belong to! However, we do appreciate the added push for elevating underrepresented voices and perspectives!
 

Representation was our focus this month, ensuring that as many API perspectives were integrated into our daily learning as possible. Here are a few resources that our students especially loved during "API Heritage Month"!

1. Representation through awesome characters:

Aru Shah and the End of Time and The Serpent's Secret (both pictured above) are both great adventure novels were tons of fun, and both were packed with mythology and had bright heroines! We felt like we learned a lot and the world building in both was strong and captivating.

The Alvin Ho series (first book also pictured above) is one that we have come love and deeply appreciate as elementary educators. It is at the right level for so many of our readers, it has solid representation of a Chinese family, strong girls characters (We love Flea and his little sis Annibelly!), and it talks openly about Alvin struggling with anxiety, talking with a therapist etc. Of course, it is also goofy and appeals to 'boys' so Alvin runs away from his piano teacher, tries to miss school, and tries out Shakespearean curses on his therapist. We'll take it for the way it brings our students in, and the conversations we have been able to have through it. This one is great to unpack with students and led to some thoughtful conversations about gender and mental health in our classroom. It's exciting that this is a series because a few of our reluctant readers can't wait for the next one, which is the perfect way to send them off to the summer (prepped for their next book!).

There are also of course other great resources besides fiction, like Newsela's API Text Set that can provide some great resources for continuing learning and staying up to date!

2. Representation through music:

We love starting the morning calm and and centered and we always have music playing. It has been especially fun to play all sorts of different music from different countries in Asia. We have been more partial to Chinese music we've found, likely because we have both been there and we have been able to find some really calming pieces. It's also likely that my (Gabby's) attempts at learning Erhu and Guzhen make it even more exciting to share with the students! They love looking at the different instruments, learning facts (like how the guzhen has a history that is over 2,500 years old), and comparing it to instruments that they may play or know (the guzhen was compared to a sliding guitar so we did some compare and contrasting the other day!).

3. Representation through Images:

We always start the morning off with a projected image. This gives us the easy lean into a conversation we may want to have with students, or a way to pre-assess and see what they know (or are excited about). This month, all of our images were pictures from different Asian countries. Be warned, these images made us all yearning for some serious travel! The students always wanted to know where the pictures were taken, and it always got us talking, which leads us to….

4. Representation through maps, statistics reminders:

The morning images usually brought us to looking at the given country on a map! We would talk about where it was nearby (if we had already discussed a neighboring country) and it got us thinking about population, too. We love to remind students (not just in May!) that the continent of Asia has over half the world's population (we are talking over 4 billion humans!!!). We love this video if the world were a village of 100 people, because we think it helps bring some perspective!  

5. Representation through…. GIFS! (because we are oh-so trendy and cool!).

James Curan's Tokyo Gif-a-thon has hands down been one of our student's favorite activities and breaks this month. We earn it (sly teachers!) by getting cleaned up early or having an extra moment before we need to start the next class. We love doing the reveal of the next gif, and then we all stare in wonder at what he created. The students have endless (actually endless, the DETAILS they notices surprise us all of the time!) observations of how he made the gif, why he made it that way, and the most miniscule details within the art. As the reveals and months go on, they are able to make more and more connections as to what he might be referencing about Tokyo. We've been to (and love!) Tokyo, so this is also fun for us to share additional background information about why he made certain gifs and what it might be connected to in the city. We were especially intrigued about how the conversation about cherry blossoms ended connecting us back here to where we live-- DC!

These are just a few of the ways we try to infuse additional representation into our classroom (we've also had a ton of fun with languages this month!), but it never ends and we are always thinking of how to do more, and do it better. If you have ideas or other things you've been trying out, we'd love to hear!

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Book Review: Save Me a Seat

Our first chapter book read aloud this year was Save Me a Seat by Gita Varadarajan and Sarah Weeks. It’s an amazing book for so many reasons, and was the perfect first read aloud for our class. While we felt it allowed for natural segues into many of the beginning of the school year discussions and activities, it’s a perfect book for anytime of the year.

There are two narrators which leads to two vastly different perspectives (often on the same event). Our students reflected often on how two people can experience the same events very differently. This helped them brainstorm ways to be understanding and empathic. One of our students referenced part of the book as an explanation of how misunderstandings happen and why assumptions are dangerous.

One of the main characters, Ravi, is a new student (and recent immigrant). His experiences helped us talk about how we want people to feel in our classroom. Joe, the other main character, feels like a target at school, and before we brainstormed agreements (rules) for our class contract, we discussed what we can do to make sure no one has to feel like Joe did  in our community. Students also really identified with Ravi’s frustration when his name was mispronounced and talked seriously about the importance of using names carefully and respectfully. The other day, when a substitute teacher was in our class, the students took it upon themselves to carefully learn her name even after she said it was a hard name and they were welcome to call her Mrs. K instead.

Save Me a Seat also teaches students about the significance of an apology. Sometimes (for kids) it can feel like saying sorry is simply a stepping stone towards moving on or getting out of trouble. But in Save Me a Seat, Joe’s father writes him a moving and heartfelt letter accepting responsibility for how he made Joe feel (instead of saying I didn’t mean to or focusing only on his intent) and acknowledging that it is okay for men (and boys) to have feelings after all. Especially with third graders who can have difficulty genuinely connecting abstract concepts, reading and discussing this part of the book was such an important lesson in apologizing, accepting responsibility, and discounting messages of how you are “supposed to” feel, act, or behave (because of gender, coolness, or something else).

Our students also learned so much and wanted to learn so much from reading this book. They asked questions (and we investigated) about Bangalore, South Indian food, Auditory Processing Disorder (APD), and more. They repeatedly asked us to share the recipes found in the book and poured over the glossaries for each main character in the back. We (teachers) also loved that there was a glossary for each main character as opposed to only one for Ravi.

Including two glossaries makes them a tool for each character to be understood more fully instead of an indication of Ravi’s foreign state. It also made me (as an Indian-American), happy because it means that readers were less likely to ask me (or other South Asian people) to explain or translate words or references in the book. The South Indian food in the book was not portrayed as foreign or weird or (my personal pet peeve) something only “adventurous” people eat. It was simply food, just like the food Joe ate.

Save Me a Seat is also a great mentor text. We will keep coming back to it all year as an example of how to develop characters, use descriptive language, write dialogue and more. The fact that each chapter ends in a cliff hanger makes it an exceptional read aloud.

Our students were so enthralled with the book that we decided to have a mini-celebration at the end complete with South Indian food. We ordered idli and sambar from Pansaari, a local restaurant, and the students were so excited to eat one of Ravi’s favorite foods. We had talked about respecting other people’s likes and dislikes and the students were quick to point out that this applies to food as well. Even students who said they don’t like spicy food or who are very picky about what they eat for lunch were excited to try the idli, sambar, and coconut chutney. While they ate, we (teachers) read aloud and finished the book. We also talked about our favorite parts of the book and looked at different locations from the book on a map.

Since we finished our read aloud, six of our students have eagerly reread Save Me a Seat independently (which works well for their development of comprehension and decoding skills in third grade). Many other students have asked if they can have the book next. They also trust our recommendations so much more! We love all of the enthusiasm around reading (and incorporating food, geography, kindness, and more). We truly couldn’t recommend this book more highly!

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