“It cooks./We look.//We read a book.//It’s done./What fun!” p.22-24
Pizza Party by Grace Maccarone, illustrated by Emily Arnold McCully.
Cartwheel Books Imprint, Scholastic, New York, 1994, my reprint edition 2003.
Rhyming realistic fiction, 30 pages.
Lexile: BR (What does BR mean in Lexile?)
AR Level: 0.5 (worth 0.5 points)
Five people gather for a pizza party and work together to make, then eat a pizza in this diverse early reader for children who have just mastered the basic sight words. This is the third book of my thrift store finds.
Angela Shelf Medearis and new-to-me illustrator Ken Wilson-Max team up for an early reader about playing in the snow.
Best Friends in the Snow by Angela Shelf Medearis, illustrated by Ken Wilson-Max.
Cartwheel books imprint, Scholastic, New York, 1999 (my edition is a 2003 reprint).
Seasonal realistic fiction, 22 pages + literacy activities.
Lexile: 60L
AR Level: 1.1 (worth 0.5 points)
NOTE: Although I’m not reviewing it on Fiction Friday, this is a fiction book.
Two best friends, a white boy and a black girl, engage in fun wintertime activities in this simple early reader text.
Angela Shelf Medearis is the author – you probably don’t even need me to review it to know that it’s great. Both the author and illustrator are #ownvoices.
This book is just made to delight preschoolers. The words are simple, with no more than two sentences per page and often less. The first page has the longest text of the entire book. Ken Wilson-Max was new to me, although his style felt familiar.
I think the last time I pre-ordered a book was in my Harry Potter days. Not that I don’t get excited about books, and wait eagerly for certain new releases. However, I don’t like to plunk my money down for something that doesn’t exist yet. It’s the same reason I’ve never invested in a Kickstarter, although there are some I’ve followed closely and bought products from when they were released.
This year I’m going a little wild with book buying, and this week I pre-ordered a book, nope, two books!
The first one you’ve probably heard of because it’s been generating a lot of buzz in the blogosphere: When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon. This is an #ownvoice light romantic YA about an arranged marriage. It’s told with two narrators, which I’m a little leery of, and it’s a YA romance, which is not my favorite genre. But… I read the first three chapters and sort of loved it. And the cover is amazing:
And as we all know, I’m easily moved by gorgeous covers. (Remember how I almost bought Everything, Everything even though I knew it was very problematic?) The henna, the modern clothes with traditional coloring, the title written on a drink cup… I probably shouldn’t have bought this in hardcover, but I’m a sucker. Hopefully it lives up to the beginning.
The reason I started pre-ordering is because I was going on a bit of a book-buying spree. Okay, a somewhat irresponsible one. As I was browsing around, I stumbled across a book I had to get! This was perfect because I’d been thinking -here I am blowing my whole book budget on things that I’ll read quickly, review slowly, and then not be able to buy anything for quite a while.
Enter Chasing Space: An Astronaut’s Story of Grit, Grace, and Second Chances by Leland Melvin. I’ve been on quite a space kick lately, although you wouldn’t know it from the blog because other than Hidden Figures and a Mae Jemison book, all of the books have been very white.
Leland Melvin was in the NFL until an injury led him to seek a new career. He started training for NASA but went deaf during the process. After he recovered partial hearing, he was allowed to go into space. The synopsis doesn’t even go into some of his other accomplishments because he’s already in an elite category of one!
This story ticks all the boxes. STEM PoC role model, check. Deafness and diversity, check. Space, check. Sports (not a box for me but certainly for others), check. It was a must-buy! Although I’ll certainly be looking out for instances of audism and looking at how his hearing “loss” and cure are treated, this is definitely the most interesting book release I’ve seen so far this year.
What books have you pre-ordered? Are there any new releases you’re eagerly anticipating this year?
“Kool Herc’s music made everybody happy. Even street gangs wanted to dance, not fight.” p. 19
When the Beat Was Born: DJ Kool Herc and the Creation of Hip-Hop by Laban Carrick Hill, Illustrated by Theodore Taylor III.
Roaring Brook Press, New York, 2013.
Elementary to middle grade picture book biography, 30 pages.
Winner of the 2014 John Steptoe Award for New Talent
Lexile: AD910L (What does AD mean in Lexile?)
AR Level: 4.2 (worth 0.5 points)
Have you ever heard of DJ Kool Herc? He was a Jamaican immigrant who was instrumental in the development of hip-hop. Step into his world and learn how hip-hop came to be with this picture book biography.
While I’m sure an avid fan of hip-hop would get more out of this book, I was pleasantly surprised by how accessible it was to myself as a not-so-musical person. Context is given to everything that makes it understandable, and the pictures and words work in beautiful harmony.
Despite the author’s good intentions, this book is definitely not recommended.
Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon.
Alloy Entertainment, Random House Children’s Books, New York, 2015.
YA realistic fiction, 311 pages.
Lexile: HL610L (What does HL mean in Lexile?)
AR Level: 4.4 (worth 7.0 points)
NOTE: This is a teen read, not intended for 3rd or 4th graders despite the reading level!
Madeline has a rare disorder known as SCID – which amounts to being so allergic to the world around her that she can never leave her house. And with the internet, books, a nurse who is also a friend, and silly game nights with her mother, she doesn’t need to go anywhere. Until Olly’s family moves in next door.
The earliest readers need diverse books too! Here’s one appropriate for the beginning reader.
We Can! (also titled If You Can, I Can) by Gay Su Pinnell, illustrated by Barbara Duke.
Scholastic, New York, 2002.
Realistic fiction, 9 pages.
Lexile: BR (What does BR mean in Lexile?)
AR: not leveled
NOTE: Intended for the earliest beginning readers, a later edition is titled If You Can, I Can.
We Can is the sweet story of two non-white brothers, told in extremely simple words with pictures carrying most of the story, for the earliest of pre-readers and beginning readers.
I was delighted to find a nice selection of early readers at a local thrift store. It is incredibly difficult to find a good batch of books at this level in general, let alone culturally appropriate and diverse books, so I quickly sorted through the stack to find any that had diverse characters. At a dollar each, this particular store was a little expensive for pre-readers (most places sell used ones for 50 cents down even as low as 10 cents, especially for used books which have writing and highlighting in them as some of these did), so I wanted to only select those that I might not find elsewhere.
Have you heard of Zero Discrimination Day?
It began as a program promoting healthcare access for people with HIV worldwide.
But people were interested and it began taking on a larger meaning, and now is a day aimed at ending all forms of discrimination. (PDF)
I had never heard of this until a friend shared it with me yesterday, and with today being Website Wednesday, it was the perfect time to share this information with all of you!
My favorite article is this one from UpWorthy with 19 big and small things you can do for Zero Discrimination Day. They have a list of recommended children’s books, signs, and information on simple ways to help people being harassed and stand up for diversity.
A new website that I in particular found very helpful and interesting was Opportunities for White People in the Fight for Racial Justice. It lists a lot of different ways to advocate for change at various levels and in different areas of our lives.
Of course, one way that bibliophiles can help is by reading diversely, promoting diverse books, and putting our book money towards new diverse books (this is the goal with my Target Picks).
While diversity and discrimination prevention should never be limited to one day a year, I also love days like this that give us opportunities to share resources and reach out to those who might not otherwise be thinking about diversity.
This year for Zero Discrimination Day, my family will be reading books from cultures we’re not very familiar with yet and reflecting on how we can be more inclusive of others this week.
Have you ever heard of Zero Discrimination Day before? Do you plan to celebrate?
I’d love to hear how your day goes!
Colorful Book Reviews 