The Tiny Activist

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Tag: R.J. Palacio

January 12, 2020January 10, 2020 lockehardy

The Hero Next Door

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  • To find the best books!
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Lee Locke-Hardy

Corrie Locke-Hardy

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This book is part of a larger set of atlas’ by Quarto as part of their Wide Eyed Editions books, focusing on curiosity and learning. This is the only book in the series that we’ve seen (we won this in a giveaway) but the other books look amazing too! We love to feature nature and science books as part of our beliefs that everyone can be a scientist, despite there sometimes being a single example of what a scientist is. The world is an amazing place that needs diverse explorers and scientists to help solve life’s mysteries and to protect our precious natural resources and wild animals. This is a massive book jam packed full of oceanic knowledge and adventure inspiration! The entire book is beautiful and organized, with a helpful contents page at the beginning and an index at the end. The illustrations make us want to grab some flippers and hop on into the water, searching for otters and whale sharks to befriend! The atlas also does a lovely job of explaining the wonders of the aquatic world, and where they are in the world. Lots of information is on the pages, but it doesn’t overwhelm the illustrations which are the star of the show here. This is a great coffee-table book, and a must-have for the burgeoning marine biologist on your life! There is even a “Can You Find?” section in the back right before the index! There are a bunch of animals to seek out through the entire book, making another activity for readers. 🐙🦑🦞🦀🐡🐠🐟 @quartokids @lucy_letherland 🐳 #stemisforeveryone #stem #weneeddiversebooks #picturebooksaremyjam #education #inclusion #diversekidlit #childrenslit #childrensbooks #diversebooks #oceanography #marinebiology #scienceforeveryone #bookstagram #quartobooks #lucyletherland #emilyhawkins #jellyfishjam #whaleshark
Today we have the honor of helping with a big announcement! We are so excited to share that our friends at Bharat Babies are growing up! 5 years ago, Bharat Babies started with a vision to share the stories of their home and heritage of India. Their vision is expanding to tell the stories of the entire South Asian experience. Stories that go beyond the borders of India. Stories that go beyond childhood. To reflect their broader mission and vision, their name is changing as well to Mango and Marigold Press, an award-winning independent publishing house that shares the sweet and savory stories of the South Asian experience. So folks, get ready to see a whole new look over at Mango and Marigold Press along with stories of the South Asian experience told not only in children’s literature but also middle grade and young adult. Let us know below what kind of stories you want to see and tag @mangoandmarigoldpress. Who knows, it might become a story! . . #weneeddiversebooks #bharatbabies #new #bigthingscoming #diversereads #readersareleaders #diversebooks #diversekidlit #southasianstories
A Boy Like You opens by talking about how unique every person is, and how the world needs someone exactly like each and everyone one.  Our main character (a young boy of color) demonstrates the many attributes a person can have, and how everyone is different.  Everyone is smart, but in different ways.  Some are more gifted athletically, and some artistically.  But everyone should be kind, polite, and help others. Teaching empathy and compassion is crucial to dismantling toxic masculinity, and continuing the fight to dismantle the racist patriarchy that upholds systemic oppression in our nation. Only by continuing the radical fight that our predecessors began can we hope to have an anti-racist and inclusive future. This book is geared towards boys, to help dismantle the stereotypes that force boys and men to feel pressure to embody a single type of masculinity, which can become toxic.  Murphy tells the reader to leave every place and every person, better than you found them.  The message about the importance of being true to yourself but also a kind and sensitive human being.  Although the words in the book could easily be shifted to include “people” instead of “boys” all the time, the text is sending a profound message to boys that they don’t have to be macho and emotionless in order to be seen as a man. We chose this book to also represent our book club theme of Inspire this month as well! This book was sent to us by @sleepingbearpress as part of the #findmestories_bestof2019 list, but all opinions are our own. . . #findmestories_inspire #socialemotionallearning #weneeddiversebooks #diversebooks #toxicmasculinity #kindness #friendship #childrensbooks #picturebook #picturebooks #education #secularhomeschool #diversity #childrenslit #inclusion #diversekidlit #diversebooksforkids #readersareleaders #librariansofinstagram #teachersfollowteachers
