17 Books that feature Multiracial Families

We all know how difficult it can be to find books that feature multiracial families living normal everyday lives. Here are seventeen titles that I've found that might work in your storytime or classroom. I've also included some possible themes for each title.

Ultimately, my goal is for this to be an ongoing list that I will keep adding to, and it will include links out to individual reviews of each book, and ways that educators and librarians have used it successfully, but for now, here's the list: 

Anna Hibiscus’ Song by Atinuke
Theme ideas: being yourself, happiness, singing

 Baby Ruby Bawled by Malaika Rose Stanley
Theme ideas: family, problem solving, babies, singing

Besos for Baby by Jen Arena
Theme ideas: Kisses, love, babies

Blackout by John Rocco
Theme ideas: Family, community, neighborhoods, technology

Cook It by Child’s Play, illustrated by Georgie Birkett
Theme ideas: Cooking, food, shopping, vegetables, pizza

Happy in Our Skin by Fran Manushkin
Theme ideas: Differences, being yourself, I like me

Marisol McDonald Doesn’t Match by Monica Brown
Theme ideas: being yourself, individuality, school

Never Play Music Right Next to the Zoo by John Lithgow
Theme ideas: Music, zoos, instruments, dreams

One Word From Sophia by Jim Averbeck
Theme ideas: vocabulary, birthdays, giraffes, manners

Pecan Pie Baby by Jacqueline Woodson
Theme ideas: new siblings, family, pie

The Princess and the Pony by Kate Beaton
Theme ideas: birthdays, princesses, individuality

Splash, Anna Hibiscus! By Atinuke
Theme ideas: family, beach, oceans, swimming

This is Our House by Hyewon Yum
Theme ideas: Family, houses, growing up, history

 A Vacation for Pooch by Marian Cocca-Leffler
Theme ideas: Dogs, travel, grandparents

The Very Inappropriate Word by Jim Tobin
Theme ideas: Vocabulary, words, libraries, behavior, manners

Where’s Lenny by Ken Wilson-Max
Theme ideas: Peek-a-boo, babies

You Were the First by Patricia MacLachlan
Theme ideas: New siblings, growing up, families
 



For more books featuring multiracial families, check this list here: http://www.whatdowedoallday.com/2014/10/childrens-books-with-multiracial-families.html

Introducing the Everyday Diversity Project

Are you interested in promoting diversity in #kidlit?

Do you do storytime? Do you teach? Do you have an interest in picture books?

I need your help.

We know that there is a huge dearth of books written by and for multicultural audiences. Smarter, more qualified people than I are writing excellent articles and bringing amazingly thoughtful discussions into being around this sensitive subject. I've struggled to figure out what my role is in promoting diversity. What do I, another person from the privileged majority, have to contribute? I want to be an ally, but I want to make sure that I'm respectful of the fullness of experiences I do not and cannot understand.

Having said that, I don't want to do nothing. Something that I can do, and that I challenge you to do too, is working to make sure that we are using diverse books in storytime. My frustration with doing that, however, is that those books are hard to find. Learning about other countries and cultures is SO important, but my focus in storytime is not on teaching intellectual concepts, and I don't want to contribute to anyone's sense of otherness. I want storytime to reflect the lives that my kids are living here and now. Bedtime books, loose tooth books, new baby books. I want books that feature diverse characters telling the stories that are universal. But those books are hard to discover in our library catalogs even when they are there.

So that's what the Everyday Diversity project is about: creating a resource of books reflecting "everyday" diversity, and highlighting those that are appropriate for storytime.

Everyday Diversity books:
1. Predominately feature diverse main characters--no tokenism.
2. Are, "Loose tooth books." That is, the storylines are not about race, religion, ability, or cultures.
3. Are, by nature, often ambiguous. Finding them requires close looking and open interpretations. We might get it wrong sometimes, but I think the benefits of the project outweigh the risk of misstep.

The Everyday Diversity project does not minimize the real need for education about race, history, social equality, and injustice. It does not mean to take a stand that we are past racism or any such idealism. The Everyday Diversity project is about filling a small but important need within the larger issues. More and more I get parents looking for books that are "everyday stories" featuring diverse characters, and I'm sure I'm not the only one. I'd like to create a resource for answering those questions.

My goals for the project are:
1. To create searchable database of books with storytime theme suggestions.
2. In-depth reviews of great storytime books that feature Everyday Diversity.

We are working hard to get this project launched, and it will include a way for you to submit Everyday Diversity books that you find or already love.

For more information about the project, email EverydayDiversity at gmail, and watch this space for the upcoming launch.