Picture Books and Racial Reconcilliation
I have been thinking a lot about ways that I can play a part in racial reconciliation. As a lover of Children’s Literature, I have long known the power of children of color seeing themselves on the pages of a well written picture book. I have also seen white children better understand their black or brown classmates by reading books both written and illustrated by people of color and books where the characters are black or brown but who are “just like me”. Sometimes these are biographies of people like Martin Luther King, Jr., but often they are books about ordinary people who just happen to be people of color. Because of my desire to be an advocate for reconciliation, I am sharing some picture books with you that fit the descriptions I mentioned above. Never forget that picture books are not just for very little children. Some of the books featured in this post will be more appropriate for upper ele...