All People Are Beautiful
by Vincent Kelly
Ages 1 – 6
Kids recognize differences from a very early age. Readers are introduced to many multicultural differences, highlighting why they make us unique. Through creative rhymes and colorful illustrations, children will delight in finding ways to find unity in diversity and honor each individual for who they are.
Issues Covered: Embracing Diversity, Inclusion, Social Justice
The Way I Feel
by Janan Cain
Ages 2 – 4
Feelings are neither good nor bad, they simply are. Kids need words to name their feelings, just as they need words to name all things in their world. Through the use of strong, colorful, and expressive images that go along with simple verses, young people are able to connect feeling words to their meaning.
Issues Covered: Social Emotional Learning
We’re Different, We’re the Same
by Bobbi Jane Kates
Ages 2 – 4
Elmo and his Sesame Street friends help teach early learners that we each have similarities, and we each have differences. The Sesame Street crew explains that our differences are what make this wonderful world, which is home to us all, an interesting and special place to live. The book encourages young people to appreciate the differences between how people look, and to embrace the similarities we have on the inside.
Issues Covered: Respect for All, Celebrating Differences
The Day Leo Said I Hate You!
by Robie H. Harris
Ages 2 – 6
In a reassuring manner, Robie H. Harris and Molly Bang portray what happens when a little boy feels SO frustrated and SO mad at a parent who has said NO all day long. Together, Harris and Bang delicately navigate not only the momentary angry feelings and outbursts of young children, but also the most profound bonds between a parent and a child.
Issues Covered: Social Emotional Learning
Spoon
by Amy Rosenthal and Scott Magoon
Ages 2 – 6
He’s always been a happy little utensil. But lately, he feels like life as a spoon just isn’t cutting it. He thinks Fork, Knife, and The Chopsticks all have it so much better than him. But do they? And what do they think about Spoon? A book for all ages, Spoon serves as a gentle reminder to celebrate what makes us each special.
Issues Covered: Social Emotional Learning
Be Kind
by Zietlow Miller
Ages 3 – 6
Each act, big or small, can make a difference – or at least help a friend. What does it mean to be kind? When Tanisha spills grape juice all over her new dress, her classmate contemplates how to make her feel better and what it means to be kind.
Issues Covered: Social Emotional Learning
It’s Okay to Be Different
by Todd Parr
Ages 3 – 6
It’s Okay to Be Different cleverly delivers the important messages of acceptance, understanding, and confidence in an accessible, child-friendly format featuring Todd Parr’s trademark bold, bright colors and silly scenes. Targeted to young children first beginning to read, this book will inspire kids to celebrate their individuality through acceptance of others and self-confidence.
Issues Covered: Respect for All, Celebrating Differences
Our World Is a Family: Our Community Can Change The World
by Miry Whitehall and Jennifer Jackson
Ages 3 – 8
Learn how to welcome new neighbors into your community, particularly when they might be far from home, in this uplifting and diverse picture book that champions human connection and inclusivity. After all, the world is everyone’s home and we’re one big family!
Issues Covered: Cultural Responsiveness, Inclusion, Refugees, Respect
Eyes That Kiss in the Corners
by Joana Ho
Ages 3 – 10
When a child notices that her eyes look different from other peers’ eyes, she begins a journey of noticing, reflecting, and eventually to self-love by honoring and appreciating her family and her roots.
Issues Covered: Equity, Self-Love
My Princess Boy
by Cheryl Kilodavis
Ages 3 and up
Dyson loves pink, sparkly things. Sometimes he wears dresses. Sometimes he wears jeans. He likes to wear his princess tiara, even when climbing trees. He’s a Princess Boy. Inspired by the author’s son, and by her own initial struggles to understand, this is a heart-warming book about unconditional love and one remarkable family. It is also a call for tolerance and an end to bullying and judgments. The world is a brighter place when we accept everyone for who they are.
Issues Covered: Gender Stereotypes, Bullying, Respect for All
Artie and Julie
by Chih Yuan Chen
Ages 3 – 5
Artie was a happy little lion, and Julie was a happy little rabbit—until one day Julie was sent to the grassland to eat grass, and Artie was sent to the grassland to eat . . . rabbit! Distracted from their destinations, they both discover a delicious jellyberry patch. Driven by a sudden storm into a nearby cave, they become friends before they know they are meant to be enemies. Each returns home with a new friend, a tuft of each other’s fur as a keepsake, and a surprising story to tell their parents. A unique design adds depth to this clever tale—when Artie and Julie are apart their parallel stories are told on separate split pages, but when the two become friends the pages join together as well. Filled with playful art that adds a whimsical tone, this amusing story encourages young readers to overlook differences and demonstrates that fear should never be an obstacle to friendship.
