[mommamarci]

Okay, my dh and I recently joined a Children's Book of the Month club so we can get our kids books more built up. They are having a special on shipping this month, so I thought I would order a few books. We are a CC couple planning to adopt an AA / biracial child. I want to get some kids books that show AA children (or any other non-white. We want a very diverse collection.) I also want books that deal with adoption and maybe books that deal with non-tradtional families. (I view transracial as non-traditional. Do not mean to offend anyone.) Any books you can suggest? Thanks so much!!

[kidmd2b]

Hello,
I too am trying to build up a multicultural children's library and also added a book dealing with adoption. My favorite adoption book is Tell me About the Night I was Born by Jaime Lee Curtis who is a famous adoptive mom herself. This one isn't multicultural, but a nice book that makes me emotional everytime. One series that I also like, although they are animal cartoons, is the Aurthur Series. The animal cartoon characters are depicted as having different races and in one Christmas episode they had characters celebrating Christmas, Hanukah, Kwanza etc and had a little lesson in learning about other people's cultures and celebrating them. In fact, I was at the 99 cent store the other day and was surprised to find an 18 book set of this series which I quickly snatched up. I am a former Kindergarten teacher, and another series that the kids liked were the Bill series based on the Bill Cosby cartoon. They were less for story, but had flip up pieces and were more durable for children to sit and look at books themselves. I know that there has to be more out there and I anxiously await other posts so that I can get more ideas too.
Cindy

[Yash]

Cindy,

I love Tell Me Again About The Night I Was Born. I think it was the first book I bought for my then future child. I'll have to go through my son's books and see what I can recommend.

By chance at Goodwil,l I found Roma Downey's book Love Is A Family. I love it. Here's the amazon.com synposis of it:

Lily storms home to her mother one day, demanding a real family. It's Family Fun Night at school, and she's positive they'll be the weirdest family there. Her single-parent mom doesn't seem overly fazed, reminding her daughter that they are a "small kind" of family, but real nonetheless. Lily isn't convinced. She seeks refuge in the noise and pillow fights of her friend Melissa's crowded house until it's time for the school event, where, surprise! it turns out her little family isn't unusual at all. Remi lives with just her dad--her mom died and she has no siblings. Tamika is adopted and has a puppy. Josh and Tony live with their grandparents. By the end of the evening, Lily understands that "Love is what makes a family."

Yash

[megaphonemo]

Friends gave us an awesome book called "i Like myself" by Karen Beaumont - starring an adorable AA girl!!!


I have more , but gotta go get DD from day care now.....

[StorkWatcher]

Check out Todd Parr's It's Okay to be Different. Talks about adoption, different colors/families/appearances/ways of doing things. I love it, 3 yo nieces loved it, and the colors are very bright, so even though it's not a board book, it's appealing to younger kids.

[KarynB]

Also very good is "We are different, We are the Same " by Sesame Street - my son is seven and we still get a kick out of each page - it features a body part and about 10 pictures - so a caucasean(sp?) nose, black nose, Asian nose and then some Monster noses - so we pick which we like best on each page - which changes day by day...during one reading of this book my son started talking about a kid at school who told him his skin was ugly (he is African by birth) and this started a whole wonderful conversation...great book!

Another good one is "whoever you are" by mem fox...all about different cultures and how they are tied together - amazing art work.

Have fun!

[wizpup]

My doctor recommended a book by Jada Pinkett Smith called Girls Hold Up This World. We are a caucasian couple with a gorgeous bi-racial daughter that is starting to question her skin color. I have not read it yet, but I heard it is fantastic!

[rredhead]

More More More Said the Baby! It's an awesome book with 3 different children in non-traditional situations.
We also have We're Different, We're the Same, and love it!
The board book Babies, by Baby Einstein is great for little ones. My 6 month old can turn the pages, and he smiles at the Chinese baby every time.
Ezra Jack Keats, The Snowy Day, is a picture book with a black boy as the main character.

[srusse24]

All of these have African American characters or are about AA traditions and folklore.

Ashanti to Zulu by Margaret Musgrove
Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears by Verna Aardema
The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats (this author actually has written several books with similar characters)
Please, Puppy, Please by Spike Lee and Tonya Lewis-Lee
Please, Baby, Please by Spike Lee and Tonya Lewis-Lee
101 African-American Read Aloud Stories by Susan Kantor (this is written for grade school children, but has some great great short stories for little ones)

These are great stories about adoption.

A Blessing From Above by Patti Henderson (it's a Golden Book)
Tell Me Again About the Night I Was Born by Jamie Lee Curtis
The Day We Met You by Phoebe Koehler
A Mother for Choco by Keiko Kasza