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I absolutely adored this book and the story of the recipe passed down by multiple generations. Tami Charles introduces readers to a brief history of the Haitian tradition of making freedom soup every new year through an eye-opening and heartwarming story about how Haitians gained their independence told by a grandmother to her grandchild asking about the history of the recipe. As a teacher, I believe this book would be a great addition to any classroom. With younger readers you can connect it to different new year traditions, but with older students, you can analyze the story of the Haitian revolution and connect it to how formerly enslaved people carry on these traditions that celebrate freedom across cultures. 

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Tami Charles

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Tom Percival writes a realistic and heart warming story about how Meesha struggles to make friends with other kids her own age until she finds the right friend who plays with her the same way she plays. Although there is no official diagnosis in the book, Meesha struggles to read social cues and is quickly overwhelmed in social situations. The illustrations add so much context to understanding how Meesha feels while attempting to make friends. I read this book with my fourth grade students, and they noticed the intricate details of the illustrations and continued to think about why Meesha was the only one in color or why when Josh begins playing with her, he slowly gains colors as well. I loved that I saw my students begin to recognize these differences, and I believe that this book would work for any age group to introduce some of these feelings in social situations that each child may or may not already experience.

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Tom Percival

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I found this book on display at the library recognizing it from Joanna Ho's other books, and I had no idea how recently it was published. While it does not have any awards yet, the author's other books have been included on New York Times Bestsellers lists, so I have no doubt that this story will follow suit. Liz SoHyeon Kleinrock begins the book with a not acknowledging her desire to publish a story that represents her experience as a young South Korean adoptee to two loving white American parents. She and Joanna Ho write this incredible story that leads readers to empathize with the love that an adoptee receives from their family but also that questioning that they always have in the back of their minds. The what if and what happened questions always float around in the back of an adoptees head, but with love and care, they also feel so much joy with their family. Dung Ho's illustrations bring the story alive and transform this story from being a window into another culture (for readers of a different culture than the main character) to being a sliding glass door that allow readers to feel empathy for the child. As an elementary school teacher, this book could be used at any grade level with varying levels of analysis. With younger students, I would use it as a read aloud to introduce another culture and experience that some students in the room may understand but others may not. With older students, I would want them to think more and reflect more on feelings of the main character throughout the story because she feels so much and shows readers that it's okay to feel happy and sad at the same time.

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Joanna Ho and Liz Kleinrock

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Dan Saks and Brooke Smart created a simple board book that introduces young readers to all the different types of families they could see in the world. For a first grade classroom, this book would be a great addition in the library because students are still drawn to board books and learning how to read books. This books exposes students to different types of families, which I believe is one of the easiest ways to incorporate diverse literature in a primary elementary classroom. Some of these families are interracial families, LGBTQ+ families, blended families, or single-parent homes, etc. Overall, this book would be a great addition in the classroom library to incorporate more familial diversity.

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Dan Saks

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Jessica Love writes and illustrates a heartwarming story about a boy who wants to be a mermaid and with the support of his grandma, he lives his dream and walks in the Coney Island Mermaid Parade. This book won the Stonewall Book Award, which is an award that highlights outstanding literature centering LGBTQ+ storylines and characters. In first grade, most students will not recognize the LGBTQ+ aspects of this story as such, unless they already understand it, but they will recognize that Julian is a boy who wants to dress up like a mermaid. This book exposes young readers to a child who they may or may not relate to, which is why this book would make a great addition to a classroom library to give students this exposure and an understanding of people's differences while seeing the grandma support Julian in his endeavors rather than shut him down and tell him he cannot be a mermaid. Also available in Spanish!

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Jessica Love

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Originally published in the Philippines, Joanna Que and Charina Marquez write a loving story about a girl who teaches her neighbor sign language to become best friends. Because this book was originally published in the Philippines, the characters use Filipino Sign Language instead of American Sign Language. In a classroom, this book could be used to teach students about the differences between sign language around the world and teach them a few words in Filipino Sign Language. I have taught my students the alphabet in ASL, and they love it, so a book like this would be helpful to show them what people use sign language for and how it differs in other countries. 

