Embedded Files
Picture Books
Keith Haring: The Boy Who Just Kept Drawing (2017)
Keith Haring: The Boy Who Just Kept Drawing (2017)
Written by Kay A. Haring (Keith's sister); Illustrated by Robert Neubeck
Summary: This book is about Keith Haring as a kid until being a grown up and why he draw, where he got his ideas from and why he just kept on drawing!
Recommended Audience: Elementary - Elders
Review: Great book with accurate information about Keith and his life written by his sister. The back of the book has great photos of Keith in it and more of his history and about the artwork that is shown in the book.
Listen and read along with Kay reading the book!
Finding My Dance (2022)
Finding My Dance (2022)
Written by: Ria Thundercloud and Kalila J Fuller
Written by: Ria Thundercloud and Kalila J Fuller
Summary: This picture book memoir by Indigenous professional dancer Ria Thundercloud explores how her journey with dance helped her find pride in her Native American heritage. While dance of all kind always brought her joy Ria Thundercloud experience loneliness as the only indigenous girl in her class at school. Now grown with her own child she reflects on how traveling the world dancing has brought her home to her traditional dance of the Ho-Chunk Nation and Sandia Pueblo. Pair with Ria Thundercloud's Eagle Dance in Glamour Magazine: https://www.glamour.com/video/watch/the-beauty-of-cultural-appreciation
Recommended Audience: Kindergarten - 6th+
Review: An engaging text with beautiful images. It is an accessible story that invites readers into the dancer's Ho-Chunk heritage. A necessary and joyful read!
Being You - A First Conversation about Gender (2021)
Being You - A First Conversation about Gender (2021)
Written by Megan Madison, Jessica Ralli, & Anne/Andy Passchier
Summary: This book is all about Gender from the lens of Body Parts, what gender folks were assigned at birth, the gender binary, gender stereotypes, gender pronouns, gender expression and play, Feminism, the patriarchy and empowerment to be an activist.
Recommended Audience: young children and appropriate for folks of all ages
Review: This book talks about so much important ways people are and in this world and talks about it in a way that is easy to understand. A great book to read with people of all ages and then have a discussion about your own gender.
Resources: firstconversations.com
Listen and watch Andy the illustrator read the book here
I Color Myself Different (2022)
I Color Myself Different (2022)
Written by Colin Kaepernick
Summary: "The story you just read is true" is written at the back of the book where Colin shares more about his experiences of growing up black and the biases that people learn. Kids in his class asked him why he is a differernt color than the rest of his family. The book goes into how Colin was adopted and his journey of loving his black self and other important black folks around him.
Recommended Audience: Elementary - Elders
Review: Great book to talk about Race and Adoption and the back of the book is Colin writing a letter and a picture of him as a kid. The back also has the names and a little info about the black leaders mentioned in the book.
I was surpised that there were not resources or links about adoption.
Book Read Aloud
Middle Grade
Middle Grade
Ellen Outside the Lines (2023)
Ellen Outside the Lines (2023)
Written by A. J. Sass
Written by A. J. Sass
Summary: Thirteen-year-old Ellen Katz prefers a well-structured life. She's Jewish. She knows she likes girls. She feels at ease with her autism because of her best friend, Laurel. However, Laurel has been making new friends and canceling plans with Ellen more often. A school trip to Barcelona is intended to help them reconnect, but it challenges Ellen's worldview, especially with the arrival of a nonbinary classmate. As the trip unfolds, with a scavenger hunt and cultural exploration, Ellen learns that friendships can change and that life is unpredictable, ultimately discovering a new sense of comfort in embracing the unexpected.
Recommended Audience: Grades 3 +
Review: I really enjoyed this book for its authentic portrayal of Ellen navigating her complex world. The story captures her confusion and growth without resorting to a "woe-is-me" narrative, presenting multi-dimensional characters who are relatable and flawed. I found the unpredictable plot refreshing, as it kept me guessing about what would happen next. I was curious about the author's connection to Ellen's identities, and I felt relieved to learn that Ellen was based on the author, who shares her autistic, queer, and Jewish identities. This added a layer of authenticity that enhanced my appreciation of the story.
Young Adult
Young Adult
Last Night at the Telegraph Club (2021)
Last Night at the Telegraph Club (2021)
Written by Malinda Lo
Written by Malinda Lo
Summary: Lily Hu is seventeen and a senior in high school when a series of very important things happen in short succession: she becomes friends with Kathleen Miller, the only other girl in her advanced math class; her Shanghai born father is questioned by the FBI for possible ties to the communists in China; and she sees an ad for a "male impersonator" at an underground lesbian bar called The Telegraph Club that she cannot get out of her mind. Suddenly Lily's lifetime of suppressed longings and hidden desires begin to bubble to surface, even as her family's life in the United States hangs in the balance.
Recommended Audience: Grades 9+
Review: This novel deftly explores the complicated layers of marginalized identity, as Lily faces racism and xenophobia in spaces where her sexuality is accepted and homophobia in the spaces she feels most at home as a Chinese American. The flashbacks to her parents and aunt also help us to see how everyone in Lily's orbit has struggled with figuring out who they are and what they want. Ultimately, this was a moving and beautiful exploration of first love, the complexity of identity, and defining your future on your own terms.
Suggested Other Readings: Malinda Lo's essay "Identity and Possibility", originally published in 2020, provides excellent food for thought about how identity shows up in our classrooms as curriculum.
This website is a work in progress and reflects the opinions of the professionals in the course Exploring Diversity in Children's Books 2024-2025. Please use this as a starting point and use your own judgment as to whether or not a book is appropriate for your teaching goals.
This website is a work in progress and reflects the opinions of the professionals in the course Exploring Diversity in Children's Books 2024-2025. Please use this as a starting point and use your own judgment as to whether or not a book is appropriate for your teaching goals.
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