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(P) The Name Jar by Yangsook Choi (Chinese American/ELL) The Name Jar is a picture book about a young girl who moves from Korea named Unhei (which means grace). Before she leaves for America, her grandma gave her a stamp to remember her special Korean name. On her first day of school Unhei shares her name with some of her peers, but they have a hard time pronouncing it. This embarasses Unhei and makes her want a different name, a name that is more American and not so different. Unhei’s new class helps her create a “name jar”, which is filled with papers of names (suggested by the kids in the class) that Unhei could chose from, for her new American name. Each day the number of papers continues to grow, until one day the jar goes mysteriously missing and Unhei has to make a choice. In the end of the story she keeps her Korean name, and her friend Joey (from the class) fesses up to stealing it because he wanted Unhei to keep her Korean name. Joey even has his own Korean name called “Chinku”, meaning friend. This book is perfect for teaching children acceptance of other people and themselves. It teaches children that being different is perfectly fine. Interest Level: K- 2 Grade Level Equivalent: 2.8-3.2
(P) The Composition by Antonio Skarmeta This book is about a bright, young boy named Pedro who loves soccer and is a resident in an unknown country (somewhere in Latin America) that uses the unpopular form of government, dictatorship. Pedro’s parents and his neighbors always get together and listen to the radio about things that are going on from a “long way away”. Although Pedro just thinks that his parents listening to the radio is a normal part of their life, he eventually finds out that there is a reason behind it. His parents and even his neighbors aren’t big fans of the way that their country is run. This becomes clear to Pedro after the awful day that he see’s one of his teammates own father be taken away by a group of soldiers. Confused by the situation, Pedro goes right to his parents and asks them many questions. His mom and dad tell him that his teammate’s father was taken away because he doesn’t agree with the way that their country is run and that they don’t agree with it as well. The situation doesn’t stop here...it follows Pedro to school when a Captain named Captain Romo comes into Pedro’s school and makes all of them participate in a contest to win a gold medal, a sash and to walk in the Patriot’s Week parade, holding the country flag. The children have to write a composition called “What my family Does at Night”. Scared that his own parents might be taken away, Pedro lies and writes a composition that is boring. He just talks about how he plays soccer and eats food, and that is family plays chess every night. He makes the smart choice and picks his family’s safety over a gold medal, sash and carrying the country flag. This book is great for teaching children the importance of their family’s safety over materialistic items. It is also great for teaching children that they should be thankful for how much freedom we have in our country. The illustrations in this book are done very well and really provoke the character’s emotions. Interest Level: 2nd-5th grade Grade Level Equivalent: 3.5
(P) Tea with Milk by Allen Say This picture book is about a young girl named Masako whose parents decide to move back to Japan (their native land) because they miss it. However Masako was born and raised with an American heritage, so moving to Japan causes her to have an identity crisis. She is forced to repeat high school, and follow the typical Japan culture such as drinking green tea and act like a proper lady who is waiting for a husband. This is very unlike how Masako grew up in America, where she lived her life as a free spirit, drank tea with milk and was planning on heading to college. After Masako’s parents tried to arrange her to marry a bank teller, she decides to rebel against the Japanese culture. She travels to a city and looks to start over in Japan, by finding a job. However when she gets to the city, she is stuck saying hello and bowing to customers at a store as a job. Eventually things get better for Masako after she is praised for her ability to speak English. She is offered a job translating and assisting customers that speak English and come to visit Japan. At her job she also meets her future husband, Joseph, who was once just as stuck with finding himself in the Japanese culture. This book is great to read to students to teach them to be true to themselves and to do what makes them feel the happiest. Interest Level: K-4 Grade Level Equivalent: 3.4-3.5
(P) And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell (LGBT) This picture book focuses on two boy penguins named Roy and Silo who live in Central Park Zoo and do everything together. They spend each day either swimming, eating, or sleeping together. As Zookeeper Mr. Gramzay said, these two male penguins were in love. Roy and Silo are able to do everything that other boy and girl penguin couples can do, except have a baby. Both males take turns and try to hatch a rock because they want a baby penguin of their own to cuddle and hold. After noticing the two penguins struggling, Mr. Gramzay provides Roy and Silo with an egg that needs to be watched and sat on. After taking extra good care of the egg, it hatches and outcomes their little baby, named Tango. Tango was the first ever penguin in the Central Park Zoo to have two dads. This book is great to teach children to accept all people, even if their family may not be viewed as “traditional”. It demonstrates how it is okay to be different because you can still do things that all other couples, families or in this case animals do. Interest Level: K-1 Grade Level Equivalent: 3.8