Issues Covered: Respect for All, Celebrating Differences
Together
by Monica Damluji
Ages 3 to 6
A breathtakingly simple poem of universal experience shows us the transformative power of collective action. Students see the beauty of one coming together to become many.
Issues Covered: Community Building, Changemakers
A is for Activist
by Innosanto Nagara
Ages 3 – 7
This ABC board book introduces children to new words that are related to taking action for people and the environment.
Issues Covered: Community Building, Inclusion, Taking Action
Counting on Community
by Innosanto Nagara
Ages 3 – 7
Counting on Community is a play on a classic counting book, inviting children to count what is happening in the community and, in doing so, value where they are from, learn about how to share, and take action in their community. Plus, there is a duck to find on every page!
Issues Covered: Community Building, Mutual Aid, Taking Action
Listening With My Heart
by Gabi Garcia
Ages 4 – 7
When Esperanza finds a heart-shaped rock, she sees it as a reminder to spread kindness and love in the world. But when the school play doesn’t go the way she’d imagined, will she remember to give it to herself? Esperanza’s journey reminds readers of the other golden rule—to treat ourselves like we would treat a friend. When we do this, we are practicing self-compassion.
Issues Covered: Social Emotional Learning
Side by Side/Lado a Lado: The Story of Dolores Huerta and Cesar Chavez/La Historia de Dolores Huerta y Cesar Chavez
by Monica Brown
Ages 4 – 8
Every day, thousands of farmworkers harvest the food that ends up on kitchen tables all over the country. But at the end of the day, when the workers sit down to eat, there they only have beans on their own tables. This story is a tribute to Dolores Huerta and Cesar Chavez who teamed up to spread awareness about their plight and empower farmworkers to unite and stand up for their rights.
Issues Covered: Food Justice, Workers’ Rights
A House for Everyone
by Jo Hirst
Ages 4 – 8
A House for Everyone upends gender stereotypes and shows children how to embrace their identity and be themselves. The book supports and celebrates gender-diverse children while also illustrating the difference between gender identity and gender expression.
Issues Covered: Gender Stereotypes, Social Emotional Learning
Dear Primo: A Letter to My Cousin
by Duncan Tonatiuh
Ages 4 – 8
The story of two cousins, one in America and one in Mexico, and how their daily lives are different yet similar. Charlie takes the subway to school; Carlitos rides his bike. Charlie plays in fallen leaves; Carlitos plays among the local cacti. Dear Primo covers the sights, sounds, smells, and tastes of two very different childhoods, while also emphasizing how alike Charlie and Carlitos are at heart.
Issues Covered: Respect for All, Celebrating Differences
Be the Change: A Grandfather Gandhi Story
by Arun Gandhi and Bethany Hegedus
Ages 4 – 8
At Grandfather Gandhi’s service village, each day is filled, from sunrise to sunset, with work that is done for the good of all. The villagers vow to live simply and non-violently. Arun Gandhi tries very hard to follow these vows, but he struggles with one of the most important rules: not to waste. A poignant, personal story of each action we take can have far-reaching affects and learning to live a life of non-violence.
Issues Covered: Activism, Conservation, Respect for All
And Tango Makes Three
by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell
Ages 4 – 8
And Tango Makes Three is the bestselling, heartwarming true story of two penguins who create a nontraditional family. At the penguin house at the Central Park Zoo, two penguins named Roy and Silo were a little bit different from the others. But their desire for a family was the same. And with the help of a kindly zookeeper, Roy and Silo get the chance to welcome a baby penguin of their very own.
Issues Covered: LGBT, Respect for All, Celebrating Differences
I Look Like a Girl
by Sheila Hamanaka
Ages 4 – 8
This is a strong and powerful book about being a girl and embracing oneself. The theme centers around girls being strong, independent and free-spirited beings. Each child in the story imagines herself to be a strong wild animal — a tiger, a mustang, a wolf. The book includes girls across many races and ethnicities, encouraging them to be true to what they feel they are inside. “Throw out those glass slippers. Send the fairies to sleep. No prince is waiting for me. For if you look twice, past the sugar and spice, the eyes of a tiger you’ll see.”
