Diversity, Equity and Inclusion- Children’s Book Review

This modern fairy tale for young readers is about a prince who is looking for love. Young readers will be able to see that not every prince would like to marry or love a princess. With his parents on a quest to find the perfect bride he had a different vision in his mind. Later coming back to protect his town from a dragon he found a knight who caught him from falling to his death. Surely falling in love, they get married and live happily ever after. This book is expressing sexuality, acceptance and young love. With all these subjects being taught it is perfect for an age group three to eight years of age who would like to further understand and learn about the LGBTQ community and how others accept it. In this case, the prince is feeling like he is a part of that community and scared his parents may not accept what he truly wants. In today’s generation, more and more people are coming out and expressing how they really feel. Considering the authors background, he wrote the book about how he one day wants to save the day and find a boy. From the book being published in 2018 it is very new and expresses how society now talks. If this book was written back in the 1980’s the society would react differently because others were not as educated and talked about LGBTQ community. Same sex relationships were never openly discussed and hidden behind closed doors. Overall, this book openly discusses and educates young readers about different sexuality and how it is represented. With the parents living the “normal” life and assuming his son’s sexual representation with how he will just want a bride, it further exposes that you just can’t assume a person preference.

Clifford Celebrates Hanukkah was Written by Norman Bridwell published in 2015. This book is a story about a young girl celebrating a Jewish holiday called Hanukkah with her classmate Melissa. Young readers aged three to eight years of age will see Clifford and Emily travel to Melissa’s house to learn about all the traditions about the Jewish holiday called Hanukkah like the game dreidel and the menorah that holds eight candles for the eight days of Hanukkah. With the many new things being learnt, Clifford and Emily gain new experiences and information about a new culture. This book is expressing a culture that many people may not be able to experience and know much about. In today’s generation, many people don’t have knowledge about each religion unless they go to a Catholic School and take religion or if they are grown up with that culture. Clifford and Emily going to a Mellissa’s house allowed them to meet her family and experience the holiday with a variety of people of different ages. With many generations, they will learn new and old things about the culture and how the things change over the years. With the tradition giving gifts on the days of Hanukkah, the book shows the family giving enough gifts for everyone which represents they make a decent amount of money for even Clifford and Emily to receive and give nothing in return. With today’s society, everyone will be classified as low class, high-class or moderate. With the tradition of giving gifts, some with receive different kinds based on wealth. Overall, the children reading this book will learn about the traditions and the culture represented and how they should except everyone.

In this book “I Don’t Want to be a Frog” Written by Dev Patty it expresses how the frog wants to be anything but a slimy wet frog. The frog wants to be a cat, owl or rabbit. In the ending of the story, a wolf approaches the frog and discusses he hates eating frogs because they are wet, slimy and eat bugs. This book is deliberately showing the frog having identity issues and only picking out the negatives of himself. With the book being written in 2015 it is recently new and connects with today’s society. With many people feeling negative toward their appearance, young readers will develop an understanding about how we should except what we have and be proud of who we are. Young readers will also expand their knowledge on how we visualize ourselves vs. how other see us. If this book was written back in the 1990’s it would be a lot different as body image or culture was not talked about often and people were not always feeling negative about what they are. In this book, the hero of the story is the wolf, he is the one who makes sure the frog understands he is perfect for who he is and shouldn’t want to change who he is. Every individual should be proud they are unique and different. Overall, this book would be perfect for children aged four to eight years of age to help understand how they should always be happy for who they are. Because of the frog wanting to change who he is he will always need to remember he was made that way for a reason, with his father on the side for comfort it is just like the ones around us today also helping bring up positivity. In conclusion, I believe this book will be suitable for kids as the generation now is experiencing this hugely.

