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Written and Illustrated by: Anastasia Higginbothom

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Written by : Jabari Asim

Illustrated by: LeVyen Pham

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I chose this book because I think it is a really good way to introduce diversity into a classroom with young children. This book relates to the topic because it is culturally neutral. The only line in the book that makes it specific to a certain culture is when it is talking about one child's toes and says "So brown and sweet." Other than that the character in this book could be switched out with any other culture. This topic is valuable because it gives different kinds of mirrors and windows into other cultures.

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An activity I would do when reading this book with toddlers would be to talk with the child while reading it. If it was a child of color like the child in the book I would talk about how the child looks similar to them. If the child was a different race I might talk with them about some of the things they notice in the book and talk about how their toes are the same as the child in the book's they are just a different color. This could go into a conversation about how we are all the same on the inside no matter what race we are. This would help to instill the idea of equality into their heads.

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Written & Illustrated by: R. Kikuo Johnson

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I chose this book because I think it is very authentic as well as it is a fun and entertaining folktale. This book connects to the topic because it is a folktale and based on the research I've done on the author it is a very authentic story. The back of the books talks about the author and how he grew up in Hawaii where this folktale originated from. It also gives some information about the shape shifting shark god Kamohoalii that this story is about. I found this topic very interesting because I did not know there were so many interesting folktales from other cultures that were out there. I also think it is very beneficial to have children learn about the folktales other cultures have and the similarities and differences to the folktales that they have grown up with.

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An activity I would do with this book would be to have the children look into the authenticity of the story and the author to see if it is authentic. I would have them evaluate it the same way I did by reading the information on the book and doing some research into the author online. This would teach them how to find out the information that they need to determine the credibility of authors.

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Written by: Ibtihaj Muhammad & S.K. Ali

Illustrated by: Haten Aly

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I chose this book because I think it is a really good example of a truly authentic story. I also chose it because the author is amazing and has done so much to advocate for her culture. This book connects to the topic because it is a #OwnVoices book. After doing research on the author you can see that it is very authentic to her life. She is a Muslim American and wrote the book based on the experiences she had growing up. I think this topic is super valuable because having authentic books written by authors from the culture or race they are writing about makes children feel seen and important.

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Written by: Marianne Celano, Marietta Collins, Ann Hazzard

Illustrated by: Jennifer Zivoin

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I chose this book because although it is controversial I think it is a very important topic and perspective to show children especially with everything that has been going on and shown in the news lately. It relates to the topic because it is controversial. It talks about police brutality as well as racial injustice. I think this book would be good for teaching children about some of the history and events of police brutality and racial injustice. This will also help children to know that we can discuss controversial topics in our classroom and answer questions if they have them.

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An activity I would use with this book is to teach the children the NICE strategy and then use that strategy on this book. This would support their awareness of diversity because in the future they could use the NICE strategy when reading other books to help them understand controversial literature.

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Written by: George Ella Lyon

Illustrated by: Lynne Avril Cravath

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I chose this book because I really like the way the main character is portrayed in this story. This connects to the topic because the main character has a disability. She has double vision and I loved that the book showed images of what things would look like to her. I thought that it was so interesting to see it from her perspective. I also liked that at the end it showed how she was able to do more once she got her eye patch. I think this was so valuable because it put such a positive energy around her disability. There was not really any point in the book where she felt bad or other people felt bad for her because of her disability. It just showed that some people live life a little differently.

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To extend the topic of disability and ableism in the classroom I would show them the chart we looked at about what to say to people with a disability. I would do some practice sentences with them and have them fix some sentences that could be hurtful to someone with a disability. I would also put the chart up in the room so it could easily be seen at any time. This would support their awareness of diversity by making them more aware of the things they say and how it will affect people.

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Written by: Bobbie Combs

Illustrated by: Brian Rappa & Desiree Keane

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I chose this book because it shows a lot of different families who have same sex parents. I like that this book shows children doing typical daily activities with their families. This book connects to the topic because it is about same sex families which is a diverse family structure. I think this topic is valuable to show children that all families are different and a lot of them aren't just the stereotypical mom and dad. It is also good for representation for children who have diverse family structures to make them feel seen. I also like that the main focus of this book wasn't just the fact that they were same sex parents it just showed the fun things they were doing as a family.

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Written & Illustrated by: Manya Stojic

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I chose this book because I think it is a great introduction to other languages for young children. Hello is one of the first words toddlers use often so teaching them the word in other languages would be easy for them to pick up. This book connects to the topic because it shows a bunch of different languages and would be a good book to read with a child who is multilingual. I find this topic very interesting because I think the ability children have to learn multiple languages when they are young is amazing. I think introducing a book like this into the classroom would be a great start to showing children that other languages are out there. It would also be super valuable if there is a child in the room who speaks another language because then you can teach the other children a word to communicate with them.

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Written & Illustrated by: Jessica Spanyol

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I chose this book because I think it is amazing for breaking the stereotypes of little boys not being able to play with dolls. I think this book should be in every toddler classroom everywhere to show all children that they can play with any toys they want to play with and that toys don't have gender. This connects to the topic because it is about a little boy who just likes to play with dolls which goes against the stereotypical ideas that dolls are for girls. Throughout the book you see Clive doing different things with his babies and playing with them with different friends. I think this topic is so valuable because children should be able to just enjoy their interests without the pressure of society telling them what they can and can't like just because of their gender.

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Written & Illustrated by: Francesca Sanna

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I chose this book because I like that it is different from a lot of the other immigration books I have read. In this book they are trying to illegally cross the boarder. This connects to the topic because it is about the immigrant experience that their family had. It shows the different ways they traveled to try to get to the new country. It also shows how they had to try to climb over the boarder but got caught and had to hide from the guard. It then shows them paying a man to get them over the boarder. I thought this was super interesting because there are not a lot of books showing this type of experience. I also think this would be valuable for children to see so they can understand what some families have to go through to get to a new country.

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I chose this book because I think it has a really authentic perspective that a child would relate to. The majority of the book the main character is seeing all of these things going on around them and in the news about racism and police brutality. She keeps asking about it but everyone just brushes it off and doesn't want her to know about it. It talks about facing racism as a white person and making a difference instead of ignoring it and adding to the problem. It shows good examples of how racism and racist ideas get passed down by families through the things they say and the ways they act even when they aren't necessarily thinking they are being racist. This topic is valuable because we have a big impact in how children see the world and we can be a big piece in helping to make the future generations less racist by pointing racism out.

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I would use this book as a conversation starter. Every child has experienced wanting to know about an "adult" topic and being immediately shut down by their parents. Whether about racism or not every child experiences that feeling of not being informed about something going on around them that they would like to know about. We can start the discussion there and transition into talking about racism too. It will also show the children that they can always ask questions in our classroom about anything and won't get the conversation shut down.

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The thing I found most valuable was the conversations we were able to have in class. I thought the discussion questions were helpful to get our ideas flowing and get the conversation going. It was always interesting to see everyones different perspectives and ideas. I also really enjoyed the amount of work due for this class and how consistent it was. I thought the amount of outside of class work was the perfect amount that I felt like I was getting a lot out of this class without feeling like there were crazy amounts of homework plus having the same things due at the same times every week made it very low stress. I don't really have any suggestions or things I wish I learned more about. I feel like I learned so much this semester and everything about the class was great! Thank you!!