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Dancing Hands: A Story of Friendship in Filipino Sign Language

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Dancing Hands: A Story of Friendship in Filipino Sign Language

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Joanna Que and Charina Marquez

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This story is about Faizah and her older sister Asiya on the first day of school, specifically, Asiya's first day wearing a hijab to school. The story is told from the point of view of Faizah who is so excited for her older sister to wear her hijab. She calls her sister a princess, but throughout the day, she learns about the discrimination her sister is beginning to face because of her hijab. While the students in your classroom are not Muslim, there are students at your school who practice this religion, so this story would allow them to learn more about their classmates. This book is also written by Ibtihaj Muhammad, the first American to wear a hijab in the Olympics, so students could find more interest in the story knowing about the author and her athleticism since they love sports.

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Ibtihaj Muhammad and SK Ali

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Muhammad receives a salat (prayer rug) for his seventh birthday and wants to practice his faith like he has seen his parents practice. However, one of the five prayer times occurs during the school day, so he must figure out how he can pray on time without experiencing the same weird looks and comments he has seen his dad experience while praying in public. His teacher helps him find a spot for his salat at school, so he can practice his religion without the judgements from his classmates. This book is another great addition to your classroom library because the students are the same age as Muhammad, so they can think about how they would react or treat a classmate if they decided to start using their salat at school. The illustrator is the same illustrator as "The Proudest Blue", so you could also use the books to do an illustrator study.

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Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow

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Bilqis Abdul-Qaadir writes a book about her story as a girl dreaming to be a basketball player her entire life only to reach a high school playoff game where the referee says she cannot wear her hijab while playing. Her teammates and the crowd support her, and the referee eventually allows her to play, which gives her the game she needed to become the top scorer in her state and continue her basketball career in college and professionally until the rules once again discriminate against her and her hijab. Because your students love sports, I added this book to appeal to this interest and also increase the religious diversity of your library. This book would be good for your readers who want to read more about basketball or who want to be professional athletes in the future. 

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Lion on the Inside: How One Girl Changed Basketball

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Lion on the Inside: How One Girl Changed Basketball

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Bilqis Abdul-Qaadir and Judith Henderson

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This book is so funny and entertaining for young readers who love soccer. I read this with my fourth-grade class, and even my newcomers with limited English proficiency laughed throughout the story. The author has an incredible video of him reading it aloud on YouTube, so I showed them that video, and it was the most engaging read-aloud I've shown my students this year. Baptiste Paul writes a story about his experience growing up in Saint Lucia playing soccer, and even though our students are not from St. Lucia, many of them can relate to this story and play soccer with their friends. This book would be a great addition to your classroom library because most students will be able to read it, they will be interested in it, and they will learn some Saint Lucia Creole vocabulary. Available in Spanish and English!

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Baptiste Paul

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Alex Willan writes and illustrates humorous stories about Gilbert the Goblin and his neighbors. Unicorns are the Worst! is one of his newer books in this series, but the rest are also hilarious and would be great for students who love Mo Willems' books and are ready to move on to picture books with more words. Some of his books are also available in Spanish! He is an Illinois-based author, so it could also open up opportunities for author visits.

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Alex Willan

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Drew Daywalt is the author of "The Day the Crayons Quit" series, but this book is one of his newer humorous releases. This story gives readers the history of the game Rock Paper Scissors and shows Rock, Paper, and Scissors challenging various opponents until they meet and challenge each other. Drew Daywalt's books would be great additions to your library for the students who love the humorous picture books in your current library.

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Aaron Reynolds writes some hilarious pictures, and this is one of his newer releases. Many of his books are available in English and Spanish! The illustrator, Peter Brown, was a Caldecott Honor winner, so you can also count on the illustrations giving young readers an even better understanding of the story. 