Hello Mai! I’m on a little mission to try and get a book (kinder - 8th grade) from every country in the world. Any suggestions for Central American books? Ideally the stories are very obviously only able to take place IN that country (not like, a Cinderella story just told with characters in different costumes, you know what I mean?) nonfiction or fiction is fine, English/bilingual/spanish is also fine too! I’m on the hunt and curious as to what you will recommend!
Hi! I am a volunteer librarian. What are your top nonfiction books that every library should have? Our nonfiction section is terrible and I’m looking to replace some of it, if not all of it over the next few years.
Oh this is a tough one! I would love to put together a full list one day. But for now, there are so so so many options and topics! Can we narrow it down to a topic or a few topics?
Hi!! I have a biracial daughter - her dad is Vietnamese and I’m white. I know you just did a post on Picture Books ft Mixed Race Families, but do you know of any with this specific dynamic? Also, any books (especially bilingual) that highlight food, history, or culture of specifically the northern region of Vietnam? He’s from the coast (Haiphong) and his mom is from more rurally in the northern mountains. Fiction or nonfiction! Baby is still very young, but I’m trying to build her a good collection to grow up with so she knows and feels proud of being Vietnamese in an area that doesn’t have a big Asian population (we live in south-western Virginia).
Hello! Unfortunately I don't know of any specific mixed race picture book with Vietnamese and White families. The Asian/White Mixed race books I know of feature South Asian/White and Chinese/White. Let me know if those would be helpful at all.
As for Vietnamese Books for Baby, I highly recommend checking out these authors /publishers for bilingual board books. We have a bunch of theirs and love them!
Hi Mai! So excited to be joining the forum. My daughter is only 5 months old but I’m committed to encouraging a love of reading. Could you please recommend some Vietnamese culture books? I do have The Jade Bracelet and A Different Pond. Books on single mother households / different types of families would be great too. Thank you! 💕
Hello! For these recs, learning about how someone feels when we hurt their feelings will come mainly through discussion about the story and grown ups helping to make the feelings more explicit. These recs involve someone being teased/ someone teasing someone else and having to make ammends.
Illustrated series for my son! I learned that he is enjoying those and can entertain him for hours. This working mama needs more summer read recommendations for my sports, science, animals lover 7 yr old boy . Thank you!
Do you have any recommendations for books that include both immigrant and LGBTQ+ families? An immigrant advocate group I'm involved with is having a booth at a Pride event later in the month and I'd love to be able to tie in a book that mentions both.
Hmm I unfortunately don't know of any fiction picture books that explicitly feature both immigrants and LGBTQ but will keep an eye out and let you know if I come across any or any come time mind! In the meantime, I can share some diverse LGBTQ books if that would be helpful?
I left this comment last month and I don't know if you didn't respond because 1. you don't have any recommendations or 2. I'm only allowed to make one request per month. Assuming it's #2 and not #1...
Books for any age group where there's a biracial child and, for one reason or another, their parent of color isn't around and they're being raised by the white parent. I've known multiple people who lived this reality and yet I have never been able to find books about it.
Hello! Apologies! I do remember this request and I thought I had replied. Looking back I see the reply didn't go through. Also, you are able to request as many times as you want!
I don't know of any picture books specifically, but here are a couple middle grade/young adult: recs
*The Blossoming Universe of Violet Diamond* by Brenda Woods
*Caucasia* by Danzy Senna
Will add more if I come across/ more come to mind!
I don't know of any picture books that take place specifically in coastal North Carolina, but these state series books are fun for introducing new states and their landmarks to kids:
*Night-Night North Carolina: A Bedtime Board Book of North Carolina Landmarks* by Katherine Sully
*T is for Tar Heel: A North Carolina Alphabet* by Carol Crane
Ooo yes that’s what I’m looking for. Any chance they would give you a coupon code? I’m struggling to find enough books that are interesting and exist in the level d- level 1 space
Hello Mai! I’m on a little mission to try and get a book (kinder - 8th grade) from every country in the world. Any suggestions for Central American books? Ideally the stories are very obviously only able to take place IN that country (not like, a Cinderella story just told with characters in different costumes, you know what I mean?) nonfiction or fiction is fine, English/bilingual/spanish is also fine too! I’m on the hunt and curious as to what you will recommend!
