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Main Content

Things you can to help refugees in your town.

How to be a cultural broker

How to be a cultural broker

UU World Magazine July/August 2002 , published by the Unitarian Universalist Association

There are two main ways that refugees are educated. One is through the media and omni-present advertising. The second is through cultural brokers-schoolteachers, caseworkers, public health nurses, and American friends who may teach them to make intentional decisions about what to accept and what to reject in America. Cultural brokers help ease people into each other's cultures. Foucault wrote that "information is power." Cultural brokers give newcomers information that directly translates into power.

Here are some ways to help:

Come to the assistance of refugees whenever you can, on the streets, in the stores, especially when you see someone looking lost or confused.

Help when you can identify that help is needed. For example, a woman in Lincoln knew a boy with an Afghan mother who didn't have anyone to help him with homework. She volunteered to go to the school one hour a day and tutor him. Now she wants to organize all our parent/teacher organizations to recruit volunteers to help kids in their study halls.

Encourage your church or civic group to adopt a family.

Join a group that is helping new Americans learn English or work toward a GED. Teach classes to newcomers.

Volunteer at an agency that serves immigrants and refugees.

Make a contribution of cash or goods. Find a program that serves refugees and ask what they need. Cars, bicycles, clothing, furniture, appliances, and tools can be put to good use.

Every newcomer needs someone who knows how to get things done locally. Communities are nuanced cultures, and the nuances are precisely what newcomers need help with. One aspect of being a cultural broker is being an introducer. Cultural brokers can attend every first meeting between a refugee and a caseworker, doctor, banker, or employer. Just being present as a supportive friend helps these first meetings, often filled with anxiety on all sides, go more smoothly.

People come here traumatized, and the trauma doesn't end with arrival. But having a cultural broker can make a tremendous difference in how successfully a new family adapts to America.

Adapted from The Middle of Everywhere: The World's Refugees Come to Our Town, copyright © 2002 by Mary Pipher; published by Harcourt, Inc. Reprinted by permission. see below for links related to this story.

Related Resources

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Mary Pipher

Mary Pipher, an author and psychologist in Lincoln, Nebraska, is a frequent contributor to UU World and a member of the Unitarian Church of Lincoln.

Related

Do you have to be an activist to be a Unitarian Universalist?

Letter from a hoped-for future

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Main Content Things you can to help refugees in your town. How to be a cultural broker How to be a cultural broker UU World Magazine July/August 2002 , published by the Unitarian Universalist Association There are two main ways that refugees are educated. One is through the media and omni-present advertising.

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The Role of Culture Brokers in Schools

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Have you ever watched comedies like Meet the Fockers or Medea's Family Reunion, when two families tackle the painstaking task of trying to become one family unit? It's an insightful peek into how difficult it can be for an outsider to adopt a new set of family customs, beliefs, and ways of "being."

This same journey occurs every year across the country when teachers join a new school community. Whether it's a new teacher's first job or a veteran transitioning into a new organization, joining a new faculty can be as anxiety-ridden as newlyweds meeting the in-laws for the first time.

At Gestalt Community Schools in Memphis, Tennessee, our D3 Teacher Leadership Program designed the role of the Culture Broker, someone who sets out to create opportunities for staff members to share in positive experiences, to assist in eliminating the added stress of being the "new person" in the building. One of the ways we're doing that is by using Teaching Channel Teams to share practice.

Culture is intangible, but it's an essential element of any organization. You can walk into a school and know immediately whether you want to be there or not. We define "culture" as a shared sense of purpose and values, norms of continuous learning and improvement, and collaborative collegial relationships. To build that community and trust, each school selects three to four Culture Brokers who are passionate about creating a positive and collaborative workplace. They are "brokers" of our community (family), selling the vision of their school and network.

Here are a few examples of how these leaders support new teachers:

New Hires: Welcome to the Family

New teachers receive an email, text, or note from a Culture Broker when they are hired. Oftentimes, when teachers are hired at the end of a school year or early summer, they have very little communication with their school community. Culture Brokers communicate with new hires throughout the summer, answering questions ranging from where to find an apartment, to what to wear on the first day of school.

School Tours

On the first day of new teacher training, Culture Brokers from each school host a three-hour tour of their school sites. Smiling faces and banners welcome teachers to their campuses. Culture Brokers walk them through every inch of the building, providing information on such things as where to park their cars, who to contact for office supplies, and to how to operate the temperamental copy machine. The tour also includes a walk through of a model classroom (the must haves and essentials of an organized learning space). It ends with a Q&A session and greetings from the administrative staff.

Summer Training and Pre-Service

During the summer, Culture Brokers assist our network team in demonstrating our unique culture strategies. They coach our teachers on how to implement morning meeting protocol, threshold greetings, hallway transitions, classroom entrances/exits, and much more. They are a great support to our professional learning community.

A Day in the Life of a Teacher

Our high school Culture Brokers hosted a mock 90-minute demonstration lesson. The session was filled with scenarios that teachers might experience. Culture Brokers, along with the assistant principals, acted out "What would you do?" scenes. These scenarios were highly effective in providing teachers with a safe, experimental space to practice responses and receive feedback. This format helped guide teachers practice new skills before the first day of school.

Data Collection

The initial work of the Culture Brokers happens during the first six weeks of school, when the culture is taught. During this time, they complete daily and weekly walk-throughs of their schools to gauge how effectively strategies are being implemented school wide. They use the Teaching Channel Teams platform to capture videos of our seven signature strategies for cultural practices in action. These videos and observations are shared during grade level PLCs and faculty meetings, as a tool for continuous improvement and norming with new administrators, new teachers, teacher leaders, and central office staff. We use the note taking tools to analyze the videos for "glow" and "grow" areas. The grow areas are used to develop goals for schools, grade levels, and/or individual teachers. Culture Brokers provide a safe form of feedback that supports the school leaders' work in establishing a positive culture within the school and across our campuses.

Learning the culture of a new community doesn't happen overnight. It takes time, the modeling of deliberate practice, and tons of encouragement from supportive staff. It sure helps if you have a Culture Broker on your hallway, and Teams to document the process.
Bobbie Turner is Managing Director of Teacher Development at Gestalt Community Schools in Memphis, TN. Bobbie has close to 20 years in education, where she has served as a middle school principal, instructional facilitator, and classroom teacher.

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Have you ever watched comedies like Meet the Fockers or Medea's Family Reunion, when two families tackle the painstaking task of trying to become one family unit? It's an insightful peek into how difficult it can be for an outsider to adopt a new set of family customs, beliefs, and ways of "being."

