I have gathered a group of three new multicultural picture books to share with you. Each are multicultural in different ways and share about different important lessons. We will start with one that is good for teaching young children a bit of Civil Rights Movement history. It is A Ride to Remember by Sharon Langley and Amy Nathan and illustrated by Floyd Cooper.
This is the story of Sharon Langley's first ride on the Gwynn Oak Amusement Park's carousel in Maryland. Her family was the first African American family to be allowed into the amusement park and she was the first black child to ride the carousel. It took many protests to get the Gwynn Oak Amusement Park to desegregate. In the summer of 1963 they did. On August 23, 1963, the first black family to enter the amusement park was the Langleys. Sharon's parents had gone back and forth whether to bring her since she was only 11 months-old, but decided it was important. The first ride they took her on was the carousel. The media was there to mark the event. At the same time in Washington, D.C. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was giving his "I have a dream" speech.
At the end of the book Sharon Langley shares a bit of her own story as well as a bit of the history of the carousel. It was moved to the National Mall in Washington, D.C. after the Gwynn Oak Amusement Park closed. It is now know as the Carousel on the Mall. This book shares a small piece of the history of the desegregation. It is a sweet story and beautiful book.
Our next book is Where Am I From? by Elisvaet Arkolaki and illustrated by Platon Street Artist. This book is for those kids who are from different cultures/countries and don't live in the country he or she was born in. In this book the children of the world try to answer where they are from. Each has his or her own idea and guess of a country. With each country there is a small piece of culture from the country. For example the boy who said China says he flew on a dragon's back to get there. In the end the youngest and shyest of the children tell them that they all came from their mommy's tummy. His baby sister is in his mother's now.
This book is for young children. I would say preschool age. The artwork is beautiful and the story is fun. I love how it combines children of the world and shares different cultures. It is a great book for kids who are trying to figure out about their place in the world.
Our final book is The Word for Friend by Aidan Cassie. This sweet book is about a pangolin, Kemala, who moved to a new country with her family. The problem is she doesn't speak the language of the other animals there. They all seem friendly but she is scared and afraid to try their language until she makes a friend, Ana, without having to talk at first. Slowly their friendship grows and Ana helps Kemala learn some of the language and the two of them put on a shadow puppet show for the rest of the kids.
The language used for the animals is Esperanto. I reviewed a book about Dr. Esperanto and his language. At the end of The Word for Friend are pages about the language as well as a page about pangolins.
So whether you are looking for a sweet story to introduce the Civil Rights Movement and why protests were needed, have a child questioning or confused with where he or she is from because of different cultures in your family or perhaps living in a different country from their birth or are about to move to another country with a different language we have a book for you. I hope you will check all three out!