Hello! Try these two:
*Emilia’s Corte* by Veronica Castillo
*Tíos and Primos* by Jacqueline Alcántara
Marisol Mac Donald!
Hi! I am a volunteer librarian. What are your top nonfiction books that every library should have? Our nonfiction section is terrible and I’m looking to replace some of it, if not all of it over the next few years.
Oh this is a tough one! I would love to put together a full list one day. But for now, there are so so so many options and topics! Can we narrow it down to a topic or a few topics?
Sports gets checked out the most so let’s start there. :)
Some of my favorite diverse/ inclusive sports biographies:
*If Lin Can* by Richard Ho
*Contenders: Two Native Baseball Players, One World Series* by Traci Sorell
*The Wrestling Cholitas of Bolivia* by Claudi Bellante
*Courage in Her Cleats* by Kim Chaffee
*Girls with Guts!: The Road to Breaking Barriers and Bashing Records* by Debbie Gonzales
Kids always Love national geographics with all the fun facts and photos. Especially with the world cup, these soccer ones are great:
*It's a Numbers Game! Soccer* by Jr. James Buckley
*National Geographic Kids Everything Soccer:* by Blake Hoena
I also like DK for nonfiction:
*My Encyclopedia of Very Important Sports* by DK
*My Book of Gymnastics * by DK
Also:
*Women in Sports* by Rachel Ignotofsky
*My Weird School Fast Facts: Sports* by Dan Gutman
Hi!! I have a biracial daughter - her dad is Vietnamese and I’m white. I know you just did a post on Picture Books ft Mixed Race Families, but do you know of any with this specific dynamic? Also, any books (especially bilingual) that highlight food, history, or culture of specifically the northern region of Vietnam? He’s from the coast (Haiphong) and his mom is from more rurally in the northern mountains. Fiction or nonfiction! Baby is still very young, but I’m trying to build her a good collection to grow up with so she knows and feels proud of being Vietnamese in an area that doesn’t have a big Asian population (we live in south-western Virginia).
Hello! Unfortunately I don't know of any specific mixed race picture book with Vietnamese and White families. The Asian/White Mixed race books I know of feature South Asian/White and Chinese/White. Let me know if those would be helpful at all.
As for Vietnamese Books for Baby, I highly recommend checking out these authors /publishers for bilingual board books. We have a bunch of theirs and love them!
https://embebooks.com/
https://www.gemmaslibrary.com/
These are great, thank you!!
Oh! Also: https://tinywrist.com/
They have a Vietnamese songbook that plays Vietnamese nursery songs in the northern dialect. My kids are obsessed with the book!
Following as I have a similar request
Hi Mai! I’m searching for any books related to divorce (have two boys ages 4, 7) that would help. Any recs you have is appreciated ❤️
Hello Kristen,
Here are some recs:
*Thursday* by Ann Bonwill
*Everything Changes* by Clare Helen Welsh
*A Song for Two Homes* by Dr. Michael Datcher
I need some books about tattling for my preschoolers and lower elementary students.
Love this classic:
*A Bad Case of Tattle Tongue* by Julia Cook
We're looking for books about visiting Texas, swim lessons, and being afraid of the dark. Thanks!!!
Hi Savanna!
I love this nonfiction states series, and this one about Texas is super fun to get kids excited about visiting:
*Only in Texas: Weird and Wonderful Facts About The Lone Star State* by Heather Alexander
Swim Lessons
*Serafina Makes Waves* by Matthew Burgess
*Saturday is Swimming Day* by Hyewon Yum
Scared of the Dark
*Orion and the Dark* by Emma Yarlett
*Moon Bear* by Clare Helen Wash
*Scared of the Dark? It's Really Scared of You* by Peter Vegas
Thank you so much!
