Our collection of picture books featuring Black and Indigenous people and People of Color (BIPOC) is available to the public. *Inclusion of a title in the collection DOES NOT EQUAL a recommendation.* Click here for more on book evaluation.
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Michelle’s Garden
"From an acclaimed author and illustrator: Enjoy this tribute to Former First Lady Michelle Obama and her contributions to building the healthy future that America's children deserve. Former First Lady Michelle Obama had an idea. A big, inspiring, and exciting idea! She would grow the largest kitchen garden ever at the White House. This wouldn't be easy, since she'd never gardened before: Where should she start? What tools did she need? What would she plant? Everyone needs help when they're learning something for the first time, even the first lady of the United States. So she gathered the help of local students, the White House staff, and even President Barack Obama. Together, they wouldn't just grow a garden—they would inspire a nation!" -- publisher
The International Day of the Girl
"This introduction to the International Day of the Girl and its worldwide significance encourages children to recognize their own potential to make change, providing both a perfect lesson in social justice and a celebration of girl power. The United Nations designated October 11th as the International Day of the Girl, a day to increase awareness of problems that affect girls --- and only girls --- around the world and to encourage progress toward gender equality. Nine stories inspired by the real-life experiences of girls from all over the globe bring to light the importance of this day. Each story is set in a different country and sensitively describes an inequity faced by a character and how she addressed it. The challenges include gender-based violence, illiteracy, lack of access to technology, sanitation, nutritional disparity and child marriage. Each story features a positive description of the main character --- strong, smart, creative, inventive, brave, talented, caring, funny, ambitious --- and each concludes with a realistic yet hopeful outcome, presenting the girls as more than victims of their circumstances. Their powerful, and empowering, experiences will stir the activist in every child. Jessica Dee Humphreys's well-researched and illuminating stories are both readable and age appropriate. Award-winning Simone Shin's simple, warm illustrations bring the characters and their circumstances to life. Sidebars expand on the issues covered in each story. This book is a perfect choice for social justice discussions, as well as for social studies lessons on global communities, and for character education conversations on citizenship. It includes a foreword by the Honorable Rona Ambrose, who led Canada's call for the day to be formally adopted by the United Nations. Also included are an annotated time line of the day's creation and additional statistical information. A portion of the proceeds will go to Plan International Canada." -- publisher
Handa’s Noisy Night
"A cast of nocturnal creatures are the surprise stars in a funny tale about nighttime fears, set in southwest Kenya. The latest tale in the best-selling Handa series. When Handa sleeps over at her friend Akeyo’s house, she hears lots of strange sounds in the night: snorts, chattering, rattling, squeaks, slurps, wails, a big thud. Akeyo says it’s just her family, laughing, talking, playing music, riding a bike, drinking their bedtime milk. Or maybe the baby crying. Or a door slamming. But is she right? Young readers will be happy to be in on the joke as a sequence of animals pay a visit on the facing pages: a pig, fox, porcupine, bat, pangolin, bush baby, owl, and woodpecker. Illustrated in luminous colors, Eileen Brown’s humorous take on things that go bump in the night includes endpapers picturing and naming all the nocturnal creatures." -- publisher
Lulu the One and Only
"Lulu loves her family, but people are always asking: What are you? Lulu hates that question. Her brother inspires her to come up with a “power phrase” so she can easily express who she is, not what she is. Includes a Note to Readers from the author, sharing her experience as a multiracial person." -- from the publisher
My Name is Blessing
Based on a true story about a young Kenyan boy whose mother left him but had named him Muthini which meant suffering because he was born with no fingers on his left hand and only two on his right. Many times he was made fun of or avoided which hurt him deeply. He lives with his very elderly grandmother, his Nyanya, along with many cousins whose parents had either died or left them. They are extremely poor and there is never enough money or food, but plenty of love. A difficult choice must be made and Muthini is the youngest child and needs to have a better chance in life, so his Nyanya takes him to an orphanage where he is blessed and his name is changed to Baraka which means blessing for he was a blessing just as his grandmother always knew
Neema’s reason to smile
"Neema's Reason to Smile is the story of Neema, a young Kenyan girl who dreams of one day being able to afford to go to school. Slowly, and with great purpose, Neema makes a plan to save money in her dream basket and make her dream come true. One day, a mysterious young girl skips down the street wearing a red skirt and white shirt. Soon, she guides Neema all the way to a new school."-- Publisher's website
The wooden camel
Etabo wants nothing more than to race camels, but when times are tough and his chances disappear, he must be content with dreaming about racing them, until his sister makes a herd of wooden camels to help him imagine
Mama Panya’s pancakes
Mama Panya has just enough money to buy ingredients for a few pancakes, so when her son Adika invites all their friends to join them, she is sure there will not be enough to go around. With facts about Kenya and Kiswahili
For you are a Kenyan child
From rooster crow to bedtime, a Kenyan boy plays and visits neighbors all through his village, even though he is supposed to be watching his grandfather's cows
Joseph’s big ride
"A refugee boy's determination to ride a bicycle leads to an unexpected friendship"--Publisher