October is National Bullying Prevention Month! Founded in 2006, it aims to educate communities across the U.S. and raise awareness about the devastating effects of bullying – from school avoidance and loss of self-esteem to anxiety, depression, and even … Read More
UPDATED SEPTEMBER 2022! It’s Banned Books Week‘s 40th anniversary! Launched in 1982 to create awareness of the harm of censorship, it celebrates the freedom to read and express ideas. Each year, many diverse children’s & YA books are … Read More
UPDATED NOVEMBER 2021! Talking to children and teenagers about racism and discrimination is as necessary as it is uncomfortable for most parents and educators (especially white ones). Necessary because racial bias in children starts as early as age … Read More
STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) has been an important part of the school curriculum for many years now. More recently, art has been added in order to emphasize the importance of creative thinking, and so STEM became … Read More
“Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them, humanity cannot survive.” Dalai Lama XIV UPDATED NOVEMBER 2018! Kindness and empathy are two of the most important social skills we can teach our children. Now more than ever, … Read More
Earlier this month, uncontrollable wildfires raged through our small South African town for several days, resulting in huge devastation and trauma for humans as well as animals. In amongst all the chaos, the whole community rallied together to … Read More
Recently I came across a wonderful UK initiative called Make a Noise in Libraries. It was started by RNIB, a charity for people with sight loss, and aims at making libraries more accessible and inclusive for visually impaired readers. This … Read More
Over and Under the Pond written by Kate Messner, illustrated by Christopher Silas Neal “Over the pond we slide, splashing through lily pads, sweeping through reeds. The water’s a mirror, reflecting the sky. Sunshine and clouds – … Read More
After the more serious topics of my two previous lists (5 Multicultural Picture Books about Mental Illness & 9 Multicultural Children’s Books about Autism), I thought it’s time for something more lighthearted, so I went on a search for laugh … Read More
May is Mental Health Awareness Month! I’ve searched the internet high and low for multicultural picture books about mental illness but was disappointed to find only a few (interestingly, most of them are older ones, written in the 90’s). … Read More