Issues Covered: Gender Stereotypes, Social Emotional Learning
Have You Filled a Bucket Today? A Guide to Daily Happiness for Kids
by Carol McCloud and David Messing
Ages 4 and up
Through simple prose and vivid illustrations, this heartwarming book encourages positive behavior as children see how rewarding it is to express daily kindness, appreciation, and love. Bucket filling and dipping are effective metaphors for understanding the effects of our actions and words on the well being of others and ourselves.
Issues Covered: Social Emotional Learning
William’s Doll
by Charlotte Zolotow
Ages 4 – 8
William wants a doll because he envies the neighbor girl who has one. But his brother and his friend mock him and call him a ‘sissy,’ and his father buys him ‘boy toys’ to try and change his mind. Finally, the only person who understands William, his granny, buys him a baby doll and eases the fears of his father.
Issues Covered: Gender Stereotypes, Bullying, Respect for All, Celebrating Differences
Moody Cow Meditates
by Kerry Lee MacLean
Ages 4 – 8
Peter’s day just seems to get worse until his grandfather comes over and teaches him how to settle his mind and let go of his frustration through a simple and fun exercise. This vibrant and funny children’s book is a playful way to introduce children to the power of meditation. With full color illustrations by the author, Moody Cow Meditates is a wonderful book for parents and children to share together.
Issues Covered: Social Emotional Learning
Chopsticks
by Amy Rosenthal and Scott Magoon
Ages 4 – 8
Meet Chopsticks! They’ve been best friends forever. But one day, this inseparable pair comes to a fork in the road. And for the very first time, they have to figure out how to function apart. From New York Times best-selling author Amy Krouse Rosenthal and rising artistic talent Scott Magoon, this witty and inventive tale celebrates both independence and the unbreakable bonds of friendship.
Issues Covered: Social Emotional Learning
The Paperbag Princess
by Padmaja Ganeshan-Singh
Ages 4 – 8
Just when Princess Elizabeth is about to marry Prince Ronald, a dragon destroys her castle and burns down all her clothes with his fiery breath and kidnaps the prince. Left with nothing but a paper bag to wear, the princess sets out to outsmart the dragon and save her love. But the prince is not at all impressed and comments on how un-princessy she looks and tells her to “come back when you are dressed like a real princess.” Of course, our sassy princess heads off to lead her life the way she wants it, without trying to fit into the prince’s perfect picture of a princess.
Issues Covered: Gender Stereotypes, Sexism
It Feels Good to Be Yourself: A Book About Gender Identity
by Theresa Thorne
Ages 4 to 9
A helpful book to people with any gender identity to have vocabulary and understanding of the broad range of gender identities.
Issues Covered: Gender Identity
Ballerino Nate
by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
Ages 4 and up
Nate loves the ballet, the fluttery costumes and the way the dancers’ “movements look like music.” So Nate decides he wants to learn ballet, too. While his parents are supportive, his big brother tells him boys cannot be ballerinas, and this confuses Nate. He gets more apprehensive when he discovers he is the only boy enrolled in the ballet class. So Nate’s mother takes him to a real ballet, where he sees many male dancers and gets to meet one in person. The dancer clarifies that a boy cannot be a ballerina, because that means “woman dancer” and shares his dream of becoming the best ballerino. At last Nate feels comfortable and confident in his passion for ballet.
Issues Covered: Gender Stereotypes, Respect for All, Celebrating Differences
Thank you, Mr. Falker
by Patricia Polacco
Ages 5 – 8
When Trisha starts school, she can’t wait to learn how to read, but the letters just get jumbled up. She hates being different, and begins to believe her classmates when they call her a dummy. Then, in fifth grade, Mr. Falker changes everything. He sees through her sadness to the gifted artist she really is. And when he discovers that she can’t read, he helps her prove to herself that she can – and will!
Issues Covered: Social Emotional Learning, Celebrating Differences, Bullying
One Plastic Bag: Isatou Ceesay and the Recycling Women of the Gambia
by Miranda Paul
Ages: 5 – 9
Plastic bags are cheap and easy to use, but they harm the environment and they are a danger to animals. In Njau, Gambia, Issatou was concerned about the number of plastic bags littering her community. She found a way to recycle the bags and support women.
Issues Covered: Activism, Conservation, Recycling, Women’s Rights
Grace for President
by Kelly S. DiPucchio
Ages 5 – 9
“Where are the girls?” When Grace’s teacher reveals that the United States has never had a female president, Grace decides to be the first. And she immediately starts off her political career as a candidate the school’s mock election! Author Kelly DiPucchio not only gives readers a fun introduction to the American electoral system, but also teaches them the value of hard work, courage, and independent thought–and offers an inspiring example of how to choose our leaders.