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ELL Parent Engagement Toolkit_Mid-West RBERN

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School Self-Assessment Guide for Culturally Responsive Practices

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School Self-Assessment Guide for Culturally Responsive Practices

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https://www.facebook.com/ROCInternationalKitchen/

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Harris, Jill (ENL - Bridges) / Overview/ ¡Bienvenido a la clase de inglés!

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Harris, Jill (ENL - Bridges) / Overview/ ¡Bienvenido a la clase de inglés!

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Inventory for Culturally Responsive Classroom Library

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Inventory for Culturally Responsive Classroom Library

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Culturally Responsive Teaching & the Brain

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Culturally Responsive Teaching & the Brain

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Hey. Thanks for stopping by my blog. You might have found your way here through a number of possible paths. Maybe you heard about my book, Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain. Or, maybe you typed in www.ready4rigor.com and those shadowy internet puppeteers redirected you here. Maybe you ended up here because you were doing a Google search for culturally responsive teaching practices

Or maybe your school is reading Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain in a book study and you wanted to know more about this Zaretta Hammond chick who wrote it.

It doesn't matter how you got here. What's important is that you and I are now connected.

Since you are an equity-minded educator like me, you are probably waging your own private movement to bust the myths behind student engagement (or the lack of) among low performing students of color, poor students, and English learners.

Well, you are in the right place. This is a blog where we can get answers to our collective and individual questions about how we can help students become confident and competent learners. In this space, I want to highlight what I am learning from being out in schools and classrooms with teachers who are successful with diverse students. I want to focus on how we can take everyday strategies and practices and put them to work in their classrooms to be more culturally responsive.

So, again, welcome!

Just to let you know, on average, I publish a new post every other week - two times per month at the least (sometimes a few more). That gives me time to be in schools and to write. If you don't want to miss updates on what I am seeing and learning, sign up for my newsletter by pushing that button below.

Binge-worthy Posts and Podcasts

Books are good, but sometimes you want your knowledge in bite-sized doses. That's what I like to deliver: consumable, usable, and entertaining food for thought (and action). Here are some of the most popular blog posts and guest podcast interviews to sample.

About Zaretta Hammond

It's funny. These days a lot of folks are calling me "Dr. Hammond" since the book has become required reading in many teacher education programs and school districts. Well, to set the record straight, I am not a PhD. I do have a Master's degree, but I consider myself a "boots on the ground" teacher. I call myself a former writing teacher turned equity freedom fighter. My heart is forever with children and teachers in the classroom, not in an ivory tower, even if these days most of my "students" are new leaders and pre-service teachers. [ A quick note: Not throwing any shade at all the PhDs out there doing the work.]

When I was in the classroom back in the day, I taught composition (expository writing). It was where I started to understand how important literacy was to equity, and how neuroscience and culture should inform our instructional practice.

Since leaving the classroom, I have done work as a curriculum designer and professional developer at organizations such as the National Equity Project and the Annenberg-funded Bay Area School Reform Collaborative (BASRC) in the San Francisco-Bay Area. I am a trained facilitator in anti-bias processes and have facilitated groups focused on learning to talk about issues of racial politics and privilege.

My primary work has been linking instruction, equity, and literacy. I have spent time as an adjunct instructor at Saint Mary's College in Norther California where I taught Adolescent Literacy and trained tutors and parents in reading support strategies for struggling students of color.

As an undergraduate, I attended University of California, Berkley before finishing up my degree at New York University where I majored in English Literature with a minor in Writing. I completed my Masters in Secondary English Education, with a Concentration in Writing Instruction at University of Colorado, Boulder where I simultaneously did my teacher certification program (starting three months after the birth of my son. I do not recommend this).

For the past 25 years, I've maintained a small, independent education consulting practice from which I do my research and writing as well as support schools doing deep instructionally-focused equity work.

Stay in touch

I hope this blog inspires, motivates, and challenges you to try some new practices that move you toward being more culturally responsive. If it does, send me a note. I'd love to hear from you. The best way to keep in touch with me is to sign up for free email updates (where you get all kinds of exclusive goodies).

Other Ways to Connect

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About - Culturally Responsive Teaching & the Brain

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Hey. Thanks for stopping by my blog. You might have found your way here through a number of possible paths. Maybe you heard about my book, Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain. Or, maybe you typed in www.ready4rigor.com and those shadowy internet puppeteers redirected you here.

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https://www.tolerance.org/culture-classroom

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Start a lending library reflective of your students cultural backgrounds - make it available through your school or public library, get families to help create them

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Make your teaching about Southeast Asia tangible and real to your students. Check out a trunk full of fascinating objects, maps, outfits, cooking implements, picture books, music, posters, puppets and other cultural artifacts from a specific Southeast Asian country. You can set up your own classroom or school display or use the objects as hands-on props when teaching.

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Mission & Background | Cultural Jambalaya

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Cultural Jambalaya is a photography-based nonprofit organization whose mission is to promote understanding and respect for all cultures. Cultural Jambalaya aims to celebrate cultural differences -- and similarities -- while benefiting nonprofit organizations and schools.

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Google Arts & Culture features content from over 2000 leading museums and archives who have partnered with the Google Cultural Institute to bring the world's treasures online.

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Multicultural and Social Justice Books - Social Justice Books

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Curated Booklists Carefully selected multicultural and social justice books for children, young adults, and educators on 90+ topics. Reviews of Children's Literature Critical reviews of children's and young adult books from a variety of vetted sources, consolidated here for easy access. Articles & News Articles about selecting children's literature and news about Kid Lit.

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... get your fellow teachers thinking about whose voice is missing...

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Worlds of Words Brings Global Literature to Educators and Youth

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Open a book. Open a mind. Open the World! Worlds of Words builds bridges across global cultures through children’s and adolescent literature.

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NY Times Article - Immigrant Perspective

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NY Times Article - Immigrant Perspective

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Lens

In "Going Back Home," the British-Pakistani photographer Mahtab Hussain explores the life he could have had if his parents never emigrated.

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A girl playing in a river. Credit Credit Mahtab Hussain

A bare-chested boy, fresh out of a lake, stands in a field of tall grass. Beads of water drip down his torso as he looks at the camera with a half smile.

On the surface, his portrait captures the simplicity of village life in Kashmir. But to the photographer, Mahtab Hussain, it means so much more. "Every time I look at it," he said, "I think I could have been that boy swimming in that lake, instead of trying to hide from the racists when I was going back and forth from school."