This fiction book for young readers is about a mother who continuously shows love for her son through his adolescence to manhood. Although over time his behaviour drives her crazy sometimes, she sticks by his sides and love him. Young readers will be able to see how over the years of her boy growing, the mother will be there for her boy at all times even driving across town to hold him in her arms and sing to him. When the years go by, his mother starts to get older and sick. With the tradition of her song he switches the lyrics to sing to her when she needs it most and needs to be held in his arms. This book is expressing gender stereotypes, family and the thought of giving back. With all these subjects being taught it is perfect for young readers three to eight years of age who would like to further understand that not everyone may have a mom or dad that is there. In this case, the son does not have a dad and the mother is seen doing everything for him. In today’s generation, women are unrepresented for what they do and is shown to make less than men. Considering the authors background, he has three grown children now living in Guelph Ontario. The book was first published in 1986 and warms the hearts of many families. looking further into the story, the family seems to have decent money as they live in a nice home with a backyard, lots of food, son growing up playing sports and having his own computer. Overall, this book discusses and educates young readers about how the mother does many things and the son doing it later return. This will educate others on how much single parents really work hard for their son or daughter to live their best life.

The illustrated book “I See Things Differently” Written by Pat Thomas in 2014 is to help young readers understand what autism is like and how it affects someone with it. Young readers of four to eight years of age will develop an understanding about how autism may cause people to behave in different ways and that it is not bad or something to be scared of. In this book, different children of cultures/races are learning how one friend with autism copes with life and develops education differently. With the book recently new it shows how children can understand it in a simpler way. Growing up myself I never had this opportunity to learn about autism in such an interesting way. This book shows how children are showing an interest to learn about one another and cope with what one needs. Whether it be to not joke in that way or for them to always sit in the same spot the kids would do anything to help. In today’s generation, we may never know if one has autism as you can’t physically see it. Everyone should understand things like this and help out as much as possible. The books also show’s a variety of techniques that adults can use. With the teacher being the one to help teach the class, she is taking a “hero” role to help the child with autism feel comfortable. Overall, this book will help all children and even some adults recognize that autism is very different and unique. Knowing these techniques will allow one to communicate effectively and make sure they aren’t left out just because they are different.

This picture book Written by Erica Silverman for young readers aged four to eight years of age Is about a sister thinking Jackie is going to grow up and play forest fairies and explore together. As the years go on, Jackie shows no passion for the games her sister plays and prefers to play in the mud and wear something other than dresses. With the book written in 2018 by Erica she further discusses that she believes in imagination and making the world a better place. She lives in Los Angeles with her wife, dog and two cats. Readers will love this book as it talks about change and acceptance. As we grow older we see more people being able to talk about how they feel or coming out. In this case her Jackie has no problem expressing what she likes. On Jackie’s birthday, her mom first bought her a new dress and she broke out in tears. Her mother stated “that’s okay she can wear whatever she wants” (Silverman, 2018, p. 12). This area shows that they accept her for what she wants to wear and understand what she is going through. With the transformation of Jackie to Jack his sister understands that she must be proud that he is happy. Looking further it shows they have moderate money as they celebrated this big birthday, have a playground, and lots of toys to play with. Overall, the children reading this book will understand more about LGBTQ and the transition of people and how they feel in the inside. Having the people around Jackie allowed her to feel comfortable and come out for who she wants to be. Young readers will develop knowledge further about how one feels so closely connected and what it may be like.

This illustrated book “Heather Has Two Mommies” Written by Leslea Newman is about a girl named Heather who lives with her two mommies. Heather is just starting school and her teacher Ms. Molly allowed them to get to know one another by drawing a picture of their family. With everyone’s picture different like grandparents, pets, step parent, two mommies or daddies it was all unique. Children reading this book will see how each individual has a different story and background. There are many cultures/races in this book with the variety of students as well as many different families. looking closer into detail, this book was written in 2015 which is quite new. As LGBTQ is a new topic and being more discussed. As most people believe having a mom and dad is the “normal” they will be educated that there shouldn’t be a “normal” and just assume. In the book “Heather Has Two Mommies” the teacher Ms. Molly is the “hero” in this story as she is trying to educate the class that everyone has a different story and they should never judge one another. Because of someone being different it doesn’t mean they should be bullied or be scared to share they have two mommies. Further looking at this book Heather is living in a little house with a big apple tree. Her one mom is a doctor and the other is a carpenter. They support Heather very well by providing her with company of two pets, go to the park often, and bake cookies together. Overall, this book is great for young readers to look through as no one should ever judge someone. You should always treat others as you want to be treated and never be scared to be who you are.