Issues Covered: Gender Stereotypes, Sexism
Allie’s Basketball Dream
by Barbara E. Barber
Ages 5 and up
Allie is very excited when her father gifts her a basketball for her birthday. She practices everyday as she wants to be a professional basketball player. But all her friends — girls and boys — discourage her, saying that it’s a “boy’s game.” One boy even trades a volleyball with her, because it is lighter. Finding encouragement in her father’s words, Allie doesn’t give up and eventually proves her worth and wins the respect of all who scoffed at her.
Issues Covered: Gender Stereotypes, Bullying, Sexism
Peaceful Piggy Meditation
by Kerry Lee MacLean
Ages 5 – 9
Sometimes life seems like it’s all about hurrying–so many places to go! And sometimes it’s hard when things don’t go your way–it can make a piggy angry and sad. So how do young piggies find a peaceful place in a frustrating world? They meditate!
Issues Covered: Social Emotional Learning
10,000 Dresses
by Marcus Ewert and Rex Ray
Ages 5 – 10
Every night, Bailey dreams about magical dresses: dresses made of crystals and rainbows, dresses made of flowers, dresses made of windows. . . . Unfortunately, when Bailey’s awake, no one wants to hear about these beautiful dreams. Quite the contrary. “You’re a BOY!” Mother and Father tell Bailey. “You shouldn’t be thinking about dresses at all.” Then Bailey meets Laurel, an older girl who is touched and inspired by Bailey’s imagination and courage. In friendship, the two of them begin making dresses together. And Bailey’s dreams come true!
Issues Covered: Gender Stereotypes, Bullying, Respect for All
Come With Me
by Holly M. McGhee
Ages 5 – 8
When the news reports are flooded with tales of hatred and fear, a girl asks her papa what she can do to make the world a better place. “Come with me,” he says. Hand-in-hand, they walk to the subway, tipping their hats to those they meet. With the help of family and friends, the girl continues to explore ways that she can make the world a better place.
Issues Covered: Activism, Respect for All
My Heart Will Not Sit Down
by Mara Rockliff
Ages 5 – 8
When Kedi hears about America’s Great Depression from her teacher, her heart will not sit down. In her teacher’s village of New York City, people cannot find work and children are starving because they do not have money to buy food. Kedi, who lives in Cameroon, wonders how she can make a difference for the people in America from all the way across the great salt river.
Issues Covered: Activism, Respect for All
Enough! 20 Protesters Who Changed America
by Emily Easton
Ages 5 – 10
This book offers 20 short sections for individuals who were brave enough to stand up for their beliefs (in a variety of ways) and change the course of history.
Issues Covered: Civil Rights, Protests, Race, Social Change, Social Justice
The Youngest Marcher: The Story of Audrey Faye Hendricks, a Young Civil Rights Activist
by Cynthia Levinson
Ages 5 – 12
Meet nine-year-old Audrey Faye Hendricks, the youngest-known child to be arrested for a civil rights protest in Birmingham, Alabama in 1963. She intended to go places and do things like anybody else. As she listened to the preacher’s words, and heard the plan to picket white-only stores, march to protest those unfair laws, and fill the jails, she stepped right up and said, “I’ll do it!” She was going to “j-a-a-il”! Audrey Faye Hendricks was confident and bold and brave as can be, and hers is the remarkable and inspiring story of one child’s role in the Civil Rights Movement.
Issues Covered: Activism, Civil Rights, Racism, Respect for All
The Circles All Around Us
by Brad and Kristi Montague
Ages 5 and up
Using the metaphor of a circle that can either keep others our or let others into our worlds, this book encourages the practice of extending our circle of care (much like The Circle of Compassion in humane education) to others, including animals.
Issues Covered: Community, Compassion, Kindness
My Secret Bully
by Trudy Ludwig and Abigail Marble
Ages 6 – 9
Here is the all-too-familiar story of Monica. She and Katie have been friends since kindergarten. Monica loves being around her when she’s nice. But there are times when Katie can be just plain mean. And Monica doesn’t understand why. Monica is a target of relational aggression, emotional bullying among friends who will use name-calling and manipulation to humiliate and exclude. But with a little help from a supportive adult—her mother—Monica learns to cope and thrive by facing her fears and reclaiming power from her bully. Including a foreword by the founder of the The Ophelia Project, as well as helpful tips, discussion questions, and additional resources, My Secret Bully is a vital resource for children, parents, teachers, and counselors.