Mr. Hussain is referring to his childhood in Scotland, where his parents settled in Glasgow after emigrating separately from Pakistan in the 1960s and '70s. His book, " Going Back Home to Where I Came From," is a visual diary depicting the life he would have led had his parents never left. Its title refers to the xenophobic insult British strangers have hurled at him.

More important, it also raises the question: Where is home?

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The project, currently on view at the New Art Gallery Walsall, began when Mr. Hussain participated in an artist exchange program in Karachi in 2013, his first visit to Pakistan since childhood. "But," he said, "the idea of going back to my motherland came to me very, very early on."

He harks back to his school days, when classmates asked him why he came to England, "even though I was born there." That question of identity motivated him to create work on returning to his roots. In 2016, when he flew to Pakistan to conduct research for a residency, he ended up in his mother's village in Kashmir's Pakistani-controlled northwest region.

"My mom romanticized Kashmir so much, so it was almost like retracing her memory and the stories that she told me when I was a young boy," he said. "It was an incredibly transformative experience." He fell in love with the communal way of life and met relatives for the first time, some of whom are included in "Going Back Home."

Unlike his approach to his past projects, this series "was just about beautiful imagery," as he steered clear of politics, poverty and violence. "I'm bored of seeing that kind of work come out of countries like Pakistan," Mr. Hussain said. "I wanted to show something very different, and that wasn't very difficult to find."

He spent weeks photographing whatever caught his eye - cracked walnuts waiting to be eaten, the bright red blood of a cow sacrificed for the Eid holiday or Kashmir's lush landscape. "I was just looking at everything like it was new again," he said, "and that was so much fun and exhilarating."

Mr. Hussain's parents had kept their Pakistani heritage very much alive. His father often played the tabla and sang songs of Sufi poetry. His mother spoke to him only in Urdu. But he was still living in Britain and couldn't help but identify as British, too. It took him a long time to embrace Pakistani culture.

"A lot of people end up rejecting their roots to try and become more westernized, or to try and feel like they can fit in," he said. "I think you need your roots system to be able to ground you, and then you can really grow and flourish as a person."

When Mr. Hussain finally embraced his parents' heritage, he was still made to feel like an outsider. He recalled a conversation with a cousin in Kashmir that left him with a pang of sadness. As they sat on a rooftop, gazing up at the clear sky, Mr. Hussain said he hoped he could somehow hold onto the country after he left.

His cousin burst his bubble: "Your home is England."

"It quite angered me that he felt he needed to take that away from me," Mr. Hussain said. "I didn't really expect it to hurt so much." He now realizes that no matter what he does, some will feel the need to box him into one culture or another. But that has only inspired him to challenge such rigid notions.

"That's what I'm trying to do with my work now: try and celebrate both sides of who I am."

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A Child of Immigrants Photographs the Life He Might Have Led

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Lens In "Going Back Home," the British-Pakistani photographer Mahtab Hussain explores the life he could have had if his parents never emigrated. A bare-chested boy, fresh out of a lake, stands in a field of tall grass. Beads of water drip down his torso as he looks at the camera with a half smile.

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My Family's Experiment in Extreme Schooling

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My Family's Experiment in Extreme Schooling

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I love to share this article with the teacher's who work with my students - it is from an American point of view...maybe makes it easier to understand what our students go through?

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My Family’s Experiment in Extreme Schooling (Published 2011)

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What happens when you take three American kids and throw them in a classroom 5,000 miles from home where they can’t speak the language?

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National Geographic Video when Teens around the world Skype Each Other

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National Geographic Video when Teens around the world Skype Each Other

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great video to show or make with kids in your schools

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Teens From Around the World Skype Each Other. This Is What Happens

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Through the use of video chat and other technology, teens connect with peers from around the world and discover the similarities they share.

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great video to share schoolwide to help other teachers think about reflecting different cultures across the curriculum

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Get a daily email featuring the latest talk, plus a quick mix of trending content.

By subscribing, you understand and agree that we will store, process and manage your personal information according to our Privacy Policy

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Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: The danger of a single story

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Our lives, our cultures, are composed of many overlapping stories. Novelist Chimamanda Adichie tells the story of how she found her authentic cultural voice -- and warns that if we hear only a single story about another person or country, we risk a critical misunderstanding.

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help your students stories be told

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The Immigrant Archive Project's mission is to record, archive and share the stories of immigrants in the United States in order to help us understand the immigrant experience and its vital contribution to American society.

Our growing archive will ensure that the faces and voices of immigrants are seen and heard, not only collectively, but individually, and in so doing, will teach us to connect with immigrants on fundamentally human and moral terms.

The Immigrant Archive Project is an independently funded 501 (c) (3) organization.

OUR STORY

The Immigrant Archive Project is a national initiative dedicated to preserving the life stories of America's vast multi-cultural immigrant community. These visual history testimonies illustrate the struggles, dreams and accomplishments of immigrants so that future generations may learn from their collective experience.

Since its launch in 2008, Immigrant Archive Project (IAP) teams led by co-founders, Tony Hernandez and Gustavo Pombo have documented the stories of over 1,000 immigrants from countries around the world. These are real stories of men, women and children who have sacrificed to become American by choice.

As immigrants themselves, Tony and Gustavo are well aware of the contributions made and challenges faced by immigrants in America. In 2008, they saw the need to humanize the polarized issue of immigration through sharing stories that open hearts and minds.

As business partners for over 20 years and experienced radio and television executives, they had the skills and resources to bring the power of these stories to the public. At first, they recorded the stories of friends and family members and eventually began a nation-wide effort to document stories.

They have had the opportunity to meet with hundreds of immigrants from all walks of life and find a common thread among the immigrants who share their stories. Regardless of where they are born, the great majority are hardworking people with a burning desire to succeed and provide for their families. They truly embody the American spirit, and collectively, theirs is the quintessential American story.

The content of the immigrant stories is shared via television, radio, the IAP website, and a variety of social media tools. IAP developed a podcast and created a network radio segment that aired on stations across the country. Through Univision, content from IAP videos has been broadcast on many of the leading television programs in the U.S. Hispanic market. The growing archive is also utilized by educators from grade school to University. A number of IAP stories are housed at the Cuban Heritage Collection at the University of Miami.

In 2017, the social and political environment motivated the IAP founders to move forward at an accelerated pace to increase the number of video testimonies in the oral history project and to expand outreach through social media, television and radio. The Immigrant Archive Project received its federal non-profit classification in March 2017 and is now accepting donations to support its work.

