Bringing in the New Year by Grace Lin is a delightful story showing a family of Chinese background celebrating the New Year. The vibrant illustrations are glorious all by themselves!
One of all time favorite Lunar New Year books is Ten Mice for Tet by Pegi Deitz Shea, Cynthia Weill, Ngọc Trang Tô , Pham Viet-Dinh , To Ngoc Trang , and Pham Viet Dinh Not only is it a celebration of the Lunar New Year in Vietnam, it is also a delightful counting book. The embroidered illustrations are stunningly brilliant.
We have a few new picture books that celebrate our differences in other ways.
Donovan's
Big Day by Lesléa Newman is a sweet story about a boy getting all
dressed up for a special occasion. You won't find out what it is all
about til the end of the book.
When I get Older: The story behind "Wavin' Flag" by K'naan gave me chills when I read it. In it Kn'naan tells the story of his journey from Somalia to Canada and how he came to write this famous song.
While I love the power of picture books, I also have a few favorite novels on the topic of diversity.
A Group of One by Rachna Gilmore (who can do no wrong in my book), is the story of a girl born in Canada, but whose parents were originally from India. This is a story of coming to grips with who you are, irrespective of what others expect or think of you.
Finally, I love this book, Boy Meets Boy, by David Levithan. It breaks my heart and makes me dream of of the possibility of a high school where everyone is accepted for who they really are. It is the way I want it to be. It is the way it will be some day soon. This book is fun, frivolous, and seriously intense all at the same time.
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