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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Escape
"Remarkable true stories of escape throughout history due to war, famine, slavery, intolerance, and many other horrendous circumstances CLING. Don’t let go. Hold tight. Never give up. FLY. Rev up. Lift off. Soar. PEDAL. Set off. Cycle. Pedal for your life. Throughout history, ordinary people have been forced to leave their families and homes because of war, famine, slavery, intolerance, economic and political upheaval, or climate change. These remarkable true stories of escape show how courageous people all around the world have overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles in their flight to freedom." -- 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
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
The banana-leaf ball
"Separated from his family when they were forced to flee their home, a young East African boy named Deo lives alone in the Lukole refugee camp in Tanzania. With scarce resources at the camp, bullies have formed gangs to steal what they can, and a leader named Remy has begun targeting Deo. Then one day a coach gathers all the children to play soccer. Though Deo loves soccer and has even made his own ball out of banana leaves, he's unsure at first about joining in when he sees Remy on the field. But as Deo and the other boys get drawn into the game, everything begins to change. Their shared joy in playing provides the children-- including Remy--with a sense of belonging"-- Amazon.com
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.
Yosef’s dream
Now a young man in Israel, watching his brother's Bar Mitzvah, Yosef remembers his own childhood in Ethiopia. Specifically, the dream in which he foresaw the miraculous air rescue of Operation Solomon in 1991, which led to the fulfillment of his own family's dream to live in Israel -- land of their forefathers.
The colour of home
Hassan, newly-arrived in England and feeling homesick, paints a picture at school that shows his old home in Somalia as well as the reason his family had to leave
Yuvi’s Candy Tree
Fleeing famine in her native Ethiopia, five-year-old Yuvi is sure she will have a candy tree when she arrives in Jerusalem