OUR FOUNDERS

Tony Hernandez
Tony Hernandez is co-founder, President and CEO of Latino Broadcasting Company (LBC), a leading multimedia content provider specializing in Latino targeted programming. LBC radio programs air on over 200 radio stations in the U.S., while LBC television programs are carried by Univision, the leading Spanish language television network in the country.

Prior to co-founding LBC in 1996, Tony was Vice President and General Manager of ESPN Latin America, where he oversaw the cable network's operation in the region. Prior to joining ESPN, Tony was Sales Manager at CBS Radio Networks.

He is a recipient of the National Hispanic Media Coalition's "Indomitable Spirit Award," the Lexus Pursuit of Perfection Award, as well as the Church World Service "John Backer Award" for outstanding advocacy on behalf of immigrants and refugees. Tony is a 1984 graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Superior.

Gustavo Pombo
Gustavo Pombo is co-founder, Executive Vice President and COO of Latino Broadcasting Company (LBC), a certified minority owned and operated radio and television syndication company based in Miami, Florida. LBC produces, distributes and markets nationally syndicated radio, television and web programming.

Gustavo is a 32-year veteran of Spanish language media in the US and Latin America. He has extensive production and operations experience and has produced numerous "live" sporting events,
including the Tour de France, the 1994 World Cup, Major League Baseball, the NBA, NFL, and Latin American soccer.

Prior to joining LBC, Gustavo started and co-owned Dattis Comunicaciones, the largest public relations company in Colombia. He earned a Masters degree in Public Administration from Harvard
University; a degree in Business Administration from Universidad de los Andes in Bogota, Colombia; and a Radio Management degree from the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC.)

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The Immigrant Archive Project - About Us

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The Immigrant Archive Project's mission is to record, archive and share the stories of immigrants in the United States in order to help us understand the immigrant experience and its vital contribution to American society.

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public art project in Philadelphia

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An Immigrant Alphabet is a public art installation produced by Al-Bustan Seeds of Culture featuring the work of artist Wendy Ewald in collaboration with eighteen Northeast High School students exploring their immigrant experiences.

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How a Community School Helps ELLs Succeed

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How a Community School Helps ELLs Succeed

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Video

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How a Community School Helps ELLs Succeed

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multicultural resources

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About the Brown Bookshelf - The Brown Bookshelf

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The Brown Bookshelf is designed to push awareness of the myriad Black voices writing for young readers. Our flagship initiative is 28 Days Later, a month-long showcase of the best in Picture Books, Middle Grade, and Young Adult novels written and illustrated by Black creators. You can read more abou…

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Cultural Inclusivity Planning and Reflection Tool

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Cultural Inclusivity Planning and Reflection Tool

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Cultural Inclusivity Reflection and Planning Tool

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http://www.alan-ya.org/

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Home of the Assembly on Literature for Adolescents of the NCTE

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From the organization's press release:

The 24th International Latino Book Awards Ceremony showcased the flourishing talent of the fastest-growing group in the U.S., with four ceremonies held on August 19th and 20th at Los Angeles City College. These Awards are by far the largest Latino cultural distinction in the country, honoring 249 winners in 105 categories this year. The grand total of authors and publishers honored over the last two decades now stands at 3,719, proof that books by and about Latinos are in high demand in both English and Spanish. Gold, Silver, and Bronze-place winners in fiction, nonfiction, poetry, children's books, translation, and many more were announced over the two-day event.

Here are the winners-gold, silver, and bronze medals-in the children's books categories. Click on the book covers for more information:

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The Alma Flor Ada Best Latino Focused Children's Picture Book Award - English
GOLD MEDAL Child of the Flower-Song People: Luz Jiménez, Daughter of the Nahua, Gloria Amescua, Illustrated by Duncan Tonatiuh SILVER MEDAL Tía Fortuna's New Home, Ruth Behar, Illustrated by Devon Holzwarth BRONZE MEDAL Bisa's Carnaval, Joana Pastro, Illustrated by Carolina Coroa
The Alma Flor Ada Best Latino Focused Children's Picture Book Award - Spanish
GOLD MEDAL ¡Corre, pequeño Chaski! Una aventura en el camino Inka, Mariana Llanos, Illustrated by Mariana Ruiz Johnson SILVER MEDAL Pura's Cuentos: How Pura Belpré Libraries Reshaped Libraries with Her Stories, Annete Bay Pimentel, Illustrated by Magaly Morales
Best Children's Fiction Picture Book - Bilingual
GOLD MEDAL Let's Be Friends / Seamos Amigos, René Colato Laínez; Illustrated by Nomar Perez SILVER MEDAL Isabel and Her Colores Go to School, Alexandra Alessandri, Illustrated by Courtney Dawson
Best Children's Fiction Picture Book - English
GOLD MEDAL Abuelita and Me, Leonarda Carranza, illustrated by Rafael Mayani SILVER MEDAL Tía Fortuna's New Home, Ruth Behar, Illustrated by Devon Holzwarth BRONZE MEDAL May Your Life Be Deliciosa, Michael Genhart, Illustrated by Loris Lora
Mejor libro ilustrado de ficción para niños
GOLD MEDAL Pitu le Baila al Mar, Gama Valle; Illustrated by Yamel Figueroa SILVER MEDAL La Jirafa que no Cabía en su Cuento, Haydée Zayas Ramos BRONZE MEDAL El monstruo más feo del mundo, Luis Amavisca, Illustrated by Erica Salcedo
Best Children's Nonfiction Picture Book - English
GOLD MEDAL One Whole Me, Dia Mixon, Illustrated by Natalia Jiménez Osorio

SILVER MEDAL In the Spirit of a Dream: 13 Stories of American Immigrants of Color, Aida Salazar, Illustrated by Alina Chau BRONZE MEDAL Alphabet & Affirmations with The Black Unicorn, Sandra Elaine Scott
Best Children's Nonfiction Picture Book - Spanish or Bilingual
GOLD MEDAL Pura's Cuentos: How Pura Belpré Libraries Reshaped Libraries with Her Stories, Annete Bay Pimentel, Illustrated by Magaly Morales
Best Educational Children's Picture Book - Bilingual
GOLD MEDAL Pura's Cuentos: How Pura Belpré Libraries Reshaped Libraries with Her Stories, Annete Bay Pimentel, Illustrated by Magaly Morales SILVER MEDAL Popol Vuh Stories for Children, Denis O'Leary BRONZE MEDAL Lala and the Pond by the Rock / Lala y el Charco de la Piedra, Susana Illera Martínez
Best Educational Children's Picture Book - English
GOLD MEDAL Child of the Flower-Song People: Luz Jiménez, Daughter of the Nahua, Gloria Amescua, Illustrated by Duncan Tonatiuh SILVER MEDAL We Move Together, Kelly Fritsch, Anne McGuire, Illustrated by Eduardo Trejos
Best Educational Children's Picture Book - Spanish
GOLD MEDAL Morderse las uñas, Paula Merlán, Illustrated by Brenda Figueroa
Most Inspirational Children's Picture Book - Bilingual
GOLD MEDAL Pura's Cuentos: How Pura Belpré Libraries Reshaped Libraries with Her Stories, Annete Bay Pimentel, Illustrated by Magaly Morales SILVER MEDAL The Last Butter!y / La última mariposa, Regina Moya & Carmen Tafolla
Most Inspirational Children's Picture Book - English
GOLD MEDAL Courageous Camila: A story about finding your inner warrior, Naibe Reynoso & Giselle Carrillo; Illustrated by María Tuti SILVER MEDAL The Voices of the Trees, Elisa Guerra y Fernando Reimers; Illustrated by Ana RoGu