(P) Bully by Patricia Polacco (Bullying) This book focuses on a young girl named Lyla who moves to a new area and goes to a new school. Things start off great for Lyla; she becomes friends with Jamie who is also a new student, makes the cheerleading team and even has the best grades. She is even able to get a Facebook, laptop and cellphone from her parents so she can fit in more with the other kids at school. With the help of Jamie she is able to make the coolest Facebook page. Things continue to get better for Lyla when she becomes friends with 3 popular cheerleaders (Gage, Maeven and Kenyon) who give her a makeover and teach her how to act cool. Lyla begins to act more like these girls by not talking to Jamie in public and watching the girls write hurtful things on other student’s social media. Once these girls write something mean on Lyla’s brother’s wall, Lyla completely removes herself from these toxic group of girls. Because Lyla left their group, these girls decide to frame Lyla and say that she stole the State test to get the answers before it was given. This lie about Lyla has the whole school (even her teachers) think that Lyla’s a cheater and never tried hard for her grades. People were writing mean things on Lyla’s Facebook page about her. Eventually being the good friend that he is, Jamie turns in Gage and says that he saw her take the state test. Things get much better for Lyla after this and the school decided to get rid of technology for social use in school to prevent any bullying. This book is great when teaching kids about how dangerous and harmful cyberbullying can be. It makes kids realize that they need to always think before they post something. It also demonstrates the importance of friendship, being courageous and being honest in all situations, even when it may be the most difficult. Interest Level: 2-4 Grade Level Equivalent: 3
(P) Grandmother’s Dreamcatcher by Becky Ray McCain This book is about a young, Native American girl named Kimmy who is staying at her grandmother’s house (cabin) in the woods, while her parents go to Chicago to find a new home. Until her parents find a home that is closer to her dad’s work, Kimmy will be spending time at the cabin. Being away from her parents and not living in her house, is not the only thing that Kimmy struggles with. Kimmy consistently has these awful, bad dreams that leave her frightened and upset. Realizing how upset her granddaughter is, Kimmy’s grandmother (who is also Chippewa) teaches Kimmy how to make a dreamcatcher. Dreamcatchers are a part of their Native American culture, and helps Kimmy with having bad dreams. Not only does making a dreamcatcher help Kimmy with her dreams, but it also allows Kimmy and her grandma to bond more and also teaches Kimmy more about her Native American background. This book is great for teaching students about other cultures and backgrounds. It’s also a very relatable book for all kids because everyone has experienced bad dreams before. Interest Level: Pre-K- 2nd grade Grade Level Equivalent: 2.4
(C) Mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine (Autism Spectrum) Kathryn Erskine’s book Mockingbird focuses on an 11 year old autistic girl who is dealing with a lot of heavy problems. She lost both her brother and her mother, something that most 11 year olds don’t deal with. Her mother had died from an aggressive cancer and her brother died from a school shooting. Throughout the book, Caitlin, other students at the school and even her father try to get past this life changing shooting. School counselor Mrs. Brooks, goes out of her way to help Caitlin’s life easier after all this loss in her life. However after Mrs. Brooks see’s how difficult it is for Caitlin to empathize and make friends, she realizes that Caitlin needs “to find closure”. From the help of friends Josh and Michael, Caitlin is able to enhance her knowledge about how life and people work. She is able to step away from the extreme “all or nothing” or “black and white thinking” and into a more insightful outlook on life. Interest Level: Grade 5-6 Grade Level Equivalent: 3.5
(P) Elmer by David McKee (Diversity) In Elmer’s herd there are elephants that are either old or young, tall or short, fat or thin but almost all are the same color...except for Elmer. Elmer is what they called the “patchwork elephant” and is a multitude of colors. Elmer’s the elephant that’s always willing to come up with solutions and always lightens up the herd by keeping others laughing. However when the other elephants laugh, Elmer feels miserable inside. He believes that the elephants laugh at him and don’t take him seriously because he looks differently. After numerous days of laughter from the other elephants, Elmer gets sick of it and sneaks away through the forest and into a pile of berries. He rolls and rolls in the berries until his patchwork skin is no longer visible. He finally becomes the same color as all the other elephants, however he begins to feel unnoticed. Even when he was still gray he tried scare the other elephants, but they just ignore him and say “too bad Elmer isn’t here to share the fun”. Right after this, an unexpected rainstorm comes and washes away all of the gray from Elmer’s skin. The other elephants absolutely love Elmer’s joke so much, that they decide one day a year they would decorate themselves in all different colors (like Elmer) and Elmer will make himself look like an ordinary elephant in gray. This book is great to use in the classroom when talking about treating all people equally, even if they look differently. It also emphasizes that being different isn’t a bad thing; it’s actually cool because it makes you stand out.
