Black Girl Magic: Ballerinas & Other Historical Figures

English Middle Graders Black Culture & Identity summary Both of these books are beautiful collections of badass historical figures, many of whom are still alive and continuing to make history! If you’re in the market for nonfiction anthologies about historical figures (like I am 100% of the time) make sure you check these out from…

Puberty & Menstruation

English Middle Grades Bodies summary I have a couple of books for that that can help tackle conversations with topics surrounding those awkward puberty years. Thinking back on being that age makes me cringe. Too many hormones, no one knows what’s happening and we have ALL the feelings about it. If you’re scrambling to find…

Sometimes We’re Scared: Little Moar and the Moon & The Bee

English & Inuktitut 4+ Social Emotional Learning Indigenous Voices Fear Inuktitut Roselynn Akulukjuk & Jazmine Gubbe; Becky Han & Tindur Peturs summary I wanted to pair these two stories together today because they both deal with overcoming fear, and the scariness lives outdoors! Each story also sprinkles in Inuktitut words and phrases, and is published…

New Native Kitchen

English 5+ Cooking Indigenous Food Ways DinĂ© Chefs Freddie Bitsoie & James O. Fraioli summary When I got the list of books that would be forthcoming because of the amazing opportunity to be a member of the #AbramsDinnerParty this year, New Native Kitchen was the one I was anticipating the most (Filipinx is a close…

The Grandmaster’s Daughter

English & Korean 4+ Tae Kwon Do Martial Arts Korean Creators Perseverance Respect Dan-ah Kim summary The Grandmaster’s Daughter is a sweet and simple story that shows incidental representation of girls with black belts and tells the reader a bit more about the martial arts practice. Every morning, Sunny can be seen outside of the…

Learning About Africa: 2 Reads

English 5+ African Culture & Identity Historical Figures African Countries summary Can you recall what you learned about Africa when you were in school? I can. We learned all of the countries and then had a test where we had to fill in a map in 7th grade. That’s it. We didn’t learn about historical…

Buen Provecho & Jaguars and Butterflies

English (Spanish version of J&B also available, as well as Indigenous Mexican languages!) Any Mexican Culture Mexican American Cooking Latinx Families summary You folks may remember the event I did with Ericka Sanchez this past summer, (click here to watch the recording!) and she has another new cookbook out already! Buen Provecho is packed full…

A Sari for Ammi

English 4+ Family Weaving Gift Giving Indian Culture & Identity Mamta Nainy & Sandhya Prabhat summary Our narrator and her sister Sadaf watch their mother as she weaves beautiful and intricate saris for their father to sell at their market stall. Wanting her to have the nice things she makes for others, the pair decide…

Hello, Mandarin Duck!

English & many others! 4+ May Day Languages Welcoming Bao Phi & Dion MBD summary Twins Hua and Hue are on their way to the big May Day parade in their community when they come across a Mandarin duck looking a bit lost. As they run into more of their friends, they welcome the duck…

Magick & Lore: Halloween is here!

English 6+ summary One look at me and you know I hail from the land of potatoes: Ireland (and Scotland). But the aspect I most love about my Celtic heritage? It’s that we invented trick-or-treating of course! Samhain, All Souls Eve & Day, Halloween. They’re all basically about the same thing. The veil between the…