BRONZE MEDAL Child of the Flower-Song People: Luz Jiménez, Daughter of the Nahua, Gloria Amescua, Illustrated by Duncan Tonatiuh

Most Inspirational Children's Picture Book - Spanish
GOLD MEDAL Tienes un color especial, Lorena Sierco Espino; Mr. Momo, Lantia Publishing Group

SILVER MEDAL Memoria de un abedul, Daniel Cañas, Illustrated by Blanca Millán BRONZE MEDAL Peque y yo, Alicia Acosta, Illustrated by Mercé Galí
Best Learn to Read Book
GOLD MEDAL The Awesome Reading Adventures of Super Sammy and Marvelous Megan, Vanessa Caraveo
Best Youth Latino Focused Chapter Book
GOLD MEDAL Falling Short, Ernesto Cisneros SILVER MEDAL Sofía Acosta Makes a Scene, Emma Otheguy
Best Youth Chapter Fiction Book
GOLD MEDAL Falling Short, Ernesto Cisneros SILVER MEDAL Catalina Incognito, Jennifer Torres BRONZE MEDAL Julia y el mar, Olvido Guzman Pons

Most Inspirational Youth Chapter Book
GOLD MEDAL Barefoot Dreams of Petra Luna, Alda P. Dobbs SILVER MEDAL Efren Divided, Ernesto Cisneros SILVER MEDAL Raulito: The First Latino Governor of Arizona, Roni Capin Rivera-Ashford
Best Young Adult Latino Focused Book
GOLD MEDAL On the Hook, Francisco X. Stork SILVER MEDAL Lifetime Passes, Terry Blas, Illustrated by Claudia Aguirre
Best Young Adult Fiction Book
GOLD MEDAL The Immortal Boy / El Inmortal, Francisco Montaña Ibáñez SILVER MEDAL Encarnación Castro's Journey in the Anza Expedition
1775-1776, Linda Castro Martinez SILVER MEDAL Three, Brenda Nicole Peña BRONZE MEDAL Fat Angie: Homecoming, e.E. Charlton Trujillo
Best Young Adult Fantasy & Adventure - English
GOLD MEDAL The Grimrose Girls, Laura Pohl SILVER MEDAL The Ghost Tracks, Celso Hurtado
Best Young Adult Fantasy & Adventure - Spanish
GOLD MEDAL El Último Dragón: Las espadas del legado, José del Real Antiquera SILVER MEDAL Catarina Freytas y el anillo perdido, Raymond Vollmond BRONZE MEDAL El Mundo del Olvido, Cristian Otárola Jiménez
Best Young Adult Romance Book
GOLD MEDAL Monstrua, NLa Contreras SILVER MEDAL La descendiente, Marie D.
Best Educational Young Adult Book
GOLD MEDAL No te creas todo lo que leas, Didi Whitefalcon, Illustrated by Verónica Rodríguez
SILVER MEDAL Voices of Diversity, Vanessa Caraveo
Most Inspirational Young Adult Book
GOLD MEDAL Harvesting Dreams, Erica Alfaro; Barker & Jules SILVER MEDAL Your Heart, My Sky, Margarita Engle; Simon & Schuster

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Exploring the world of Latinx YA, MG, & children's literature

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Resource

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Where can you find diverse books? Right here! We've compiled the following list of sites that offer recommendations for diverse titles. Our list is not exhaustive, and we welcome suggestions ...

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How to Create a Welcoming Classroom Environment 

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How to Create a Welcoming Classroom Environment 

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An important first step in helping English language learners (ELLs) succeed is making them feel welcome in the classroom.

This will:

increase their confidence

make them feel more comfortable in the class

build a foundation for positive relationships with you and their peers.

Here's how you can get started!

The ELL student population includes students who were born in the U.S. and students who have immigrated from another country. For ELLs who have recently arrived in the U.S., they will face the challenge of learning a new language in addition to adjusting to an unfamiliar cultural setting and school system.

On a daily basis, ELLs are adjusting to new ways of saying and doing things. As their teacher, you are an important bridge to this unknown culture and school system.

In the same way that ELLs go through stages of English language learning, they may also pass through stages of cultural accommodation. These stages, however, may be less defined and more difficult to notice. Being aware of these stages may help you to better understand "unusual" actions and reactions that may just be part of adjusting to a new culture.

Euphoria: ELLs may experience an initial period of excitement about their new surroundings.

Culture shock: ELLs may then experience anger, hostility, frustration, homesickness, or resentment towards the new culture.

Acceptance: ELLs may gradually accept their different surroundings.

Assimilation/adaptation: ELLs may embrace and adapt to their surroundings and their "new" culture.

It is also common for students who are learning a new language to be 'silent' for a period of time, when they are listening to the language around them without speaking yet (much as a young child listens to language first before learning to talk). This is considered the first stage of language acquisition.

Patience and creating opportunities for small successes in speaking with you and peers can help build students' confidence. In addition, keep in mind that students' silence could also be a sign of respect for you as an authority - and not a sign of their inability or refusal to participate.

Students may also have experienced trauma or face different kinds of hardship in the U.S. You can better prepare yourself for this possibility by:

Learn more from the following:

This award-winning documentary highlights how the Dearborn, MI public school district is helping its immigrant students succeed. Learn more about this project and see related videos.

Getting to Know Students

Learn how to pronounce students' names correctly

Don't forget to smile and use positive body language!

A lot of communication happens through expressions, body language, and tone. Smiling and using positive body language can go a long way in making students feel welcome and comfortable, particularly if they are newcomers, as seen in the vignette shared by a teacher below.

