Reddit mentions: The best prejudice & racism books for children

I would absolutely love to read this book, I've only read the description, but it sounds really funny... however it's expensive and you wont be able to gift a lot of people.

So this book I would like to read too. Go for a penny book, with shipping it'll be $4. On my entertainment WL.

Labor Day

My favorite quote from a book is from Guess How Much I Love You?, Big Nutbrown Hare settled Little Nutbrown Hare into his bed of leaves. He leaned over and kissed him good night.

Then he lay down close by and whispered with a smile, "I love you right up to the moon - and back."

I think it's really normal at 4-5 for kids to be thinking about sameness and differentness and try to make sense of what they see.

The approach I take--after a lot of thought and research--is to teach and talk about skin color the same way we would about eye color or hair color. There are some good books that talk about the science of skin color - First Encyclopedia of the Human Body touches on it--my kid is obsessed with that book, All the Colors We Are takes a matter of fact and scientific approach. The book Children Just Like Me is another really useful resource when talking about different cultures and people.


I've also made a point to buy black, brown and Asian baby dolls and Barbies (not just the standard white ones) since she was about 2. At first I felt really self-conscious about doing this, but I think it's helped her see variety as the norm instead of thinking of her whiteness as normal and everything else as "other."

At this stage, that's the message you want to be instilling - everyone has lots of differences and they're all pretty darn normal and cool.

And finally--how to deal with loud kid comments in public. A few days ago my daughter shouted and pointed, "LOOK MOMMY! A little person!!! THAT'S NOT A KID!" I was embarrassed and felt bad and I told her in the moment that it's not nice to yell out people's differences because it might make them feel like everyone is looking at them--she got that--attention can be embarrassing.

When we got home we talked about dwarfism just like hair color or normal height -- it's something about you that get when you're born. I think I said something like, "even if a person is born to be a little person, their brain grows up just like yours or mine as they get older and when they're grown ups they have jobs and families just like any other grownup." She thought it was really really cool.

I'm sure she'll do it to me again. I don't know if there's a better way to handle it in the moment to be more respectful of others--but my main focus is trying to get a message of inclusiveness to my kid.

I dunno. This stuff is hard.

There have been a couple great posts on this topic lately; check out this one, this one and this one.

I don't think this needs to be a "when you're older" topic - skin comes in lots of different colors just like hair, eyes, etc. Of course this is something a child is going to notice and be curious about, especially if he hasn't been exposed to much racial diversity. A book like The Colors of Us or Who We Are!: All About Being the Same and Being Different might help you find appropriate ways to discuss those things with him. As for racism, that doesn't entirely need to be a "when you're older" topic either - the Dr. Seuss story The Sneetches is a fantastic age-appropriate introduction to the idea that some people choose to discriminate against others for superficial reasons like the way they look (in the case of the Sneetches, whether they have stars on their bellies), and how everyone loses out when that happens.

This is a great list of additional books and other resources dealing with race and racism: http://creativewithkids.com/resources-for-talking-to-kids-about-race-and-racism/ Never too early to start introducing more diversity into your son's awareness and encouraging acceptance of differences!

Since English is her second language, I would recommend children’s and YA books to start. You mention MLK and WWI; there are many children’s books on both these topics. This series from Penguin is very popular and includes many historical figures she might be interested in learning about. You can find the MLK one here.

It might also be worth it to get her an English Bible, so that she can experience something she’s already read before and compare the two. Along that vein, look at what movies or tv shows she likes. Many are based off books and could be a good place to start. Wishing her luck!!

I'm a teacher in an urban, low-income public high school. What would make my job easier is ANYTHING off of my Teacher wishlist! This could include supplies, BOOKS, healthy snacks for hungry kids, BOOKS, BOOKS, or BOOKS. ;) Used books are FINE. I have a whole wishlist for these items, and most of the books are personally requested by some of my students!

Suggestions (The following all have penny options!):

• Shakespeare's Insults, requested by their teacher, as I borrowed a copy of this from a coworker for an interesting intro to William lesson using rap lyrics where we learned how to translate Shakespeare's language!
  
  
• Black and White, requested by Isaiah
  
  
• The Outside Shot, requested by Jerriontae
  
  
• Story of a Girl, requested by my student Camay
  
  
• Rooftop, requested by my student Alexis
  
  THANKS!
  
  Mike Mike Mike Mike Mike Mike

I know Dara Hoffman-Fox does great work with gender exploration on their Facebook page and Youtube channel(?). They have The Gender Identity Workbook for Kids on their website and it seems great and age-appropriate.

My daughter liked all of these books:

• Keena Ford - several books in this series. Here is one - https://www.amazon.com/Keena-Second-Grade-Mix-Up-Melissa-Thomson/
  
• The Ugly Vegetables - https://www.amazon.com/Ugly-Vegetables-Grace-Lin/
  
• A chapter book by the same author - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/031606002X/
  
  World Snacks Series introduces the idea of different cultures to toddlers:
  
  
• https://www.amazon.com/Yum-Dim-Sum-World-Snacks/dp/1582461082/
  
• https://www.amazon.com/Chaat-Sweets-Amy-Wilson-Sanger/dp/1582461937/
  
  The "who was" and "I am" books are pretty good for a diverse group of historical figures. For example (we haven't read all of these):
  
