We Are Family, by Patricia Hegarty

I typically don't like books without a plot, but this one is an exception.  It follows ten different types of families - two moms, two dads, parents with four children, a single mother and child, a child raised by his grandparents, and so on.  In addition, these families are made up of various races.  Our son was beyond delighted to find a family exactly the same as ours (a transracial adoption) and follow it through various activities and note the similarities - we also eat croissants! we all ride bikes! we like to cuddle on the sofa too, how did they know?!  If by chance your family is one of those pictured, I highly recommend this book.

BUY HERE (or request at your local library!)

White Easter Bunnies

The Easter Bunny is frequently portrayed as white in children's books.  I get it, though if I personally was illustrating a children's book I'd probably make a different choice.  What's particularly irritating though, is when the Easter Bunny is white and all of his "friends" helping out are brown, as in this illustration from The Story of the Easter Bunny, by Katherine Tegen and illustrated by Sally Anne Lambert.  When my son and I got to this page I internally groaned, and when we finished the story I immediately tossed it into the return to library pile.  

Would love recommendations for any Easter books featuring kids of color!

Shawn Loves Sharks, by Curtis Manley

Shawn, a boy of color, is obsessed with sharks.  He reads about sharks, eats like a shark, and chases other kids like a shark - especially Stacy, an Asian girl.  However, when doing a class project on predators, Shawn is dismayed when Stacy is assigned the shark and he is assigned the leopard seal.  The tables are turned, as Stacy the shark chases her prey, Shawn the leopard seal.  However, Shawn slowly learns to appreciate the leopard seal and befriends Stacy in the process.

Aside from the fact that it's a really enjoyable book (that, despite regular readings over the last 3 months, we still haven't tired of), this story really has everything.  It's about a child obsessed (what child doesn't have a passion that everyone else is a bit tired of?) but also begrudgingly expanding and eventually embracing new interests, the complexities of friendship. the fun of pretending to be an animal (lots of shark-chomping), a multicultural classroom, and simple, arresting illustrations.

BUY HERE (or request at your local library!)

Hello Goodbye Dog, by Maria Gianferrari

Zara, a biracial girl with a black mom and white dad, has a dog named Moose that won't stop following her to school!  As a solution, Moose attends therapy dog school and becomes the class reading dog.  Zara uses a wheelchair, a fact that is not referenced aside from once during Moose's therapy dog test - he's good at sitting, being with children, and (of course) being around wheelchairs.

This is perhaps the first book we've stumbled upon that features a child of color who has a disability (though hopefully there are many more we've yet to find), and I love that neither of those facts are central to this delightful story of a dog that misses his child and loves to be read to.  In addition, the book is pleasingly repetitive in a way that appeals to children.

  BUY HERE (or request at your local library!)