Educations Matters: Diverse Children's Book Reviews
Diversity books for kids including authors and characters of color and diversity themes.
Journey Home is an important Japanese American story about what happened after the Japanese Americans were released from internment camp and this is also Yoshiko Uchida’s own family story about overcoming barriers, perseverance, and ultimately, of forgiveness.
In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson by Bette Bao Lord is the story of Shirley Temple Wong as she immigrates to America at age 8 and discovers that American is the land of opportunity by learning about baseball, the Brooklyn Dodgers and the great Jackie Robinson. Four other immigrant stories are listed and all books are approrpriate for grades 3-5.
A thumbs up for the entire Percy Jackson series! I’ve added the classic Mythology by Edith Hamilton which I read and loved as a child. You may as well capitalize on an interest in Greek Mythology and even Roman Mythology that this series will instill in your child. The Usborne is great for younger readers but Edith Hamilton is THE expert and her Mythology book has greater detail.
Grace Lin is the Amy Tan of Children’s Literature. Her latest book, Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, is her best yet. Perfect for 2nd-5th graders or even older. She weaves Chinese folk tales into a tapestry of stories where the whole is much greater than the sum of its parts.