Tag: Picture Books

Watch our Anti-Racist Education Webinar & find Reading List Recommendations

Watch our anti-racist education webinar, featuring authors Dr. Crystal M. Fleming (Rise Up: How You Can Join the Fight Against White Supremacy), Bethany C. Morrow (So Many Beginnings: A Little Women Remix), and Aminah Mae Safi (Travelers Along the Way: A Robin Hood Remix). In this conversation moderated by Julia Torres, a teacher-librarian in Denver Public Schools, the authors discussed how educators and librarians can build a more inclusive collection for their schools and libraries.

Watch the Anti-Racist Education webinar recording here!

Find more resources mentioned during the event below:

More Resources for Continuing Anti-Racist Education: 
ILA Children’s Right to Read
NCTE Intellectual Freedom Center
NCTE Committee Against Racism and Bias in the Teaching of English (CARBTE)
American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual FreedomDisrupt Texts
Diversity in Children’s Books Infographic (2018) by Sarah Park Dahlen

More Anti-Racist Book Lists to Build Your Collection 
Social Justice Books
We are KidLit Collective

Nonfiction to Pair with So Many Beginnings by Bethany C. Morrow:
Time Full of Trial: The Roanoke Island Freedmen’s Colony, 1862-1867 by Patricia C. Click 

Nonfiction to Pair with Travelers Along the Way by Aminah Mae Safi:
The Crusades Through Arab Eyes by Amin Maalouf

Nonfiction to Pair with Rise Up by Crystal M. Fleming:
Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong by James W. Loewen 

Check out our list nonfiction and fiction books to add to your anti-racist collections and classroom curriculums. Create more inclusive, representative and equitable collections by incorporating these newly published works and backlist favorites into your school and library collections!

Download a list of our Anti-Racist Reading Recommendations here!

Teacher’s Guide: I Wish You Knew

Download the bilingual teacher’s guide for the English and Spanish editions of this powerful new picture book!

I Wish You Knew by Jackie Azúa Kramer; illustrated by Magdalena Mora

When Estrella’s father has to leave because he wasn’t born here, like her,

She misses him.

And she wishes people knew the way it affects her.

At home. At school.

Always.

But a school wrapped around a hundred-year-old oak tree is the perfect place to share and listen.

Some kids miss family,
Some kids are hungry,
Some kids live in shelters.

But nobody is alone.

A story about deportation, divided families, and the importance of community in the midst of uncertainty.

Ojalá supieras by Jackie Azúa Kramer; illustrated by Magdalena Mora

Un cuento oportuno y conmovedor sobre la incertidumbre que siente una joven cuando deportan a su padre—y la empatía que crece cuando compartimos y nos escuchamos unos a los otros.

Cuando el papá de Estrella tiene que irse
porque no nació aquí como ella,
Estrella lo extraña.

Ella desea que la gente supiera como le afecta.
En su casa. En la escuela.
Siempre.

Su escuela rodea un roble centenario,
y ese árbol es el lugar perfecto para compartir.

Algunos niños extrañan a su familia,
algunos niños tienen hambre,
algunos viven en refugios.

Pero nadie está solo si otros están dispuestos a escuchar.

Un cuento sobre la deportación, familias separadas, y la importancia de comunicad en momentos de incertidumbre.

Download the bilingual I Wish You Knew teacher’s guide here.

Download the School’s First Day of School Activity Kit!

Need back-to-school icebreakers or storytime ideas? Download this activity kit to be used alongside School’s First Day of School! “A perfect first day read-aloud,” says School Library Journal!

School’s First Day of School story by Adam Rex; pictures by Christian Robinson

It’s the first day of school at Frederick Douglass Elementary and everyone’s just a little bit nervous, especially the school itself. What will the children do once they come? Will they like the school? Will they be nice to him?

The school has a rough start, but as the day goes on, he soon recovers when he sees that he’s not the only one going through first-day jitters.

Adam Rex has written several books for young readers, including the New York Times bestselling Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich and The True Meaning of Smekday. His first day of school was at Lookout Mountain Elementary in Phoenix. He lives now with his wife and son in Tucson.

Christian Robinson‘s award-winning books for young readers include Josephine, which was a Coretta Scott King Honor Book as well as a Sibert Honor Book and Harlem’s Little Blackbird, which was an NAACP Image Award nominee. His latest book Last Stop on Market Street earned four starred reviews and was on the New York Times bestseller list. This is his first book for Roaring Brook Press.

Download the School’s First Day of School activity kit here!

