Diverse Children’s Books is a brand new book-sharing meme hosted by Katie @ The Logonauts; Myra @ Gathering Books, Mia @ Pragmatic Mom, Crystal @ Reading Through Life and co-blogger @ Rich in Color and Carrie @ There’s a Book for That. Designed to promote the reading and writing of children’s books that feature diverse characters, this community embraces all kinds of diversity including (and certainly not limited to) diverse, inclusive, multicultural, and global books for children of all backgrounds. Every Saturday, I hope to be joining other book bloggers sharing diverse picture books! If you have your own diverse children’s books you’d like to share, head over to Katie’s blog to link up.
Diversity is certainly evident if you were to walk into any classroom in my school in Vancouver, where over 30 different cultures are represented. Each culture is unique and rich in traditions, customs and celebrations. Writing about cultural celebrations is a wonderful way for children to celebrate diversity. Here are some of the anchor books to inspire my students to write about their own cultural celebrations.
Sona and the Wedding Game – Kashmira Sheth
A richly illustrated book that teach children about Indian and Hindu cultural traditions.
Divali Rose – Vashanti Rahaman
The meaning of the Hindu “festival of lights” becomes clear to a young boy.
Bringing in the New Year – Grace Lin
Follow a Chinese American family as they prepare for the Lunar New Year.
Hanukkah Lights – David Martin
From showing the menorah with a new candle, to spinning the dreidel, singing, dancing, and giving thanks, this book introduces readers to this important Jewish holiday.
Lighting Our World – A Year of Celebrations – Catherine Rondina
This beautifully illustrated book explores light – in different forms – as vital parts of many celebrations around the world.
Filipino Celebrations – A Treasury of Feasts and Festivals – Liana Romulo
Japanese Celebrations: Cherry Blossoms, Lanterns, and Stars! – Betty Reynolds
Thanks for stopping by! Which book or books have caught your eye?
Adrienne Gear - Reading Power Ltd. 
What a fantastic selection of titles Adrienne! I am particularly interested in Lighting our World – looks wonderful. I really like Sona and the Wedding Game
Lighting Our World is so lovely – amazing to see how many cultures use light as a symbol for celebration, hope, rebirth, welcoming seasons. I would love to do a unit on light based on this book – and look at both the scientific and cultural significance of it. How’s that for integration of the new curriculum????
What a wonderfully rich environment your class are experiencing! I agree with you that sharing celebrations is a lovely way for kids to experience other cultures.
Yes, I feel fortunate to have so much diversity in my classroom and school. It is a wonderful way to learn diversity and global awareness and to learn about other cultures through the students themselves! Thanks for stopping by!
Great looking list. I will be on the lookout for Lighting Our World and Divali Rose in particular. Thanks!
A great selection of books! I really like the look of Lighting Our World and the Japanese Celebrations book.
Lighting Our World is am amazing book. It certainly opened my eyes to the number of cultures that use light as part of their celebrations! The illustrations are gorgeous!
Hi there Adrienne – I will definitely bookmark this post – I am always on the lookout for titles that highlight cultural festivities for schools’ racial harmony day.
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Thanks so much for these! You were our most-clicked post from last time’s #diversekidlit hop. Hope you’ll join us again!
Thank you! Yes, I most certainly will! It is a valuable link to be sharing diverse books with other teachers! Thank you for creating this!