Our collection of picture books featuring Black and Indigenous Peoples and People of Color (BIPOC) is available to the public.
*Inclusion of a title in the collection DOES NOT EQUAL a recommendation.*
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The Fox Maidens
“Kai Song dreams of being a warrior. She wants to follow in the footsteps of her beloved father, the commander of the Royal Legion. But while her father believes in Kai and trains her in martial arts, their society isn’t ready for a girl warrior. Still, Kai is determined. But she is plagued by rumors that she is the granddaughter of Gumiho, the infamous nine-tailed fox demon who was killed by her father years before. Everything comes crashing down the day Kai learns the deadly secret about her mother’s past. Now she must come to terms with the truth about her identity and take her destiny into her own hands. As Kai desperately searches for a way to escape her fate, she comes to find compassion, and even love, in the most unexpected places. Set in 16th century Korea and richly infused with Korean folklore, The Fox Maidens is a timeless and powerful story about fighting for your place in the world, even when it seems impossible.” — publisher
The White Rabbit from the Moon
“Once upon a time, the city of Beijing was experiencing a pandemic. All the doctors there did not know how to end the pandemic. When the White Rabbit who was busy preparing medicine for immortals in the Moon Palace heard about the pandemic, she felt so worried that she flew to Beijing, as she wanted to help patients. The White Rabbit knocked on the door of an old grandpa’s house and tried to offer treatment, but the old grandpa believed that only the human doctor could cure him. In order to convince the old grandpa, the White Rabbit disguised herself as a human being with the clothes that she took from a statue in a nearby temple. After the White Rabbit made several visits to the grandpa’s house, the grandpa was touched by her persistence, and finally became willing to receive her treatment. After taking the pills made by the White Rabbit, the old grandpa recovered quickly. As the good news traveled around the city, all the neighbors came to seek the medicine from the White Rabbit. However, unexpectedly, some people became even sicker after taking the pills. What should the White Rabbit do to resolve the crisis brought by the pandemic?” — publisher
Ra Pu Zel and the Stinky Tofu
“The story of Rapunzel where she’s being locked in a tower by a witch is a good one—but it’s not totally the truth. The real story is about a young princess in China named Ra Pu Zel who doesn’t want to talk to princes or look proper. What Pu Zel wants is to cook and eat in peace, her long hair neatly braided to keep it out of her food. And when she gets tired of everyone telling her what to do, she locks herself in a tower with her dog Bao. Although princes from everywhere try to convince her to come down, it’s not until a young chef arrives with an intriguing food to share that Ra Pu Zel finally has a reason.” — publisher
The Long-Haired Girl
“A long time ago, in a village nestled beneath a mountain, there lived a beautiful girl with long shiny black hair whom the villagers called “Long Hair.” One year, there was a severe drought in the mountain. All lives were dying from thirst. Meanwhile, the mother of Long Hair became seriously ill because she could not get drinking water. Like everyone else in the village, Long Hair climbed over the steep mountain to get water from a very small lake far away. One day on her way, she found a spring where clean and sweet water kept running. However, it turned out that this spring was controlled by the mountain monster, who threatened Long Hair not to reveal the secret to any villagers or else she would be punished. What will the girl do? Will the village get the water again? Let the imaginative paintbrush embark us on a magical journey with Long Hair. You will discover the warmest heart in the intricate story of this Chinese classical folklore.” — publisher
Amir and the Jinn Princess
“Twelve-year-old Amir is one of the heirs to the Rafiq Bricks Company, a wealthy brick kiln business in Pakistan—except he wants none of it. Seeing straight through the jeweled smiles and transactional conversations, Amir would rather spend time in the courtyard garden, where he can almost feel his missing mother’s presence again. Amir is devastated when his baba announces plans to remarry by the end of the summer, dropping all searches to find Amir’s mother. It’s all a business move, just like everything else in his life. His mother was the only one who allowed him to feel normal, but the last anyone’s seen of her was a year ago. But Amir isn’t ready to give up yet—determined to find his mother before his life changes forever, Amir teams up with a high-spirited, wide-eyed, shape-shifting jinn princess named Shamsa. His exact opposite. The two make a deal—Shamsa will help Amir navigate the twisty and mysterious realm of jinn, and in exchange Amir must use his wits to help Shamsa win a tournament of heirs and put her on the throne. Amir and Shamsa must contend with silver-tongued tricksters and magical rivals, and a truth far more devastating than Amir ever expected.…” — publisher
Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor
“Zachary Ying never had many opportunities to learn about his Chinese heritage. His single mom was busy enough making sure they got by, and his schools never taught anything except Western history and myths. So Zack is woefully unprepared when he discovers he was born to host the spirit of the First Emperor of China for a vital mission: sealing the leaking portal to the Chinese underworld before the upcoming Ghost Month blows it wide open. The mission takes an immediate wrong turn when the First Emperor botches his attempt to possess Zack’s body and binds to Zack’s AR gaming headset instead, leading to a battle where Zack’s mom’s soul gets taken by demons. Now, with one of history’s most infamous tyrants yapping in his headset, Zack must journey across China to heist magical artifacts and defeat figures from history and myth, all while learning to wield the emperor’s incredible water dragon powers. And if Zack can’t finish the mission in time, the spirits of the underworld will flood into the mortal realm, and he could lose his mom forever.” — publisher
The Archer and The Sun
“In this classic story from China, we learn why the sun comes up in the morning and goes down at night. We also discover why a certain farm animal is there every morning to greet the sun. Why does the sun go up in the morning and down at night? The Archer and the Sun is an ancient story from China. It tells the legend of a time when there were many suns in the sky and it was miserably hot. The people got together to come up with a solution to make their living conditions more hospitable. They decided to call upon the best archer in the land to come and shoot down all of the suns except for one. As a result, the remaining sun naturally became afraid of the archer and hid behind a mountain, leaving the world cold and dark. Then the people had to devise a plan to get the sun to come back from hiding and after several failed attempts, they found a solution. This Chinese folktale will teach readers about the importance of citizenship, resourcefulness and sharing. This story ends with a section of facts about the Archer and the Sun, exploring Chinese traditions and myths such as why roosters crow in the morning and what the year of the rooster means as well as general “did you know” facts.Rob Cleveland is storyteller-in-residence at the Fernbank Museum of Natural History in Atlanta, Georgia. He is also an actor and comedian who can be seen in the films Drumline and That Darn Cat.” — publisher
Sugar In Milk
“A timely and timeless picture book about immigration that demonstrates the power of diversity, acceptance, and tolerance from a gifted storyteller. When I first came to this country, I felt so alone. A young immigrant girl joins her aunt and uncle in a new country that is unfamiliar to her. She struggles with loneliness, with a fierce longing for the culture and familiarity of home, until one day, her aunt takes her on a walk. As the duo strolls through their city park, the girl’s aunt begins to tell her an old myth, and a story within the story begins. A long time ago, a group of refugees arrived on a foreign shore. The local king met them, determined to refuse their request for refuge. But there was a language barrier, so the king filled a glass with milk and pointed to it as a way of saying that the land was full and couldn’t accommodate the strangers. Then, the leader of the refugees dissolved sugar in the glass of milk. His message was clear: Like sugar in milk, our presence in your country will sweeten your lives. The king embraced the refugee, welcoming him and his people. The folktale depicted in this book was a part of author Thrity Umrigar’s Zoroastrian upbringing as a Parsi child in India, but resonates for children of all backgrounds, especially those coming to a new homeland.” — publisher
The Clever Tailor
“This adaptation of a European folktale is about a talented tailor who uses his creativity to provide for his family. Suitable for diverse and multicultural book lists, and suitable for books about upcycling. With timeless art that swirls through the pages like a traditional Indian turban, The Clever Tailor by Srividhya Venkat and Nayantara Surendranath is a contemporary Indian take on a European folktale about the value of being resourceful and finding creative ways to minimize waste. Accompanied by a glossary of Hindi words, this title is an ideal addition to multicultural book collections.” — publisher
Sion’s misfortune
Sion is a fortune-teller who lives in an ancient Chinese kingdom with his son and a beloved horse. When Sion begins to experience a series of unlucky events, he shocks everyone in town by saying that it is a sign of good things to come. Will Sion lose his reputation for being the wisest man in the kingdom, for how could misfortune ever be a blessing? This profound folktale from China, originally retold by Chen Jiafei and illustrated by award- winning artist Wang Ran, has been translated into English