This picture book “Duck, Duck, Goose” Written by Tad Hills is a book about a duck and a goose that are best friends. Then time comes along and a new duck comes names Thistle. The duck thinks Thistle is great but Goose does not. With the book being made in 2018, this problem is faced everywhere in today’s generation about not liking some certain people. As children are reading his book they will realize that the duck and the goose can be represented as either different cultures/races or personalities. A conflict in this book may include that since the two ducks are the same the goose may feel left out. When reading the book, they will see such comments of bullying calling him “little” and always competing to be the best (Hills, 2018, p. 6). In today’s society, there is a lot of bullying and having people feel left out. With the goose trying to win back his friend, the children reading the book will understand that you all have to work together to get to know one another instead of fighting. Looking closer into detail, if the author wrote this book many years ago like in 1980’s there were not as many cases of bullying and other couldn’t relate to it as much. Now a day’s children will read this book and think about their life decisions and experiences to see if they have done any of this stuff. In my opinion, this book would be perfect for children three to eight years of age so they can understand how the ducks can be represented as different races and how they may not be treated the same and how bullying is not okay. Overall, we should always remember you should never treat someone disrespectfully.

This picture book Written by Qin Leng is about a girl named Mimi who is very short in size and feels like she should just be called mini. Her family, dog and people at school or on the streets are all taller than her. With mini always picking out the negative things about herself she is feeling more and more unconfident and that she can’t do anything. She lists many things that she can’t do but her friends can. This book is great for ages four to eight as they can learn to never feel bad about yourself and to always look for positives. Mimi’s friends and her parents are the “hero’s” of this book as they are always trying to make her realize that she can do this because she is so small and she always gets to have a good spot. Mimi is shown to have two loving parents that are there to support her with the very best. She is shown to have a dog, a town house that is close to the school, a room of her own which many people may not have. Looking further into the story her dad states he has a surprise for her and she gets home to her mother holding a new little brother. Mimi is excited when her mom calls her a big sister because she knows she is bigger than him. This book is great as it expresses how down people may feel about their appearance and how others are coming together to make that person feel good. Overall, this book is newly written and expresses today’s generation of how people are picking out things about themselves and don’t feel confident. This book would be perfect for children as it would educate them to understand that every person is different and we should always bring people up.

This children’s picture book is based on a true story from Saoussan Askar who lived in Lebanon. This book first took place at her house in Lebanon with her mom and dad. The story begins with the war happening and discovering it is not safe in the house anymore because of things being shot and their roof collapsing because of a bomb. Saoussan’s father first leaves set to find a new place for his wife and daughter to fly. When he finds a place, he finds them tickets and they transfer there on a plane starting a new life. When she goes to her first day of school she was quite terrified as she couldn’t understand anything her teacher was saying. As she didn’t know much she was terrified and didn’t want to go. This book explains many cultural differences as she feels left out based on not knowing rules and language barriers. When children aged four to eight years of age read this they will develop an understanding of how hard it must be to go to a new place not having any friends and try to learn English. The “hero” of this story is the teacher as she understood what she was going through and hugged her to make her feel like she will be okay. With all that help Saoussan gained confidence by starting to learn her English and made many friends. As this story is newly made it shows how many students this may represent whether they are international or not. It is hard to make new friends and learn something new but time will come and new experiences will be made. Overall this book will give young readers the chance to learn that this is happening in today’s generations and that the war is a very serious thing.