New Multicultural Children's Books March 2019

Browse our list of new multicultural children’s books for March 2019!

Ranging from Preschool to High School, there are some real gems here, our favourites being Awâsis and the World-Famous Bannock, The Yellow Suitcase and A Good Kind Of Trouble.

New Multicultural Children’s Books March 2019

Preschool

Awâsis and the World-Famous Bannock
by Dallas Hunt

Awâsis and the World-Famous Bannock is a charming story that celebrates Cree dialects and traditional storytelling. During an unfortunate mishap, young Awâsis loses Kôhkum’s freshly baked world-famous bannock. With the help of her animal friends, goes on an adventurous journey to find all the ingredients again. Includes a pronunciation guide and the recipe for Kôhkum’s world-famous bannock. ~ Diverse – Preschool

More Native American Books: 32 Native American Children’s Books

One Is a Piñata: A Book of Numbers
by Roseanne Greenfield Thong

“One is a rainbow. / One is a cake. / One is a piñata that’s ready to break!” In this lively companion to the Pura Belpré–honored Green Is a Chile Pepper, children experience a fiesta of numbers all around them, from one piñata to two maracas, six salsas and more. With vibrant illustrations and rhyming text, One is a Piñata is a fun counting book that little readers will love. ~ Hispanic – Preschool

More Pura Belpré-winning books: Pura Belpré Award Winners 1996 – 2019

Ruby’s Birds
by Mia Thompson

Follow spunky little Ruby as she uncovers the wild side of her city neighbourhood with the help of her neighbour. Ruby’s Birds is the exciting story of Ruby’s “spark moment” – the name bird lovers give the moment they get hooked. Includes a seek-and-find element, a bird poster, information about where to find all of the birds mentioned, Ruby’s tips for taking a nature walk, and how to connect with citizen-science project ‘Celebrate Urban Birds’. ~ African – Preschool

How a princess survives hair day
by Danielle Gordon

Most little girls with curly hair dread ‘hair day’ as it means sitting still for hours waiting for their hair to be finished. But, since it has to be done, why not make it more fun? How A Princess Survives Hair Day is filled with fun rhymes, ideas, and suggestions to do just that. Hair day may take all day, but that is okay! ~ African – Preschool

Black Girl Magic
by Mia Harris

“You are a mysterious piece to a magical puzzle!” Black Girl Magic is an expressively illustrated book that will inspire little black girls to love themselves, their hair and their skin. It promotes self-confidence and encourages them to know that they are pretty just the way they are. ~ African – Preschool

Elementary School

A Computer Called Katherine
by Suzanne Slade

Katherine knew it was wrong that African Americans didn’t have the same rights as others – as wrong as 5+5=12. She knew it was wrong that people thought women could only be teachers or nurses – as wrong as 10-5=3. And she proved everyone wrong by zooming ahead of her classmates, starting college at fifteen, and eventually joining NASA. Vibrantly illustrated A Computer Called Katherine is the inspiring true story of NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson whose calculations helped pioneer America’s first manned flight into space and to the moon. ~ African – Elementary School

More books about female trailblazers: 30 Diverse Children’s Anthologies About Trailblazing Women

The Yellow Suitcase
by Meera Sriram

Young Asha travels with her parents from America to India to mourn her grandmother’s passing. Asha’s grief and anger are compounded by the empty yellow suitcase usually reserved for gifts to and from Grandma, but when she discovers a gift left behind just for her, Asha realizes that the memory of her grandmother will live on inside her. The Yellow Suitcase is a thoughtful picture book about family, love and loss. ~ Asian – Elementary School

More Asian & Asian American books: 30 Asian & Asian American Children’s Books for Ages 0 to 18

Ana & Andrew (Set of 4)
by Christine Platt

Ana and Andrew live in Washington, DC with their parents, but with family in Savannah, Georgia and Trinidad, they are always on an adventure experiencing and learning new things about African American history and culture. The four titles in the Ana & Andrew series are aligned to Common Core standards and correlated to state standards. ~ African – Elementary School

More series for girls & boys: 40+ Multicultural Book Series for Girls & Boys

Yasmin in Charge
by Saadia Faruqi

Yasmin takes charge of some sticky situations, from rescuing a stuck toy for a friend to calming down monkeys and classmates. At home, at school, or out and about, the plucky Pakistani-American girl faces challenges head-on with creativity and quick thinking. Yasmin In Charge is a collection of four fun stories for early readers. ~ Asian – Elementary School

More books with Pakistani characters: 15 Children’ s Books set in Pakistan

Sarai and the Around the World Fair
by Monica Brown

Sarai And The Around The World Fair is the fourth book in a series inspired by the life of viral video sensation and social activist Sarai Gonzalez. When Sarai outgrows her bike, she worries she’ll never get to travel anywhere. But, when Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary hosts an Around the World Fair, Sarai learns that with a little imagination, you can go anywhere you want! ~ Hispanic – Elementary School

