English & Yiddish 4+ Friendship Judaism Jewish Culture & Identity Social-Emotional Learning Caroline Kusin Pritchard & Ariel Landy summary Gitty is an optimistic force of nature and her best friend Kvetch is…the opposite. A little grumpy, a little unsure, Kvetch prefers to air on the safe side of life. Begrudgingly convinced to try and beat…
Category: Girls Outdoors
Every Child a Song
English 4-8 years Human Rights Nicola Davies & Marc Martin summary For #SweetsAndSocialJustice this week, I’m sharing the beautiful book Every Child a Song which is based on the UNRC, the rights of the child as designated by the UN. The book speaks to the reader, comparing each child to a unique song. It also…
Magic Like That
English 3+ Black Joy Hair Girls Outdoors Poetry Samara Cole Doyon & Geneva Bowers summary Magic Like That is the most beautiful ode from our narrator to her hair. As she sits on the floor with her mom combing through it, the young girl thinks about other hairstyles she’s had in the past and how…
Looking for a Jumbie
English & Caribbean spirit names 4-8 Folklore Caribbean Black Protagonist West African Spirits Tracey Baptiste & Amber Ren summary Looking for a Jumbie is SO cute. Main character Naya sneaks out of her house one night when the moon is perfect for finding a jumbie. Along the way she meets lots of interesting nocturnal characters,…
Notable Native People
English with tribal affiliations. MG & Up History Colonialism Historical Figures Indigenous Voices Adrienne Keene & Ciara Sana summary I recognize that y’all might not believe me when I say that I’ve been looking forward to this arriving for weeks. Peeking into the mailbox with my fingers crossed that this beautiful book would be waiting…
Season of the Witch & Tarot for Kids
English 6+ summary If you’re like me, not only is there an entire Spooky Season, but it’s a full-on lifestyle. Season of the Witch is the perfect history book to settle in with when I want to learn more about our witchy global past. When the weather gets hotter here in western MA, I long…
Change Sings: A Children’s Anthem
English 4+ Poetry Social Change Empowerment Music Amanda Gorman & Loren Long summary Change Sings joined the bookshelf ranks yesterday, and woah buddy it’s incredible. Amanda Gorman graced the inaugural stage and blew all of our minds with her powerful words, and she’s here to do it again with her picture book. Filled with hope…
A Song of Frutas
English & Spanish 3+ Intergenerational Stories Visting Family Fruit Vendors Cuban-American Authors Mexican Illustrators Margarita Engle & Sara Palacios summary For the first day of Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month, I wanted to share a book that’s fun. In A Song of Frutas, a young girl loves to visit her abuelo because it means she…
My First Book of: Growing Food & Houseplants
English infants & up Nature Plants Sustainability Vocabulary Åsa Gilland summary My First Book of Growing Food & Houseplants are the perfect additions to the bookshelf of a family that is passionate about sustainability and the natural world around us! With adorable illustrations and excellent vocabulary, these will be the perfect pair to help teach…
The First Blade of Sweetgrass
English& Passamaquoddy-Maliseet 4+ Indigenous Voices Passamaquoddy-Maliseet Sioux Intergenerational Stories Recipes Foraging Ancestral Knowledge Grandparents Suzanne Greenlaw, Gabriel Frey, & Nancy Baker summary Musqon is setting out with her grandmother to pick sweetgrass for baskets, and she’s really excited! Their family and ancestors have used these resources or generations, and Musqon must channel them when she…