Build relationships with students

Veteran teachers of ELLs always point to building relationships as the most important step in their work with ELLs. Not only does it increase engagement and support students' later academic success, it also provides invaluable information that can inform your instruction and family engagement.

In addition, it can help build bridges with students who may have particularly unique experiences, such as children in migrant farmwork families or Indigenous students.

See more ideas on how to build these relationships from the following:

Video: Showing students you care

Corpus Christi teacher Christine Price talks about the importance of showing students you care early on.

Identify students' strengths and interests

It's important to remember that ELLs bring lots of strengths, talents, and rich experiences to the classroom. Getting to know students' interests can help:

build rapport

engage students in learning

find connections with new friends.

Families are also an important source of information and are often happy to talk about the activities that their child enjoys. They may also appreciate the fact that their child's teacher is taking an interest in the child's strengths and talents. (This is especially true in special education settings.)

Teacher Omar Salem describes a student who not only sings and dances but manages her own YouTube channel and edits all of the video she posts of her performances.

Video: Using parent letters to get to know my students

Albuquerque teacher Clara Gonzales-Espinoza asks her parents to write her a letter at the beginning of each school year telling her about the child's personality, interests, strengths, and anything else they think she should know. In this interview, Clara speaks more about this strategy and its impact on her relationships with parents and students.

Ensure that students have information about activities and clubs

Make sure that students have information about extra-curricular activities, sports, and clubs related to their interests. You can also encourage them to start their own club within the school.

ELL educator Christine Rowland notes, "Many students find involvement in school clubs and teams to be extremely helpful, as they are often experts in these areas, and they can provide a space where they more easily feel they belong."

Welcoming Students' Language and Culture

Invite students' cultures into the classroom

Encourage ELLs and their families to share their culture with you and your class. Show-and-tell is a good opportunity for ELLs to bring in something representative of their culture, if they wish.

Invite students and families to:

share photographs, visuals, or meaningful artifacts such as flags or mementos

tell a popular story or folktale using words, pictures, gestures, and movements

share information about important holidays or celebrations.

Looking beyond the classroom

Imagine that you are walking into your school for the first time as a parent.

What do you see on the walls?

If your first language weren't English, would you see signs in your language?

Would you see flags, maps, or books representing your home country?

Would you see your child's work on display in the hallway?

If you think more could be done to make families feel welcome, consider:

sharing some ideas with colleagues or administrators and taking small steps that you can point to as successes

looking for opportunities to celebrate all families and their languages, customs, and cultures, whether in the classroom or at a school-wide event

keeping a lookout for a special part of their lives that other families might appreciate getting to know.

See more ideas in the following:

Video: What happened when the students realized the Yemeni flag wasn't on stage

ELD Specialist Diana Alqadhi tells the story of some students who realized that the Yemeni flag was not featured prominently enough on stage before a school show.

Invite students' languages into the classroom

Label classroom objects to allow ELLs to better understand their immediate surroundings. These labels will also assist you when explaining or giving directions, and it gives peers an additional opportunity to learn some words in their classmates' language.

Start with everyday items, such as "door/puerta," "book/libro," and "chair/silla."

You may wish to ask students who can write in their first language or family members to help you with this project.

You can also invite students to teach the class some words from their home language.

Learn more about the resources available in students' home languages

Students benefit from support in their home language - what Dr. Fred Genesee calls their " most valuable resource." You have may have access to learning material in students' languages, or you may be able to find resources that support those languages.

Language access for multilingual families

In addition, it's critical to understand what language access resources you have available through your school and district, particularly for communication with families. Keep in mind that all families have a legal right to information in their home language. Family liaisons, interpreters, ESL teachers, or administrators may have more information about what language access resources are available in your district.

Video: What Do School Districts Need to Know About Language Access?

This helpful overview about what language access means for school districts is a great introduction to the requirements, best practices, and funding streams related to language access in public education. This interview features Dr. Jennifer Love, the Supervisor of Language Access and Engagement in Prince George's County Public Schools, Maryland.

Video: Language Access for Multilingual Families

What does appropriate language access mean for multilingual families? This interview also features Dr. Jennifer Love.

Ensure your students see themselves reflected in the classroom

Ask yourself if students can see representations of their culture, race, gender, and other aspects of identity reflected in your:

classroom materials and library

lesson plans and activities

classroom visuals (both in-person and virtual).

In addition:

Success in the Classroom

Encourage your students

Some ELLs may not answer voluntarily in class or ask for your help even if they need it. ELLs may smile and nod, but this does not necessarily mean that they understand. Offer one-on-one support and encouragement as much as possible. For convenience, it may be helpful to seat ELLs near your desk.

Assign a buddy

Identify a classmate who will make a good buddy for new students - someone who is friendly, patient, and a good communicator to be a buddy. This student can make sure that the new student understands what he or she is supposed to do during class activities. It is helpful if the peer partner knows the ELL's first language, but not necessary. However, remember to never use another student as an interpreter in any situation.

Learn more about ways to increase peer interaction and collaboration in these related strategies.

Ask the class how they can help welcome new students

Ask students to brainstorm ways to help ELLs in particular. You may wish to make a list of ideas on how to welcome new students at the beginning of the year so that students have these strategies in mind if a student comes with little advance notice.

Be vigilant about health issues, dietary concerns, and allergies

Students may have specific health issues or dietary restrictions due to health, cultural, or religious reasons. Be sure that you learn all essential information you need to know about student health and diet from parents or guardians. For ELLs, be sure to confirm and clarify this information with the help of interpreters.

If you learn information about a student that would be helpful for other staff to know, particularly regarding health or food allergies, talk with administrators about how to keep the child safe. In addition, be sensitive to cultural or religious norms, such as fasting for religious reasons.

Keep an eye out for signs of culture shock

Moving to a new country and leaving a familiar life, relatives, friends, and language behind can be traumatic for children in the best of circumstances. Those challenges are compounded if children have experienced trauma, violence, or upheaval. Learn more about how culture shock can impact students in the classroom and affect student behavior so that you recognize signs if newcomers act out.

Encourage students to take ownership of the classroom culture

Ask students to answer the following questions through drawings or written responses.

How can I be a good classmate to others?

What are examples of unkind or disrespectful behavior in the classroom?

To support ELLs in their discussions of these questions:

Encourage students who speak the same language to discuss their ideas in groups.

Provide scaffolded materials such as graphic organizers, sentence stems, and sentence frames.

Use a picture book to talk about different kinds of behavior with students.

Create a shared set of classroom expectations together

Return to your earlier discussion of what a respectful classroom looks like.