Everyday Superheroes: Women in STEM Careers
by Erin Twamley

Everyday Superheroes introduces young readers to 26 women in STEM careers who changed the world, from Dr Vandi Verma who guided a robot exploring Mars to Sonya Carey who imagined and designed famous Disney characters. Apart from learning about these amazing women, readers will explore the six superpowers important to STEM fields: curiosity, observation, problem-solving, collaboration, data collection and communication. ~ Diverse – Elementary School

More STEAM books: 50+ Multicultural STEAM Books for Children

Middle School

Sal and Gabi Break the Universe
by Carlos Hernandez

When Sal Vidon and Gabi Real meet for the first time, it isn’t under the best of circumstances. Sal is in the principal’s office for allegedly putting a raw chicken in Yasmany’s locker (that has since magically disappeared), and Gabi, student council president and editor of the school paper, is there to support her friend Yasmany. Sal prides himself on being an excellent magician. When Gabi learns that he’s capable of conjuring things much bigger than a chicken–including his dead mother– and she takes it all in stride, Sal knows that she is someone he can work with. There’s only one slight problem: their manipulation of time and space could put the entire universe at risk. Sal & Gabi Break The Universe is a hilarious and quirky novel that middle-graders won’t be able to put down. ~ Hispanic – Middle School

More Middle-Grade Novels: 21 Multicultural Middle-Grade Novels for Summer Reading

Cilla Lee-Jenkins: The Epic Story
by Susan Tan

Chinese-American Cilla Lee-Jenkins has already written a “Bestseller” and a “Classic”―now it’s time for her to write an Epic Story. Epics are all about brave heroes overcoming struggles to save the world, and this year, Cilla is facing her toughest struggles yet: She is in fifth grade and, unlike her classmates, not at all ready to start middle school; she has to look after two younger sisters who don’t get along, and her beloved grandfather YeYe has had a stroke and forgotten his English. With humour, heart and a lovable main character, Cilla Lee-Jenkins: The Epic Story will appeal to young readers entering middle school, especially aspiring young writers. ~ Asian – Middle School

More in the series: Cilla Lee-Jenkins: Future Author Extraordinaire // Cilla Lee-Jenkins: This Book Is a Classic

Elementals: Scorch Dragons
by Amie Kaufman

Scorch Dragons is the second book in this heart-stopping adventure series about siblings with magical shapeshifter powers. After the fateful battle between the ice wolves and the scorch dragons, Anders and his twin sister, Rayna, have been reunited. But there’s no time to celebrate. The ice wolves have stolen the weather-altering Snowstone, and every dragon, including Rayna, is now in danger. ~ African – Middle School

First Book in the series: Ice Wolves

A Good Kind of Trouble
by Lisa Moore Ramée

All twelve-year-old Shayla wants is to make it through seventh grade with her best friendships intact, learn to run track, and have a cute boy see past her giant forehead. But in junior high, she’s suddenly questioning who her best friends are and some people at school are saying she’s not black enough. Through her sister, she starts getting involved in the Black Lives Matter movement and soon has to decide to do what’s right. A Good Kind Of Trouble is a funny and big-hearted debut novel about family, friendship and standing up for what is right. ~ African – Middle School

Dreaded Dinner Party
by Destiny Henderson

Homeschooled Aucuria “Curi” Andrews is tired of her dinner party-throwing parents. But when a nasty couple tries to ruin her parents’ reputation, it’s up to Curi to put a stop to the slander. Along the way, she meets mischievous traveller Mister Wolfeman and ambitious Ophelia. Unfortunately, despite trying her best, Curi learns things can still go up in flames and the downside of idolizing people. ~ African – Middle School

How High the Moon
by Karyn Parsons

It’s 1944 and 12-year-old Ella spends her days fishing and running around with her best friend Henry and cousin Myrna in the small town of Alcolu, South Carolina. But she struggles with being bullied for her light skin tone her mother being away pursuing a jazz singer dream in Boston. So Ella is ecstatic when her mother invites her to visit for Christmas. Little does she expect the truths she will discover about her mother, the father she never knew and her family’s most unlikely history. After a life-changing month, she returns South and is shocked by the news that her schoolmate George has been arrested for the murder of two local white girls. How High the Moon is a bittersweet and powerful novel about a girl finding herself in a world that is determined to hold her down. ~ African – Middle School

High School

The Night I Lost My Father’s Gun
by Azmi Abusam

Elon X dreams of becoming a professional basketball player. That is the only thing that keeps him up in his dull life with an accomplished older sister, an absent father who named him after Malcolm X, and a mother who quotes Reverend King even from the depths of her alcoholism. But his dream ends when he is expelled and his mother wants to send him to a military school in Montana. Before he’s banished to the Rockies, he needs a getaway of his own making, if only for one night. ~ African – High School