Kids’ Corner: Picture Books to Read in Honor of #BlackHistoryMonth

Hello bookworms!

Today I am sharing a list of books you can read to your children in honor of #BlackHistoryMonth!  As someone who feels that black history was glossed over in their own education, it is very important to me to celebrate Black History Month with my children.  Here are the books I’ve read with my own children…

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Kids’ Corner: Diverse Children’s Picture Books (January 2019)

It’s been a while since I’ve done a diverse children’s picture books feature.  I’ve missed it!  My daughter is participating in a program through our local library called 1000 Books Before Kindergarten.  Since we have a bit of reading to do before August 2019, I figured this would be the perfect time to get back into this feature.

*Diverse Children’s Picture Books is a feature where I spotlight a few diverse children’s picture book that I feel deserve some attention.  What do I mean by diverse children’s picture books?  I mean children’s picture books that are written by or about people of color, people with disabilities, LGBTQ+, and any other minorities.  Diversity in books is just as (if not more) important in children’s literature.

Books included in this post: The Day You Begin by Jacqueline Woodson, Dreamers by Yuyi Morales, I Am Enough by Grace Byers, and A Big Mooncake for Little Star by Grace Lin

Book Review: The Battle of Junk Mountain by Lauren Abbey Greenberg + ARC #Giveaway

 

When I was contacted by the publisher with the offer to read & review The Battle of Junk Mountain, I decided to overlook the fact that I am not technically open for review requests and accepted the offer… What can I say?  I was in the mood for a middle grade read, and there was something about the cover that spoke to me. 

I am happy to report that I was rewarded with a wonderful little gem of a book.  The Battle of Junk Mountain is a heartwarming book about new & changing friendships, family drama, and a summer full of changes... 

Kids’ Corner: STEM Picture Books Featuring Female Main Characters

Last week I read my 4-year-old her favorite book (at the moment) for the 100th time, Violet the Pilot.

*Side note: this was our most recent book from Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.  If you do not know about this program, you can read all about it here → Kids’ Corner: Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.

Anyways!  I actually don’t mind reading this book to her so many times because I loved how the book features a GIRL engineer/pilot.  This jogged a memory from last year when I read Ada Twist, Scientist and had similar feelings.  It is so wonderful to read STEM books featuring girl main characters.  STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math.  When browsing the picture books at the library, I notice that my daughter is drawn to books with anything princess, fairy, unicorn, ballerina, etc.  They are often very PINK and very sparkly.  Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with these books, actually they often hold important themes & lessons, HOWEVER it is also nice to see books that center around girls in traditionally male-dominated fields like science & math.

Long story short, I started researching to find more STEM picture books that featured girl main characters.  Sadly, I was disappointed with my findings.  There are very few of these books.

Here are the books I did find…

Kids’ Corner: Pink is for Boys by Robb Pearlman

When I was contacted with the opportunity to read & review Pink is for Boys, I jumped at the opportunity.  For one, I’m always on the lookout for books that challenge the traditional gender norms to share with my children, and secondly I could tell it was going to be wonderfully illustrated.  That’s a win-win in my book!