  
• https://www.amazon.com/Martin-Luther-Ordinary-People-Change/dp/0525428526
  
• https://www.amazon.com/Gandhi-Ordinary-People-Change-World/dp/0735228701
  
• https://www.amazon.com/Who-Helen-Keller-Gare-Thompson/dp/0448431440/
  
• https://www.amazon.com/Who-Sacagawea-Judith-Bloom-Fradin/dp/0448424851
  
• https://www.amazon.com/Who-Was-Anne-Frank-Abramson/dp/0448444828/
  
• https://www.amazon.com/Who-Malala-Yousafzai-Was/dp/0448489376/
  
• https://www.amazon.com/Rosa-Parks-Yona-Zeldis-McDonough/dp/0448454424/
  
  
  A might girl is also a great resource for books about powerful girls and women:
  https://www.amightygirl.com/books
  
  They have categories for "multi-cultural fiction", "world regions" and "prejudice / Discrimination":
  
  
• https://www.amightygirl.com/books/fiction/multicultural-fiction
  
• https://www.amightygirl.com/books/general-interest/world-regions
  
• https://www.amightygirl.com/books/social-issues/prejudice-discrimination

Hmmm...If the goal is to make him enjoy fiction novels, then it makes sense in my book to start with realistic, sports-themed novels.

In which case, the novel I'd recommend is Finding Buck McHenry.

An eleven-year-old boy is cut from his Little League team. Despondent, he spends a lot of time at the baseball card shop. There, he begins to realize that his school's custodian, Mack Henry is really a legendary player from the Negro Leagues--famed pitcher Buck McHenry!

It was also part of the "Feature Films For Families."

He may also enjoy Jerry Spinelli's books. While Maniac Magee is the most beloved, I'd recommend Crash.

Follow John "Crash" Coogan as he goes from a popular jock and star football player to learning what really matters. He's great at the sport he loves but what he also delights in tormenting his neighbor Penn Webb, a gentle pacifistic Quaker.

Over the course of the seventh grade year, Crash and Webb's lives get more intertwined and Crash is forced to take a hard look at what he is, and what he does, and who he wants to be.

I'll see if I can think of any others.

I love the penny books <3 Made buying school books less painful. Uuuh, this is one of my favorite books but I lent out my copy and it never made its way back to me.

Awesome contest!

We really like this book.. Shades of People. It straightforwardly says that people come in different colors, and that's just great.

Came here to post this:

http://www.amazon.com/Henrys-Freedom-Box-Underground-Railroad/dp/043977733X

It has reached "beloved" status in the picture book world. Great story!

Ooh that one looks great! I teach first grade so have a ridiculous list of all the books I plan on aquiring. Here’s one I love!

Added yesterday! Not sure if I'm linking this correctly but http://www.amazon.com/Henrys-Freedom-Box-Underground-Railroad/dp/043977733X/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=6ATZZU7BRZN1&coliid=I28ILSRXXRAYWR is 12.36 =] Also, can someone tell me how to make the link just say the words I want to it say instead of the entire link? If that makes any sense...

Could it be Sahwira: An African Friendship?

>The strong friendship between two boys, one black and one white, who live on a mission in Rhodesia, begins to unravel as protests against white colonial rule intensify in 1964.

She may respond to books about children more like herself:
Big Hair, Don't Care

Marisol McDonald

Mixed Me

I am Mixed

We're Different, We're the Same - Sesame Street book!

Black, White, Just Right

Mixed Me - Different than earlier title.

Chloe's Curls

The Skin You Live In

Diverse Energies


Kaleidoscope: Diverse YA Science Fiction and Fantasy Stories


Join In: Multiethnic Short Stories by Outstanding Writers for Young Adults


Free?: Stories About Human Rights


You Don't Even Know Me: Stories and Poems About Boys


Open Mic: Riffs on Life Between Cultures in Ten Voices


Flying Lessons & Other Stories

[The Best Bad Luck I Ever Had] (http://www.amazon.com/The-Best-Bad-Luck-Ever/dp/0142416487/ref=sr_1_8?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1331222761&sr=1-8&tag=bookforyouru-20)

> Unsurprisingly, there are no children's books about the topic.

This bio of Ida B. Wells covers lynching as part of her life story, and it's totally appropriate for a 7 year old (not too graphic). I think it does a good job of putting lynching into its context of racist power, but also has the nice side benefit of showing how a kick-ass woman helped fight against it.

https://www.amazon.com/Ida-B-Wells-Truth-Told/dp/0060544686/

To Be Free: Understanding and Eliminating Racism

[To Be Free: Understanding and Eliminating Racism]
(http://www.amazon.com/Be-Free-Understanding-Eliminating-Racism/dp/1890434809/ref=sr_1_9?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1330933064&sr=1-9&tag=bookforyoudm-20)

http://www.amazon.com/The-Gymsuit-Puffin-Modern-Classics/dp/0142402508/

You're welcome, OP.

There is hope for you.

Mercer Mayer already showed us what the offspring looks like.

https://www.amazon.com/Just-Little-Different-Golden-Book/dp/0307988759

Concentration camps: Where you go to play baseball

https://www.amazon.com/Baseball-Saved-Us-Ken-Mochizuki/dp/1880000199

https://www.amazon.com/Barbed-Wire-Baseball-Japanese-Internment/dp/1419720589

https://www.amazon.com/Lucky-Baseball-Japanese-American-Internment-Historical/dp/0766033112

Baseball Saved Us I believe was based on a mans time at the camp. I was in elementary school in Puyallup when the book was released, so we read it. Oh, it is intended for children. It wasn't like we were watching Schindler's List or anything.

https://www.amazon.com/Baseball-Saved-Us-Ken-Mochizuki/dp/1880000199

I read this too, in elementary school.

But that's what happens in an NYC public school and NYC public libraries. Not sure I can say the same for other systems.