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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15 matching books
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The Day Gogo Went to Vote
"Illustrated in rich pastels, this child's-eye view of an important milestone in South African history allows young readers to experience every detail of this eventful day." -- publisher
Walking for Water: How One Boy Stood Up for Gender Equality
"Victor is a pretty typical eight-year-old: he races to get his chores done, finds math challenging and likes to play with his friends. One day, the new school teacher introduces Vic and the other students to the idea of equality between boys and girls. Vic has never really thought about it before, but he soon begins to notice the disparities around him. Like all the older girls and women in their Malawi village, his twin sister, Linesi, now walks the long walk to the river to collect water for the family. Now she can't go to school anymore. It's just the way things have always been. But does it have to be? And is there a way for Vic to change it? When Vic has an idea about how to help, he discovers that even small changes can have an impact"--
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
Idriss and his Marble
"When war threatens their home, Idriss and his mother must flee. He clutches his lucky charm--a single marble-- throughout their journey, walking over hazardous terrain, crawling under barbed wire, and sailing on a fragile little boat. Will the marble's luck help them avoid capture and bring them to the safety of a new world?"--
The Village that Vanished
In southeastern Africa, a young Yao girl and her mother find a way for their fellow villagers to escape approaching slave traders.
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
Grandad Mandela
The great-grandchildren of Nelson Mandela ask their grandmother fifteen questions about the former South African president, from his activism work, his Nobel Peace Prize, and his time in prison.
The people could fly
Resplendent, powerful paintings by these two-time Caldecott-winning artists bring new life to the title story from the late Hamilton's 1985 collection, The People Could Fly: American Black Folktales . Making dramatic use of shadow and light, Leo and Diane Dillon (whose half-tone illustrations also graced the original volume) ably convey the tale's simultaneous messages of oppression and freedom, of sadness and hope. "They say the people could fly. Say that long ago in Africa, some of the people knew magic," opens the narrative, as the full-color artwork reveals elegant, beautifully clothed individuals with feathered wings serenely ascending into the sky. On the following spread, images of the Middle Passage set a fittingly somber tone, depicting Africans who "were captured for Slavery. The ones that could fly shed their wings. They couldn't take their wings across the water on the slave ships. Too crowded, don't you know." The picture-book format allows room for the relationship to develop between Sarah, who labors in the cotton fields with an infant strapped to her back, and Toby, the "old man," who utters the magic African words that give her flight. Toby helps others take flight as well (a stunning image shows seemingly hundreds linking hands and taking to the skies)- and eventually does so himself, sadly leaving some of the captives "who could not fly" behind to "wait for a chance to run." Art and language that are each, in turn, lyrical and hard-hitting make an ideal pairing in this elegant volume that gracefully showcases the talent of its creators. All ages
Nelson Mandela
Presents a biography of the former South African president best known for his political activism and fight to end apartheid.
Hamid’s story
This is the real-life story of 10-year old refugee Hamid, who flees Eritrea with his mother to escape the war and threats to his family from the government. Told in Hamid's own words, this story describes the hardship experienced by immigrants who are rebuilding their lives with little understanding of the language and culture of their new country.
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