9 Books to Celebrate Cultural Diversity in October
Happy October Marlo Bea Family, it's been a while!
I can't believe we are already just shy of three more months until the new year. I won't mention the month and holiday after November, because well..it will be here faster than your next Amazon package. Ok so let's get right into it, October. This month has so much to celebrate and acknowledge, I like to call it the "kick off" month for the holiday season. In October, we celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, Down Syndrome Awareness Month, Bilingual Children, Filipino American History, German American History, National Farmer's Day, Hair, Native Americans, Diwali, Halloween and even more! What I love most about this month is that it's actually Global Diversity Awareness Month..how cool is that?
This month's lit picks from Marlo Bea include related books for this month's celebrations and I encourage you to add at least one to your child's library this month.
1. Monster Trouble by Lane Fredrickson
Nothing frightens Winifred Schnitzel—but she DOES need her sleep, and the neighborhood monsters WON'T let her be! Every night they sneak in, growling and belching and making a ruckus. Winifred constructs clever traps, but nothing stops these crafty creatures. What's a girl to do?
2. Berry Song by
Michaela Goade
Through the seasons, they sing to the land as the land sings to them. Brimming with joy and gratitude, in every step of their journey, they forge a deeper kinship with both the earth and the generations that came before, joining in the song that connects us all. Michaela Goade's luminous rendering of water and forest, berries and jams glows with her love of the land and offers an invitation to readers to deepen their own relationship with the earth.
3. Amara's Farm by JaNay Brown-Wood
Amara is hosting a potluck for friends on her farm, and she needs help finding her pumpkins to serve a tasty dish. What do we know about pumpkins? They're large, round, and orange—and, wait a minute, is that a pumpkin? No, that's an apple. Where, oh, where could those pumpkins be? Can you help Amara find them in time for her potluck?
4. He Gave Them Something Extra by Steffanie Larriba
As a mother of a child with Down syndrome, author Steffanie Larriba invites you to consider a different perspective. From her firsthand experience, the input from many other mothers, and her faith in Christ, Larriba shares her belief that having a child with Down syndrome is truly a blessing and provides purpose and meaning (John 9:1–3). You will see how children with Down syndrome show God’s love to the world through their uniqueness.
5. Hair and the Holy Spirit by Esau McCaulley
Josie is spending the day with Dad―getting her hair braided at Monique's Beauty Shop, and picking out a new red dress for Sunday. Because Sunday is Pentecost! In the process, she learns to celebrate the differences she sees all around her as part of God's plan for his creation.
6. Every Night is Pizza Night by J. Kenji Lopez-Alt
Pipo thinks that pizza is the best. No, Pipo knows that pizza is the best. It is scientific fact. But when she sets out on a neighborhood-spanning quest to prove it, she discovers that "best" might not mean what she thought it meant.
7. When Lola Visits by Michelle Sterling
For one young girl, summer is the season of no school, of days spent at the pool, and of picking golden limes off the trees. But summer doesn’t start until her lola—her grandmother from the Philippines—comes for her annual visit.
8. Shubh Diwali by Chitra Soundar
Diwali has arrived! Rangoli art decorates the floor, and strings of flowers hang around the doors. Now it's time to ring the bells, light the lamps, and welcome the New Year with family and friends. A sweet introduction to the Hindu festival of lights.
9. Germany (A Book of Opposites) by Ashley Evanson
In Germany, you can use words that are opposites to help you discover the country: hikers at the top and the bottom of the Alps, beautiful Black Forest trees that are near and far, and delicious Bavarian treats that are eaten and then gone.