Addressing Diversity

Lester, Julius. (2005). Let's Talk About Race. (1st ed.). Harper Collins. Amistad.

I had mentioned this book earlier on in my blog. I feel that when it comes to addressing diversity, this book would be my pick of the picture books that would represent this strong topic. In my opinion, this is one of the best books that children would easily understand. Julius Lester does an excellent job of breaking down diversity and the illustrations, while abstract, are very direct and to the point. This is a book that every elementary library media center should include in their collection and for these very reasons.





Masoff, Joy. (2006). We Are All Americans: Understanding diversity. Five Ponds Press. Waccabuc, NY.






This book, in my opinion, would be an excellent choice for a middle school and/or high school library media center. It discusses how we came to be true Americans through diversity. It discusses the various cultures including foods, music, games and holidays that became some of our favorites. I feel that this book is easy for students to read and understand. It also helps the reader to look at others in a different way by understanding the true roots of diversity in America.

Awards for Children's Books Published in Other Countries

The following are a few of the Children's Book Awards Published in Other Countries:

Children's Africana Book Awards in Africa.

BolognaRagazzi Award--various countries.

Governor General's Literature for Children Award for Writing--Canada.

Carnegie Medal--Great Britian.

Kate Greenaway Medal--Great Britian.

New Horizons--countries of Latin America, Asia and Africa.




The following books are available in the United States as well as other countries:

Alalou, A. & Alalou, E. (2008). The Butter Man. Charlesbridge Publishing. Watertown, MA.




This book is about a little girl named Nora who is hungry. She listens to her father, Baba tell her a story while he fixes a Moroccan dish of couscous, meat,and vegetables. As she waits and listens Baba knows what it really like to starve. This is a powerful book about famine and hunger and the Moroccan culture.



Mortenson, Greg. (2009). Listen to the Wind. 1st. ed. Dial. New York, NY.



This is a wonderful book and a children's version to the "Three Cups of Tea" written by the author. This story is about one man's plight to build a school for children in Pakistan who have no other options available. The illustrations are abolutely amazing and colorful. They tell a story in themselves. This is a book that I would highly recommend.

Nivola, Claire A. (2008). Planting the Trees of Kenya: The Story of Wangari Maathia. Farra,Straus, and Giroux. New York, NY.




This picture books biography is based on one woman's achievements in environmental and human rights. She was awared the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004 for her efforts. In this book, she encourages the reader through the beautiful illustrations and her heartfelt love for the land to become more involved in their environment. Planting trees or some other act to help the earth is portrayed in her message to the reader.

The above images are available from amazon.com.

Differences between Caldecott and Newberry Awards

The Randolph Caldecott Medal is awarded annually to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children. The book must be published in English and in the United States. The Honor Books can also be named which are also distinguished.

The John Newbery Medal is awarded annually to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children. These must also be published in English in the United States with Honor Books named as well. Basically, the main difference between Newbery and Caldecott is that Newbery books are based on literature such as chapter books for older children, whereas, Caldecott books are picture books for younger children. Both are well distinguished in their criteria.

Children's Books Made into Feature Films

Val Allsburg, Chris. (1985). "The Polar Express." Houghton Mifflin Co. Boston.

This is one of my most favorit children's books made into a movie. The book itself won the Caldecott Medal and tells a story of a boy believing in Christmas. Furthermore, he still believes, even in his old age, the magic of Christmas. The story takes place on a magical train ride to the North Pole.

The movie, on the other hand, exaggerates this story with added adventure that takes place on this roller coster of a train ride. The storyline, itself, is basically the same as the book with the exception that the boy questions the existence of Santa Claus. The 3D animation in the movie is unremarkable and the details of the setting brings this storybook to life. My 4 year old loves this books as well as the movie. In fact, this was the first movie that he actually sat through and watched at 18 months old. He loved it so much that he would watch it at least two times a day.

Image available from amazon.com







Evans, Richard P. (1993)."The Christmas Box." Simon & Schuster, New York, NY.

"The Christmas Box," is a wonderful story of love and inspiration. I found myself relating to the writer. Sometimes we are too involved in our lives and busy careers to really see what is most important. As I began reading the story, I couldn't put it down. I finished it that same day and found myself laughing and crying along with the story. I would highly recommend this book for anyone. The movie was good but not as good as the book. The movie stars Richard Thomas and is very heartwarming. This story was made into a Hallmark movie. I have always felt that a good book is much better than any movie could ever portray.

Image available from www.amazon.com





White, E.B. (1952). Harper Collins, New York, NY.

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This is a story of a little girl named Fern who loved a pig named Wilbur. Wilbur was a special pig who soon makes friends with Charlotte the spider who lives in the barn with Wilbur. This is a magical story of childhood on the farm. The book is a wonderful story made into a great movie as well. The movie with Dakota Fannin is probably my favorite of these movies.

Image available from google.com at google images

Coretta Scott King Award

Giovanni, Nikki. (2005). Rosa. (1st. ed.). Henry Holt and Co. New York, N.Y.

Rosa, also a Caldecott Honor book, is a short biography of one of the bravest civil rights activist who ever lived. I loved Rosa. This book left me wanting to find out more about Mrs. Rosa Parks. I've read several stories about the civil rights movement. Yet, this book helped me to relate to how it feels to do a hard day's work and how I would feel if this had happened to me. I learned things about Mrs. Parks that I did not know before.

This book is full of history and information. The illustrations were rich and powerful. The flat geometric shapes helped to push the three dimensional figures and objects foward and emphasize their importance within the story.

Image retreived from www.amazon.com on October 2, 2009.

Author, Yoshiko Uchida

Uchida, Yoshiko. (1975). The Birthday Visitor. Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, N.Y.



When I first began to read this book, I wasn't sure that I would like it. I tried to imagine myself as a child reading this book and how I could relate to the story. The story revolves around a little girl and her birthday and how she doesn't want the visitor to spoil it. What I like about the story is that it helps young readers to understand that we shouldn't stereotype people as we sometimes do. Emi had the minister stereotyped as boring and dull when, in fact, he was just the opposite. Upon his arrival is when this story actually starts to become interesting.



Uchida has written similar stories with her character, "Sumi" who is a little girl in Japan. Uchida was also very interested in the problems of the Japanese-American and some of her books, Journey to Topaz and Samurai of Gold Hill reflect this concern.

Author, Laurence Yep

Yep, Laurence. (1995). Hiroshima. Scholastic. New York, N.Y.

Dedicated to the memory of Yoshiko Uchida, this heartwrenching story is one that will put chills up and down your spine. It tells the story of the children that witnessed this horrific event in history. A child, Sachi, who is terribly burnt loses not only her sister but also her father. The sufferings that these poor people had to endure is like a horrid nightmare. This is a wonderful book and well worth the time to read.

Image available at www.amazon.com. Retreived on October 1, 2009.

Other books by Yep include: The Ghost Fox, selected as a Children's Book of the Year by Child Study Children's Book Committee, and two Newbery Honor Books, Dragon's Gate and Dragon Wings.