PK-2

Ashley Lukashevsky’s colorful illustrations show diverse toddlers and their parents happily living anti-racist lives as prescribed by Ibram X. Kendi in nine steps “to make equity a reality.” Each rhyming step teaches caregivers the active role they play in raising an anti-racist baby. This was first published as a board book and is now in picture book format. Lukashevsky’s inspiring illustrations complement Kendi’s important messages about how to cultivate justice.

Consider discussing ways your students have seen justice-in-action, stood up for justice, and/or how they too can make sure each person is treated equally. Student anecdotes can provide others with windows and/or mirrors.

Award-winning author and illustrator Derrick Barnes and Gordon C. James team up again to show Black boys’ humanity in this timely, newly released realistic fiction text. Black boys are affirmed, through poetic statements, that they are good. James’ oil paintings display Black boys thriving and good, conveying an anti-racist message for all readers.

Consider creating a classroom collage titled "Good Black Boys and Men" which will serve as a window and/or mirror. Brainstorm students' ideas, and then include images and/or names of family, friends, neighbors, and community leaders.

Close-up illustrations by Theodore Tayler, a Coretta Scott King and John Steptoe New Talent Award (2014) winner, depict a joyful woke baby who raises his fist and babbles songs of freedom, enacting gestures of resistance. Told in the second person, you, Mahogany L. Brown commands the justice-oriented baby of color to “cry out for justice” and “grow up to change the world.” This inspirational depiction also offers allies an opportunity to discuss a commitment to justice.

Consider discussing why and how people "cry out for justice." Then consult with the school librarian to find stories of people who grew up and changed the world. These memoirs, autobiographies, or biographies provide windows into other lives.

The first book in Joshunda Sanders's Ava Murray Writes the World series, I Can Write the World offers a poetic description of eight-year-old Ava's Bronx, New York neighborhood. Ava sees her community differently than the media. Ava's positive impressions are boldly illustrated Coretta Scott King Award-winning illustrator Charly Palmer.

Consider Ava Murray's Bronx neighborhood. How might it be a mirror of your school community's neighborhood? Or, how is Ava's neighborhood a window or sliding glass door?

Actor and first-time children's book author Lupita Nyong'o inspires readers through a fanciful story of Sulwe who struggles with her dark skin. Sulwe's skin is darker than her schoolmates' and even her sister's. Through a mythical journey in which she learns about the origins of Day and Night, Sulwe recognizes her own inner beauty. Vashti Harrison's warm and dreamy illustrations contribute wonder to the story. A 2020 Coretta Scott King Honor Book for Harrison's illustrations and a NAACP Image Award winner, Sulwe is a fresh take on colorism and a shines through with a Black girl role model.

Consider pairing Sulwe and You Matter with the shared purpose of helping your students see their own light within, one's unique beauty. Encourage students to draw a self-portrait, and then list all the ways they are unique and matter. The goal is for the child to have a figurative mirror of self-worth.

Continue to exhibit Grades 3-5