Praise for School’s First Day of School:

A New York Times Bestseller
Boston Globe Best Books of the Year
Goodreads Choice Awards
Washington Post Best Books of the Year
Publishers Weekly Best Books of the Year
Kirkus Reviews Best Books of the Year

★ SEVEN STARRED REVIEWS! ★

★ “An essential purchase that is simultaneously funny, frank, and soothing. A perfect first day read-aloud.”—School Library Journal

★ “Sure to become a staple for first days of school everywhere.”—Horn Book

★ “This charming reversal of first-day-of-school nerves will delight little ones and help put their own anxieties at bay.”—Booklist

★ “A delightful, perspective-tweaking back-to-school picture book.”—Shelf Awareness

★ “Deftly juggles well-placed jokes and keen insights into feeling comfortable in one’s own skin—or bricks, as the case may be.”—Publishers Weekly

★ “Using his signature, simple style, Robinson alternates scenes of the building and its interiors with shots that show the boisterously diverse kids’ first day. A unique point of view makes this school book stand out.”—Kirkus Reviews


★ “A new and promising approach for school-shy youngsters, and it’ll make the already school-positive want to give their beloved building a hug.”—Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

Storytime: Dean Robbins reads Thank You, Dr. Salk!

Join Dean Robbins for a read-aloud of Thank You, Dr. Salk!, an educational and timely nonfiction picture book with illustrations from Mike Dutton.

Thank You, Dr. Salk! The Scientist Who Beat Polio by Dean Robbins, illustrated by Mike Dutton

Jonas Salk wasn’t seen as a brave hero—not at first. As a child he was quiet and unassuming, but Jonas dreamed of tikkun olam, the Jewish phrase for “healing the world.” He saw the polio virus strike his city, and he knew that with determination and hard work, he could be the one to stop its spread. So he grew up to study medicine, ultimately creating the polio vaccine that saved untold numbers of lives—and healed the world!

With Dean Robbins’s inspiring text and Mike Dutton’s dynamic illustrations, Thank You, Dr. Salk! is a true and timely story of trials, triumph, and what it takes to achieve your dreams. An author’s note provides additional insight into Dr. Salk’s life and influences, and the history of vaccines.

Praise for Thank You, Dr. Salk!

“A hardworking title, this is a great choice for allaying vaccination fears, communicating the importance of science and medicine, showing that heroes come in many forms, and explaining that education, creativity, resilience, and dedication can lead to achievements and concrete results. An engaging blend of history, biography, science, and epidemiology that is sure to inspire and inform.” —Booklist

“Robbins’ biography is particularly timely within the context of the coronavirus epidemic, and his direct, streamlined account connects well with early primary listeners, who may take some comfort in knowing that science has managed to get other epidemics under control.” —The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

Shelf Essentials: Diversify your bookshelf!

What is Shelf Essentials?

Shelf Essentials is a backlist publishing initiative presented by Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group to highlight picture books from beloved BIPOC Creators. With this program we lift up critically acclaimed stories, authors, and illustrators, and will encourage readers everywhere to celebrate different cultures and make storytime more inclusive. From tender family stories to important conversation starters, no bookshelf is complete without these essentials reads. Each season we will showcase five backlist picture books, all available in paperback, some for the first time.

To learn more about Shelf Essentials, check out our brochure on Issuu here
and keep reading to preview our Fall 2020 Shelf Essentials selections!

Learn more about our Fall 2021 Shelf Essentials here →

Author Lydia M. Sigwarth shares the true story behind Dear Librarian + check out our Librarian Hall of Fame!

★ Dear Librarian Hall of Fame ★

Librarians provide so many vital services to their community and truly make a difference in the lives of their patrons, just like Lydia Sigwarth’s librarian Deb Stephenson. To celebrate the release of Dear Librarian, we asked readers to nominate a librarian who made a difference in their lives for their chance to win a grand prize! We received over 1,900 entries to our Dear Librarian sweepstakes, filled with stories of librarians going above and beyond for their patrons. We’re excited to share some of our favorite entries below! Thank you to these life-changing librarians for all that you do for your community!

Betsy Bird interviewed Lydia Sigwarth about the book, and how she and Deb Stephenson felt when they read these nominations: Lydia said, “We especially loved stories that reflected our own – kids whose lives had been changed by a special librarian in their life. It was also so inspiring to see all the amazing things librarians are doing all over the country. From rural communities to NYC to Alaska, librarians were making a difference in their communities and it was so, so hard to pick favorites when they all obviously deserved to be celebrated.”
Read the full interview on the Fuse 8 blog!

Learn more about Dear Librarian by Lydia M. Sigwarth, illustrated by Romina Galotta!

Praise for Dear Librarian:

“A gentle ode to the effect one person can have on another, and what a library can offer a community.” —Publishers Weekly

“A cogent, warming reminder that public libraries have always been more than just repositories for books.” —Kirkus Reviews

“A heartfelt tribute to the power of libraries, and the power of kindness.” —Mara Wilson, actress and author

Download the Dear Librarian activity kit here!