Issues Covered: Bullying, Social Emotional Learning
Nobody Knew What to Do: A Story Abou
t Bullying
by Becky Ray McCain and Todd Leonardo
Ages 6 – 9
This story tells how one child found the courage to tell a teacher about Ray, who was being picked on and bullied by other kids in school.
Issues Covered: Bullying
My Diary from Here to There
by Amada Irma Pérez
Ages 6 – 9
One night, Amada overhears her parents whisper about moving from Mexico to Los Angeles, where greater opportunity awaits. As she and her family make the journey north, Amada records her fears, hopes, and dreams for their new life in her diary. Along the way, Amada learns that with her family’s love and her belief in herself, she can weather any change. With humor and insight, Pérez recounts the story of her family’s immigration to America.
Issues Covered: Immigration, Respect for All
The Girl Who Loved Caterpillars
by Jean Merrill
Ages 6 – 10
In this vivid adaptation of a 12th-century Japanese tale, Izumi finds worms, toads, and especially caterpillars much more fascinating than the hobbies of the ladies in the Emperor’s court. Izumi resists social and family pressures as she befriends these “socially unacceptable” creatures and follows the beat of her own drum challenging outside expectations.
Issues Covered: Gender Stereotypes, Respect for All
The Hundred Dresses
by Eleanor Estes
Ages 6 – 10
Eleanor Estes’s The Hundred Dresses won a Newbery Honor in 1945 and has never been out of print since. At the heart of the story is Wanda Petronski, a Polish girl in a Connecticut school who is ridiculed by her classmates for wearing the same faded blue dress every day. Wanda claims she has one hundred dresses at home, but everyone knows she doesn’t and bullies her mercilessly. The class feels terrible when Wanda is pulled out of the school, but by that time it’s too late for apologies. Maddie, one of Wanda’s classmates, ultimately decides that she is “never going to stand by and say nothing again.” This powerful, timeless story has been reissued with a new letter from the author’s daughter Helena Estes, and with the Caldecott artist Louis Slobodkin’s original artwork in beautifully restored color.
Issues Covered: Bullying, Social Emotional Learning, Respect for All
Just Kidding
by Trudy Ludwig and Adam Gustavson
Ages 6 – 9
A rare look at emotional bullying among boys from the best-selling author of My Secret Bully.D.J.’s friend Vince has a habit of teasing D.J. and then saying, Just kidding!” as if it will make everything okay. It doesn’t, but D.J. is afraid that if he protests, his friends will think he can’t take a joke. With the help of his father, brother, and an understanding teacher, D.J. progresses from feeling helpless to taking positive action, undermining the power of two seemingly harmless words. Trudy Ludwig takes another look at relational aggression, the use of relationships to manipulate and hurt others, this time from the boy’s point of view.
Issues Covered: Bullying, Social Emotional Learning, Respect for All
Pinky and Rex and the Bully
by James Howe
Ages 6 – 8
Pinky is a boy who loves to collect stuffed animals. His favorite color is pink. Rex is a sports-crazy girl and is passionate about dinosaurs. Pinky and Rex are neighbors and best friends. In this installment, a bully calls Pinky a ‘sissy’ and teases him for his fondness of the color pink and for having Rex as a friend. An elderly lady comes to his rescue and brings with her an important lesson. “It’s hard to be different,” advises the old lady, “but it’s worse not to be yourself.”
Issues Covered: Gender Stereotypes, Bullying, Respect for All
Malala, a Brave Girl from Pakistan/Iqbal, a Brave Boy from Pakistan: Two Stories of Bravery
by Jeanette Winter
Ages 6 – 10
Meet two heroes of Pakistan who stood up for the rights to freedom and education in these inspirational nonfiction tales from acclaimed author-illustrator Jeanette Winter. Two stories of bravery in one beautiful book—including the story of Malala Yousafzai, a winner of the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize! One country: Pakistan. Two children: Iqbal Masih and Malala Yousafzai. Each was unafraid to speak out. He, against inhumane child slavery in the carpet trade. She, for the right of girls to attend school. Both were shot by those who disagreed with them—he in 1995, she in 2012. Iqbal was killed instantly; Malala miraculously survived and continues to speak out around the world. She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014 for her work. The stories of these two courageous children whose bravery transcended their youth, beautifully written and illustrated by celebrated author Jeanette Winter, are an inspiration to all.