There’s a really cute book called I’m Not (Very) Afraid of the Dark. You can order it from PaperPie.
Hi Mai! So excited to be joining the forum. My daughter is only 5 months old but I’m committed to encouraging a love of reading. Could you please recommend some Vietnamese culture books? I do have The Jade Bracelet and A Different Pond. Books on single mother households / different types of families would be great too. Thank you! 💕
Hello Alisha! I love this request! And welcome to the forum
For Vietnamese representation:
*Minh and the Magic Grains of Rice* by Ðo Nguyet Hà
*Hundred Years of Happiness* by Thanhhà Lai
*The Yellow Áo Dài* by Hanh Bui
*My First Day* by Phùng Nguyên Quang
*Wishes* by Muon Thi Van
For different family structures, I recommend looking through this post as I list out a bunch of my recs:
https://maistorybook.substack.com/p/tennessee-has-declared-june-nuclear?r=2j66ob&utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web
Any suggestions for teaching how someone feels when we hurt their feelings?
Hello! For these recs, learning about how someone feels when we hurt their feelings will come mainly through discussion about the story and grown ups helping to make the feelings more explicit. These recs involve someone being teased/ someone teasing someone else and having to make ammends.
*Way Past Mean* by Hallee Adelman
*Just Kidding* by Trudy Ludwig
*Desmond and the Very Mean Word* by Desmond Tutu
Illustrated series for my son! I learned that he is enjoying those and can entertain him for hours. This working mama needs more summer read recommendations for my sports, science, animals lover 7 yr old boy . Thank you!
Hello! Try these:
*Once Upon a Tim* by Stuart Gibbs
*Llama Quest* by Megan Reyes
*The Magnificent Makers* by Theanne Griffith
I have a kiddo that’s suddenly very opposed to soap. Any suggestions for germs, hand washing, and soap?
Try this ones!
*Germs vs. Soap* by Didi Dragon
This is also a fun, more in depth one: *Healthy as a Dragon!* by Stepanka Sekaninova
Do you have any recommendations for books that include both immigrant and LGBTQ+ families? An immigrant advocate group I'm involved with is having a booth at a Pride event later in the month and I'd love to be able to tie in a book that mentions both.
Hmm I unfortunately don't know of any fiction picture books that explicitly feature both immigrants and LGBTQ but will keep an eye out and let you know if I come across any or any come time mind! In the meantime, I can share some diverse LGBTQ books if that would be helpful?
I left this comment last month and I don't know if you didn't respond because 1. you don't have any recommendations or 2. I'm only allowed to make one request per month. Assuming it's #2 and not #1...
Books for any age group where there's a biracial child and, for one reason or another, their parent of color isn't around and they're being raised by the white parent. I've known multiple people who lived this reality and yet I have never been able to find books about it.
Hello! Apologies! I do remember this request and I thought I had replied. Looking back I see the reply didn't go through. Also, you are able to request as many times as you want!
I don't know of any picture books specifically, but here are a couple middle grade/young adult: recs
*The Blossoming Universe of Violet Diamond* by Brenda Woods
*Caucasia* by Danzy Senna
Will add more if I come across/ more come to mind!
Oh and a visiting coastal North Carolina book selection
I don't know of any picture books that take place specifically in coastal North Carolina, but these state series books are fun for introducing new states and their landmarks to kids:
*Night-Night North Carolina: A Bedtime Board Book of North Carolina Landmarks* by Katherine Sully
*T is for Tar Heel: A North Carolina Alphabet* by Carol Crane
More level 1 readers
I love this new diverse decodable book series form Lee and Low: https://www.leeandlow.com/series/lets-read-decodable/
Ooo yes that’s what I’m looking for. Any chance they would give you a coupon code? I’m struggling to find enough books that are interesting and exist in the level d- level 1 space
Let me check!