Brainstorm ideas on possible class rules based on that discussion.

Streamline the list of class guidelines or rules.

Add any rules or guidelines that are missing.

In order to establish appropriate consequences for disrespectful behavior, you may wish to come up with ideas with the class or determine those consequences yourself.

Post the final list classroom rules in the classroom.

Translate the rules into ELLs' native languages so that they can keep the list handy and share it at home.

To see an example of this proces in action, take a look at ELL expert Carol Salva's process for developing a community contract each year.

Help your ELLs understand expectations for the classroom

ELLs may need some extra support in understanding expectations for classroom behavior. Helping them understand these expectations can avoid misunderstandings, discipline problems, and feelings of low self-esteem.

At the same time, it's important to remember that students bridging two cultures may need guidance which behaviors are appropriate in which setting (such as eye contact, physical proximity, etc.). If you have questions, talk with a cultural liaison in the school to learn more about appropriate responses and ideas for helping students navigate a new culture. You can also learn more about cultural norms of your students, particularly related to schooling, to help inform your approach.

Here are a few strategies that you can use in class:

Use visuals like pictures, symbols, and reward systems to communicate your expectations in a positive and direct manner.

Physically model language to ELLs in classroom routines and instructional activities. ELLs will need to see you or their peers model behavior when you want them to sit down, walk to the bulletin board, work with a partner, copy a word, etc.

Be consistent and fair with all students. Once ELLs clearly understand what is expected, hold them equally accountable for their behavior.

Post a daily schedule. Even if ELLs do not yet understand all of the words that you speak, it is possible for them to understand the structure of each day. Whether through chalkboard art or images on Velcro, you can post the daily schedule each morning. By writing down times and having pictures next to words like lunch, wash hands, math, and field trip, ELLs can have a general sense of the upcoming day.

Finally, remember ELLs can make unintentional "mistakes" as they are trying hard to adjust to a new cultural setting. They are constantly transferring what they know as acceptable behaviors from their own culture to the U.S. classroom and school. Be patient as ELLs learn English and adjust - and remember that you will learn a lot from this experience too!

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How to Create a Welcoming Classroom Environment for ELLs

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An important first step in helping English language learners (ELLs) succeed is making them feel welcome in the classroom. This will: increase their confidence make them feel more comfortable in the class build a foundation for positive relationships with you and their peers. Here's how you can get started!

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Tumblr account for Diversity in YA literature

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Tumblr account for Diversity in YA literature

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By Tochi Onyebuchi

I was asked recently on a panel what my thoughts were regarding the idea of a black Superman. There was a brief flutter of confusion on the panel, as I and another panelist wondered if some bit of casting news swept us by, but we soon realized the question was more theoretical than anything else. Questions about race and casting and storytelling generally are.

If I recall correctly, my answer was a bit of a deflection. I'd asked the questioner and the audience to, instead of engaging with a non-white Superman, ask themselves why Superman had been made white to begin with. This all-powerful demi-god, who could leap tall buildings in a single bound and who possessed untold amounts of strength, why, if he could already do so many things, was he also made white?

Increasing diversity in storytelling often comes with the built-in assumption that it is writers of color or disabled writers or non-binary writers who are doing the work. These people telling their own stories. The idea is that, the more these stories make it into the marketplace, the more a reader's eyes will be opened to human possibility, the more likely they are, when they see a person of color or a disabled writer or a non-binary writer, to act with humaneness, rather than hatred. A story from a black author about a black boy makes its way into the hands of a young white reader and, suddenly, the pathway to bigotry is blocked by the empathetic undertaking that is the reading of a book.

But this is supposed to be a group project.

For me, sometimes what increasing diversity in storytelling entails is simply imagining ourselves outside of what we usually see. This can mean black superheroes and female corporate moguls, but it can't be simple race- or gender-swapping. If the character is not a heterosexual, cis-gendered, white male, let's make sure they are a fully realized character whose non-whiteness, for instance, isn't just a splash of paint from an errant paintbrush. When I think back to that question about Superman, I find myself wishing from time to time that I'd answered along these lines, that I'd challenged the audience to imagine what it would look like in 2018 for a black man in America to be able to deflect bullets.

As powerful and as necessary as #ownvoices stories are, I can't quite let white authors off the hook. In my estimation, it is not enough for them to sit back while the rest of us launch ourselves forward, telling stories that should have already been told, making up for lost time. I think white writers, male writers, should be called upon to interrogate their privilege, and to do so publicly and to do it in their storytelling. For so long, our heroes have looked a particular color. They should ask why, and they should ask it loudly.

Which brings me back to Superman. In many ways, this undocumented immigrant is the embodiment of white, male privilege. No mountain can stop him from getting where he needs to go. People around him are mosquitoes he can flick away with a finger. And, as Clark Kent, he wears glasses he doesn't even truly need, a fashion accessory more than a health necessity. Of all the forms this alien could have chosen, he chose white. And I think all of us should be asking why.

I wrote Beasts Made of Night and Crown of Thunder not only to imagine a kid the same color as me saving the world, but also to imagine him fighting the awesome anime battles I watched as a teen and being the object of someone's affection. I wanted to see a black boy fight monsters and be flirted with.

I talk at length about what it can mean, in a cosmic sense, having a hero of color in a world drawn from a non-Western mythos; the implications for diversity; my hopes with my readership. But lost in all of that is this selfish desire I'd had at the very beginning: I'd written Taj's story for myself as much as for anyone else. Taj wasn't just a black protagonist. He had my insecurities and my youthful bravado and my halting attempts at caring for my younger siblings. An undercurrent to a lot of questions I get is why did you make Taj black? which is a funny way of saying why did I make Taj me?

Because skin is everything that comes with it. Color carries the context of lived experience.

I don't ascribe to any "color-blindness" that isn't diagnosed by a doctor. Someone may insist that it shouldn't matter what color our heroes are, but I disagree. It does matter. Because skin color has context. It informs our symbols, such that bullets bouncing off the chest of a black man make an entirely different sound than they do bouncing off the chest of a white man, even if the difference is pitched at a frequency only some of us can hear.

Tochi Onyebuchi's fiction has appeared Asimov's, Obsidian, and Omenana and is forthcoming from Tor.com, Harper Collins, and Razorbill. His non-fiction has appeared in Nowhere Magazine, the Oxford University Press blog, Tor.com, and the Harvard Journal of African American Public Policy, among other places. His Nommo Award-winning debut young adult novel, Beasts Made of Night, was published by Razorbill in Oct. 2017. Its sequel, Crown of Thunder, was released in Oct. 2018.