Issues Covered: Child Labor, Slavery, Activism
Wangari’s Trees of Peace
by Jeannette Winter
Ages 7 -10
As a young girl growing up in Kenya, Wangari was surrounded by trees. But years later when she returns home, she is shocked to see whole forests being cut down, and she knows that soon all the trees will be destroyed. So Wangari decides to do something—and starts by planting nine seedlings in her own backyard. And as they grow, so do her plans. . . . This true story of Wangari Maathai, environmentalist and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, is a shining example of how one woman’s passion, vision, and determination inspired great change.Includes an author’s note.
Issues Covered: Habitat Destruction, Women’s Rights
Stamped: (for Kids)
by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi
Ages 7 and up
A guide to anti-racism written for younger readers (7 and up) intended to offer a look back through history and a hopeful view of the future.
Issues Covered: Racism, Equity, History
Witness
by Karen Hesse
Ages 8 and up
Leanora Sutter. Esther Hirsh. Merlin Van Tornhout. Johnny Reeves . . . These characters are among the unforgettable cast inhabiting a small Vermont town in 1924. A town that turns against its own when the Ku Klux Klan moves in. No one is safe, especially the two youngest, twelve-year-old Leanora, an African-American girl, and six-year-old Esther, who is Jewish. In this story of a community on the brink of disaster, told through the haunting and impassioned voices of its inhabitants, Newbery Award winner Karen Hesse takes readers into the hearts and minds of those who bear witness.
Issues Covered: Racism, Bigotry, Respect for All, Anti-Semitism
Esperanza Rising
by Pam Munoz Rya
Ages 8 and up
Esperanza thought she’d always live with her family on their ranch in Mexico–she’d always have fancy dresses, a beautiful home, and servants. But a sudden tragedy forces Esperanza and Mama to flee to California during the Great Depression, and to settle in a camp for Mexican farm workers. Esperanza isn’t ready for the hard labor, financial struggles, or lack of acceptance she now faces. When their new life is threatened, Esperanza must find a way to rise above her difficult circumstances–Mama’s life, and her own, depend on it.
Issues Covered: Migrant Workers, Worker’s Rights, Child Labor, Classism
Horton Hears a Who!
by Dr. Seuss
Ages 8 and up
Horton is back! After his first appearance in Horton Hatches the Egg, everyone’s favorite elephant returns in this timeless, moving, and comical classic in which we discover that “a person’s a person, no matter how small.” Thanks to the irrepressible rhymes and eye-catching illustrations, young readers will learn kindness and perseverance (as well as the importance of a good “Yopp”) from the very determined—and very endearing—Horton the elephant.
Issues Covered: Respect for All
Iqbal
by Francesco D’Adamo
Ages 8 and up
When young Iqbal is sold into slavery at a carpet factory, his arrival changes everything for the other overworked and abused children there. It is Iqbal who explains to them that despite their master’s promises, he plans on keeping them as his slaves indefinitely. But it is also Iqbal who inspires the other children to look to a future free from toil…and is brave enough to show them how to get there. This moving fictionalized account of the real Iqbal Masih is told through the voice of Fatima, a young Pakistani girl whose life is changed by Iqbal’s courage.
Issues Covered: Child Labor, Slavery, Activism
We Are All Born Free
by Amnesty International
Ages 8 and up
The United Nation’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights illustrated., Now in a mini edition! The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was signed on 10th December 1948. It was compiled after World War Two to declare and protect the rights of all people from all countries. This beautiful collection, published 60 years on, celebrates each declaration with an illustration by an internationally-renowned artist or illustrator.
Issues Covered: Human Rights
Separate is Never Equal: Sylvia Mendez and Her Family’s Fight for Desegragation
by Duncan Tonatiuh
Ages 8 – 10
Almost 10 years before Brown vs. Board of Education, Sylvia Mendez and her parents helped end school segregation in California. An American citizen of Mexican and Puerto Rican heritage who spoke and wrote perfect English, Mendez was denied enrollment to a “Whites only” school. Her parents took action by organizing the Latino community and filing a lawsuit in federal district court. Their success eventually brought an end to the era of segregated education in California.
Issues Covered: Civil Rights, Racism, Activism
Brazen: Rebel Ladies Who Rocked the World
by Pénélope Bagieu
Ages 10 and up
This graphic novel tells the stories of brave, world-changing females, some of whom are familiar to readers while others are less known.
Issues Covered: Biographies, Gender Equity