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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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16 matching books

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Josefina’s Habichuelas / Las habichuelas de Josefina

2021

by Jasmine Mendez and Flor De Vita

"Like all kids, Josefina loves to eat sweets. She loves warm chocolate chip cookies right out of the oven, cupcakes and candy! One night, while eating a piece of flan, Mami asks her to consider giving up sweets for Lent, the 40 days leading up to Easter. "That's impossible!" Josefina says. When Mami promises to teach her how to make her favorite dessert, habichuelas con dulce, she agrees to give it a try. Josefina can't wait to end her fast and eat the delicious sweet cream beans, her family's traditional Easter dessert. While she and her mom, tías and abuela prepare the dish, they dance to merengue music and tell stories about life back in the Dominican Republic. The kitchen fills with the aromatic smells of cinnamon and sugar, but it's the feelings of love and happiness Josefina will never forget. On Easter Sunday, when the family eats the special dessert she prepared, the girl's grandmother proclaims, "It's the best pot of habichuelas con dulce I've tasted in my life!" This heart-warming, bilingual picture book for children shares a universal story all kids can relate to-learning about one's culture through food, music and family stories-while focusing on a cultural tradition specific to the Dominican Republic. As a bonus, the book includes the recipe for this special dessert-in both English and Spanish!" -- publisher

Beautiful Life

A Feast for Joseph

2021

by OD Bonny, Terry Farish and Ken Daley

"Joseph misses sharing meals with lots of people like he did back in the refugee camp, so when the neighbors finally come over, it’s a feast! When Joseph and Mama lived in a refugee camp in East Africa, everyone cooked and ate together. And Joseph could always hear someone playing the awal. It’s much too quiet and lonely in his new home. Though Whoosh, the girl who lives upstairs, is friendly, Joseph misses having more people around, especially his grandmother, who still lives across the ocean. So he invites his relatives in the city to come for dinner, then he invites his teacher, then Whoosh and her mami — but everyone is too busy. Ever hopeful, Joseph picks the last greens from the garden. At least he and Mama will be ready to cook if someone comes. The next night Whoosh and her mami appear at the door with a big cake, and Whoosh and Joseph cook up a feast. A touching story about adjusting to a new home and the pleasure of cooking and sharing food with friends." -- publisher

Beautiful Life

Brown Baby Lullaby

2020

by Tameka Fryer. Brown and A. G. Ford

"This #OwnVoices lyrical bedtime picture book is a must-have for every sweet brown baby. From sunset to bedtime, two brown-skinned parents lovingly care for their beautiful brown baby: first, they play outside, then it is time for dinner and a bath, and finally a warm snuggle before bed. With Spanish words sprinkled throughout and featuring warm art by New York Times–bestselling and NAACP-Award–winning illustrator AG Ford, Brown Baby Lullaby is the perfect new baby or baby shower gift." -- publisher

Beautiful Life

Rice & Rocks

2017

by Sandra L. Richards and Megan Kayleigh Sullivan

"Giovanni’s friends are coming over for Sunday dinner, and his grandmother is serving rice and beans. Giovanni is embarrassed—he does not like “rice and rocks” and worries his friends will think the traditional Jamaican dish is weird. But his favorite Auntie comes to the rescue. She and Giovanni’s pet parrot, Jasper, take him on a magical journey across the globe, visiting places where people eat rice and rocks. This exciting story celebrates the varied traditions of every culture while also highlighting the delicious similarities that bring us all together." -- publisher

Beautiful Life Cross Group Race/Culture Concepts

My feet are laughing

2006

by Lissette. Norman

Sadie, an imaginative young Dominican American, relates her experiences growing up in her grandmother's brownstone house in Harlem. My name is Sadie and I live in Harlem with my mother and my little sister, Julie. Sadie likes living in her grandmother's brownstone, where she has her own bedroom and a backyard to play in. She's full of thoughts and has lots to say about her family and friends, her home, her hair, and her laughing feet that can't keep still. And when she grows up she plans on being a poet. This collection of sixteen exuberant poems in the voice of a young Dominican American girl and energetic, bright paintings celebrates Sadie's family and the city around her

Beautiful Life

Bella’s chocolate surprise

2007

by Adam. Guillain

Part of the Bella Balistica series: Bella Balistica was born in Guatemala and now lives with Annie, her adoptive mother, in London. It's Bella's birthday and Mum's made Bella her favourite chocolate cake. But just what is chocolate made of and where does it come from? With the help of her friend the Quetzal bird, Bella harnesses the powers of her mystical pendant that once belonged to her Guatemalan birth mother, and flies to Ghana in West Africa to discover much more than she bargained for.

Beautiful Life Cross Group

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