This is a really cute, short rhyming book that celebrates not only different skin colors but different families as well! Throughout the book the reader learns all about the wonderful things that skin does for a person, and how it can look differently for everyone. We really love the diverse representation present in these illustrations. Right off the bat, the cover image shows a young girl of color in a wheelchair with a soccer ball playing with other kids running and scootering outside! There are other fabulous examples of diverse families with gay parents, different families with religious head coverings, a child with a large birthmark on their cheek, and a long-haired child with very strong eyebrows. Lauren Tobia has illustrated an incredibly fantastic representation of what life really looks like in many different environments. The text is simple and the rhymes would be really fun to say out loud with a group! This is a book that truly celebrates kindness, community, and loving the unique skin you were born in. . . #weneeddiversebooks #picturebook #picturebooksaremyjam #childrensbooks #readersareleaders #diversebooks #diversebooksforkids #friendship #outdoors #uniqueness #diversity #childrensliterature #education #inclusion #learning #teachersfollowteachers #secularhomeschool #diversekidlit #librariansofinstagram #earlychildhoodeducation #socialemotionallearning #happiness #literacy #learning #readingisfundamental
This book opens with Miep hearing the footsteps of Nazi soldiers, coming to arrest the 8 Jewish people that she’s been helping to hide in attic storage rooms for the past two years. Miep manages to avoid arrest by realizing that she and the soldier are both from Vienna, and is left alone. Miep is able to summon the courage to go upstairs to the secret annex where the Franks and others have been hiding, and she saves Anne’s diary. She is able to hid the diary until the war is over and Mr. Frank returns, he is the only one that makes it out alive. Eventually, the diary is published. This book is somber, tender, and based on Miep’s autobiography. It gives another facet of the WWII experience, this time from a non-Jewish activist committed to the anti-Nazi cause. While the story of Anne Frank is well-known throughout the world, Miep’s story is lesser known. In the back of the book is an author’s note, more information about Miep, and a timeline of her life. She is a beautiful, courageous person. Although she didn’t do any of the actions she’s famous for for glory, she did it to be a good person, not seeing herself as a hero but rather a person just doing her duty. This is a beautiful book to add into any Holocaust education/curriculum, or world history learning. This book was sent to us by Sleeping Bear Press ( @sleepingbearpress )as an entry in the Best Books of 2019 list, but all opinions are our own, as was the decision to review the book separately from the list project. .✍🏽. #findmestories_bestof2019 #childrensbooks #readersareleaders #picturebook #picturebooksaremyjam #history #historicalfigure #AnneFrank #childrensbooks #weneeddiversebooks #neveragain #diversebooks #diversechildrensbooks #secularhomeschool #Judaism #jewishhistory #education #holocaust #holocausthistory #education #inclusion #librariansofinstagram
This book is amazing for several reasons. First, it introduces young children not only to poetry but also to an accomplished poet that they might not be familiar with if they don’t live in Jamaica! Second, it helps normalize the linguistic cultural funds of knowledge that students bring into the classroom with them. Many times, children of color that might speak a patois, pidgin dialect, or AAVE outside of the classroom are shamed for bringing it into school. This invalidates their experiences and furthers the elitism associated with formal/standard English. We should be embracing the lived experiences of students, and having this book that celebrates such a prolific woman is a great addition to bookshelves! Louise is a young girl living in Kingston, Jamaica. She loves words and writing poetry, but the words get stuck when she tries to speak. Louise gains inspiration for her poetry by listening to the sights and sounds of those around her, but she is shamed for it at school. Louise ends up going to another school, but has trouble reciting the poems she memorized out loud. Instead, she musters up courage to speak the lyrical flow of Jamaican Patois that she hears on the streets and in her house, rather than the formal English that she feels might be expected of her in school. To her surprise, her classmates and teachers love Louise’s poem! . . #weneeddiversebooks #diversespines #poccentricnarratives #historicalfigure #louisebennettcoverley #poet #womenpoets #writer #Jamaica #childrensbooks #picturebooks #education #inclusion #diversity #diversebooks #poetrybooks #diversebooksforkids #secularhomeschool #librariansofinstagram #teachersfollowteachers #diversekidlit

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