Early Childhood: Learning about Culture, Language and Fairness

DESCRIPTION: In this U.S. family, the mother is Latina, the father is Japanese, and their bi-racial daughter wants to be a ballerina. The simple text describes the city in Spanish, Japanese, and English as father and daughter walk to ballet class. This is a lively and delightful book with beautiful, clear illustrations.

DESCRIPTION: Celebrating illustrates the different ways and occasions people celebrate. This picture book is part of a series, available in different languages, that depicts the lives of children across the world. 

DESCRIPTION: The relationship between three young Arab-American sisters and their grandmother is profiled in this series title. The narrative moves between scenes of the girls and their grandmother at home in New Jersey to Grandma Hekmatt's memories of her former home in Egypt.

DESCRIPTION: Houy Van Lee, a stunning paper collage artist who emigrated from Cambodia, presents a series of books in which a young boy learns to write Chinese characters At the Beach, In the Leaves, In the Park, and In the Snow. Paper cut-outs feature not only Chinese Americans but also Americans of many ethnicities.

DESCRIPTION: Morales' award-winning titles introduce Spanish language and core academic concepts through Mexican-American trickster tales. Beautiful illustrations and repetition in sentence structures draw in young readers.

DESCRIPTION: Two little girls meet in the park and figure out how to play even though one speaks Spanish and the other English. 

DESCRIPTION: The new kid in school needs a new name... or does she? Being the new kid in school is hard enough, but what about when nobody can pronounce your name? Having just moved from Korea, Unhei is anxious that American kids will like her. So instead of introducing herself on the first day of school, she tells the class that she will choose a name by the following week. Her new classmates are fascinated by this no-name girl and decide to help out by filling a glass jar with names for her to pick from. But while Unhei practices being a Suzy, Laura, or Amanda, one of her classmates comes to her neighborhood and discovers her real name and its special meaning. On the day of her name choosing, the name jar has mysteriously disappeared. Encouraged by her new friends, Unhei chooses her own Korean name and helps everyone pronounce it: "Yoon-Hey."

DESCRIPTION: The Upside Down Boy is Juan Felipe Herrera's memoir of the year his migrant family settled down so that he could go to school for the first time. Juanito is bewildered by his new school. Everything he does feels upside down, but his sensitive teacher and loving family help him find his voice through poetry, art, and music. Bilingual English/Spanish.

DESCRIPTION: This story shows the clever ways Mexican and Mexican-American families use a rebozo (scarf): including a cradle for a baby, a blindfold for a pinata, and a bag to carry things. Resourcefulness is truly emphasized.