Interest Level: Pre-k - 3rd Grade
Grade Level Equivalent: 3.2
(P) The Can Man by Laura E. Williams (Helping Others)
Tim’s birthday is coming up and there is nothing that he wants more than a skateboard. However, right now money is not something that can just be spent on things that are not a necessity. In order to earn money for his skateboard he collects empty cans at the end of each day. He follows exactly what the can man does everyday. At the end of the week, Tim makes enough money to buy a brand new skateboard. With the help of the can man, he was able to carry all the cans down for coins. As they boys carry the cans down, the can man mentions that he hopes to earn enough money to buy a new winter coat before the first snowfall. After Tim receives the coins, the can man leaves empty handed and as he leaves the first snowflake falls. Tim decides to use his own personal judgement against wants and needs and hands the can man all the money that he has made this week. The next morning, Tim goes outside to see a skateboard that has been repainted to look like new. After he spots the skateboard, he see’s the can man in his new winter jacket. This book is great for teaching children the difference between wants and needs; it’s also great for teaching that doing a good deed not only makes you feel good, but can actually benefit you. Interest Level: 1st grade-4th grade Grade Level Equivalent: 3.4
(P) Standing On My Own Two Feet by Tamara Schmitz (Divorce) This book is about a young boy named Addison who talks about living in two houses because his parents are divorced. Addison compares living in two different houses like him having two feet. He mentions the difficulties of his parents being divorced, such as his parents not getting along, or missing the parent that he is not with. However for most of the book he focuses on how important it is that both of his parents make him feel safe and loved. Addison also explains in the book that the divorce isn’t his fault at all. This book is great to read to children, especially if at home their family is going through something like this. Children often tend to blame themselves for their parents being divorced, so reading this to children will relieve them and allow them to realize that everything is going to be alright and that nothing is their fault. Interest Level- Pre-School - 2nd grade Grade Level Equivalent: 2.5
(P) Before You Were Mine by Maribeth Boelts (Animal Adoption) This book is about a little boy who has always wondered about his dog’s past. In the book he wonders about what his dog was fed, where he lived, what his name was before, how his past owner treated him and other questions about his dog’s past. Later in the book, it turns out that the dog was left hungry and cold living in a shelter, and the little boy’s family rescued and welcomed the dog with open arms after they lost their past dog that aged and passed away. However, the dog’s past at the end doesn’t even matter to the boy because now the adorable dog is home safe with the little boy’s family. This book is a great story to talk about the importance of treating your animals with an immense amount of love. It also shows the children how they can actually help animals in need by adopting them. Interest Level: Pre-k - 1st grade Grade Level Equivalent: 4.0
(P) Uncle Willie and the Soup Kitchen by Dyanne Disalvo-Ryan (Poverty) This book is about a young boy (unnamed) who has a Uncle Willie that helps out at the soup kitchen every day feeding and serving “guests”. One day when the young boy has a day off from school, Uncle Willie asks the young boy to come with him to the soup kitchen. The young boy decides to join his Uncle Willie and helps him gather food from the neighborhood and prepare it for a “feast”. Uncle Willie is able to show his nephew that the soup kitchen can be a fun place to be. A place where you can help other people and make their lives easier. This book is great for teaching children about helping people, donating and being kind to those who aren’t as fortunate. I think it is also great for informing and making children aware of hunger and poverty. Interest Level: Pre-k -2nd grade Grade Level Equivalent: 3.1
(P) A Shelter in Our Car by Monica Gunning (Homelessness) This book by Monica Gunning focuses on a young, Jamaican girl named Zettie who had just moved to the United States from Jamaica with her family. Zettie’s father unfortunately dies and it not only causes emotional issues for Zettie and her mother, but also financial issues. Zettie and her mother have to move out of their house and into their car. In the car is where they eat, sleep and live. Everyday after Zettie gets dropped off at school, her mom goes out and looks for a job. When Zettie gets dropped off at school in her car, her peers make fun of her. They make fun of how dirty the car is and how all of their belongings are in the car. The bullies were so mean to poor Zettie that they made her run away. Things start to turn around though for Zettie and her mom, once her mom gets a job. They are then able to move into a motel; this is a huge step up from living in the car because they can live more properly. This book is great for teaching children about homelessness, what it is, and how it can affect the way a person lives socially, emotionally, mentally and financially. It also is a great way to demonstrate how love can really help people get through their worst moments. Interest Level: K-2 Grade Level Equivalent: 3.3
(P) Giraffes Can't Dance by Giles Andreae and Guy Parker-Rees (Diversity) This book is about a giraffe named Gerald who was tall, long and lean. He was great at getting all the leaves from all the tall trees, but unlike all the other giraffes he was terrible at dancing. Everyone else in the jungle laughed and mocked him because he couldn’t move like them. One night after Gerald was upset, he met a cricket who told Gerald that anyone could dance, but the beat that they move to might be different. This book is great for teaching young children that not everyone is the same; we all have different interests, beliefs or in this case rhythms and beats. We should never make fun of someone just because they are different from what we see as normal. Interest Level: Pre-k - 2nd grade Grade Level Equivalent: 2.5