His books are available for purchase.

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Diversity in YA was founded in 2011 by authors Cindy Pon and Malinda Lo. You can visit us at our official website, DiversityinYA.com, or follow us here on tumblr. ● An Introduction to DiYA ●...

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Rich in Color - Reading & Reviewing Diverse YA Books

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blackgirlmagic #Common Core #groupdiscussion #WeNeedDiverseBooks Anthology asian ya author interview authors banned books week blacklivesmatter black love book lists book reviews contemporary debut author diverse worlds diversity evaluating literature fantasy group discussion horror julie kagawa lgbtq lgbtqia new releases ownvoices queer comics queer ya racism recommendation: borrow it someday recommendation: get it now recommendation: get it soon recommendation: just skip it recruiting retelling retellings reviews romance summer reads superhero tu books Women's History Month year in review Zetta Elliott Zettasbooks

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When I talk about doing a diversity audit, one of the first questions I get asked is how I know whether or not a book is diverse. There is no easy answer that does not involve doing a small amount of research. Though over time, because I tend to deal exclusively with YA, I gain a pretty good knowledge of the literature. I also make sure that I spend time visiting blogs that focus on diversity and following diverse authors, librarians and hashtags on social media. Here are a few of the ones that I follow.

Blogs That Promote Diversity and Inclusion
American Indians in Children's Lit
Librarian Debbie Reese talks specifically about American Indians in Children's Literature and challenges librarians to think about Native American representation in the books that we place on our shelves. Reese will give very specific discussions about titles and share why the representation concerns her and gives enthusiastic recommendations of titles that she feels represents Native American life well.
The Brown Bookshelf
The Brown Bookshelf has one primary goal: to raise awareness of the various black voices that are writing for young readers.
CBC Diversity
The CBC Diversity initiative was founded in 2012, as part of the Children's Book Council's commitment to promoting diverse voices in literature for young people. They discuss specific titles.
Crazy Quilt Edi
This former school librarian works tirelessly to advocate for promoting literacy in teens of color. I follow her on Twitter as well as reading her blog and have learned a lot.
Cynthia Leitich-Smith
Leitich-Smith is a Native American author who promotes the works of other Native American authors.
Diversity in YA
Provides a variety of book lists and reviews.
Latinos in KidLit
Focuses on Latinos in children's and YA literature.

Shares reviews and book lists of LGBTQAI+ books.
Read Diverse Books
Focuses on reading and reviewing books about and by people from marginalized groups.
Rich in Color
A plethora of resources that talk about diversity in children's and YA lit. They also have a great blog roll here that you should check out.
We Need Diverse Books
This initiative works hard to diversify publishing and is a great resource for book reviews and book lists.

Originally called Gay YA, this blog changed their name recently to be more inclusive of the entire LGBTQIA+ spectrum. It's a great place to visit for book lists and reviews.

Diversity and Inclusions Hashtags

#OwnVoices

#WeNeedDiverseBooks

Publishers That Focus on Diversity
Just Us Books Lee & Low Books Little Pickle Press Month9Books Reflection Press Tamarind Books
Some Additional Sources
9 Publishing Organizations that Promote Diversity Within the Industry Equity in the Library Resource List Previous TLT Diversity Audit Resource List
This is by no means an exhaustive list. For example, you will notice that it lacks any type of religious diversity, which is a gap that I hope to fill. So please share your recommendations with me in the comments.

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Blog Roll Call: Diversity in YA Literature, a list of resources to help librarians diversify their shelves

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When I talk about doing a diversity audit, one of the first questions I get asked is how I know whether or not a book is diverse. There is no easy answer that does not involve doing a small amount of research.

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to guru on all things ELL

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The latest news and resources in education since 2007

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refugee family journey - picture book

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Reviewed by Deborah Menkart

Review Source: Teaching for Change
Book Author: Margriet Ruurs

This bilingual children's picture book (English and Arabic) is worth reading for the illustrations alone. The three dimensional characters, made from beach stone by Syrian artist Nizar Ali Badr, are so expressive and exquisite that they tell a story of their own. Badr conveys the plight of refugees, although he himself has never left Syria. He explains, "How could I leave the country that gave to humanity the world's oldest writing, the cuneiform alphabet?"

Author Margriet Ruurs has added a story of a young girl who also loves Syria, yet is forced to flee when the bombs fall close to her family home. The text conveys the beauty of daily life in her homeland, the pain of leaving, and the fact that the journey is so dangerous that not all travelers survive.

The realistic nature of the book then shifts when the refugees arrive in another country, welcomed with open arms. Adults can explain to young readers that while this is how it should be, sadly it is not the norm. Additionally, the publisher's promotional description of the book references Syria's "civil war" instead of the injustice from foreign intervention. Badr is quoted on his website as saying that he feels the "deepest love for my homeland that is suffering from the appalling injustice inflicted upon it by alien global elites." The publisher should have included not only Badr's illustrations, but also his political knowledge and analysis of Syria. We recommend getting the book for the illustrations and supplementing the text while reading it aloud.

Additional review from Kirkus Reviews.

Publisher's synopsis: This unique picture book was inspired by the stone artwork of Syrian artist Nizar Ali Badr, discovered by chance by Canadian children's writer Margriet Ruurs. The author was immediately impressed by the strong narrative quality of Mr. Badr's work, and, using many of Mr. Badr's already-created pieces, she set out to create a story about the Syrian refugee crisis. Stepping Stones tells the story of Rama and her family, who are forced to flee their once-peaceful village to escape the ravages of the civil war raging ever closer to their home. With only what they can carry on their backs, Rama and her mother, father, grandfather and brother, Sami, set out to walk to freedom in Europe. Nizar Ali Badr's stunning stone images illustrate the story. Orca Book Publishers offers this book as a dual-language (English and Arabic) edition. Translated by Falah Raheem.

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Stepping Stones: A Refugee Family's Journey - Social Justice Books

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Reviewed by Deborah Menkart Review Source: Teaching for Change Book Author: This bilingual children's picture book (English and Arabic) is worth reading for the illustrations alone. The three dimensional characters, made from beach stone by Syrian artist Nizar Ali Badr, are so expressive and exquisite that they tell a story of their own.

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Dave Eggers - book about statute of liberty and all that she represents

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In this fascinating, fun take on nonfiction, uniquely American in its frank tone and honest look at the literal foundation of our country, Dave Eggers and Shawn Harris investigate a seemingly small trait of America's most emblematic statue. What they find is about more than history, more than art.