Show Way
Written by: Jacqueline Woodson
Illustrated by: Hudson Talbott
Genre: Multicultural
Grades: 3-5
Awards: Newbery Medal
This story reflects the many generations that the author has written about her family. There's a girl named Soonie, whose great-grandma was sold to a plantation at the age of 7. Soonie's great-grandma was able to learn how to sew colored thread into stars, moons, and roads that soon slave children will follow with a piece of quilt, leading them to freedom. She eventually got married and had a child, Mathis May, who is Soonie's grandma. Mathis May was 7 when she was sold away. Mathis May had a piece of her mother's blanket and held it close to her face whenever she wanted to feel back at home. She learned how to sew stars, moon, and roads that will show a way for slaves into freedom. Mathis May got married, but the husband soon died before he was able to meet his baby girl, Soonie. Soonie grew up picking cotton on a farm, but they stayed with other people that were no longer slaves. Soonie was 7 when she learned to sew stars, moons, roads, fields, trees, rivers on patches of quilts, that her mother sold in markets. Soonie eventually got married and had a baby called Georgiana. Georgiana became an avid reader and a teacher in a small school and had twin girls, named Caroline and Ann. When Caroline and Ann were 7, they experienced the separation between whites and blacks everywhere. Caroline and Ann grew up to writing poems and creating art. Ann ended up having the author of the book. The author describes that when she was 7, she didn't work in a field, walked in a Freedom line, but she read like Georgiana and wrote like Ann. Whenever the author did not feel like writing, she would sew just like all the women in her family history. The author grew to have a baby girl named, Toshi Georgiana. The author would hold her baby tight and tell a story of all those who came before her.
I really enjoyed reading this sweet book and would love to have this in my own classroom library. This book is good for third to fifth graders. A way to incorporate this book is reading it aloud to your class over a unit about Black History Month. Another activity is by having your students draw in a square their own family history and explain it to the class.
My Chinatown
Written and Illustrated by: Kam Mak
Genre: Multicultural
Grades: 2-5
Awards: None
This book follows a boy that moved to New York's Chinatown from Hong Kong with his family. Every couple of pages, he talks about each season and he does. In the Winter, the New Year has passed and there are pieces of red paper along the streets of Chinatown. The boy is in the market with his mother and they see tons of piles of kumquats. These kumquats reminds the boy of his grandmother back in China and how she pickled them in a certain way. The boy's mother asks a fortune teller of her son's fortune, and it seems that it will be a good year of luck, happiness, and surprises, but the boy doesn't seem to happy as he misses his real home.
In the Spring, the boy watches a cobbler that works on shoes every day. The boy admires the craftsman, but he reminds the boy that he is lucky to be here and attend a school, unlike him. The boy believes that the only thing that school does to him is leave a sour taste in his mouth as it is difficult to speak in English. One day, the boy's father came home with the boy's favorite game back in Hong Kong, and it made him feel like he was back home.
In the Summer, the boy keeps company with his mother while she sews on a machine. The boy talks about the beautiful dragon boats on the Queens lake and how there are drums rowing to the beat of the sound. One day, the boy from his window can smell food from the street and people talking Chinese and English, while playing mah-jongg. He sees his neighbor, Nai-Wen, and she convinces him to go out and play with other kids a game called, kick-the-can, his favorite American game.
In the Fall, the boy is excited to celebrate the Moon festival. His family is up on their roof, lighting lanterns and setting them free, just like his neighbors around him. It is Winter once again, the boy uses his pocket money to buy delicious street food, like fish balls. It is New Years again and there are sweet rice cakes, red envelopes with money in it, drums in the streets, and more. The boy is glad to be living here, in Chinatown.
I really enjoyed reading this book as it reminded me of our own Chinatown and Chinese community here. This book would be a great addition in everyone's classroom library. This book would be good for second to fifth graders. A way to incorporate this book is by having your students celebrate their own culture and research/talk about any traditions that they do all year long, and they can explain this to their classmates.
Ellen's Broom
Written by: Kelly Starling Lyons
Illustrated by: Daniel Minter
Genre: Multicultural
Grades: 3-5
Awards: Coretta Scott King Award for Illustrators
This book follows Ellen and her family after the times when slavery days were finally over. Everyone in the church was rejoicing as they were free. The same day, the deacon announced to the congregation that all former slaves that lived together as husband and wife can finally be registered and be looked at as married by law. Back home, Ellen's mother have always explained the story of the broom above their fire mantel to their children and that the significance was that it was mainly used for weddings. The mother and father explained that back then when they were not allowed to marry, so they just used a broom, set it on the ground, and jumped over it to leap into life together. A few weeks later, the day has finally come where Ellen's parents can finally marry each other, along with the rest of their church's congregation couples. They arrived at the courthouse and Ellen had her parent's broom with her, but decided that it needed to be really pretty, so she dragged her sister out to put flowers in the broom. Ellen's mother held the broom as a bouquet. The Freedmen's Bureau officer interviewed them asked for their names, how many years have they started living together as husband and wife, the names and ages of their children. The man then announced that they are married in the eyes of God and the law, and they had a certificate to take home. The family celebrated by having a picnic underneath a tree and the children insisted that their parents jump over the broom once again as it is a part of who they are. At home, they hanged the flower decorated broom and marriage certificate above the fire mantel.
I really love this book and would like to have this in my classroom. This book would be good for students in the third to fifth grade. This would be a good book to read aloud during Black History Month and explain to the students the restrictions they went through, like not being allowed to get married.
Too Many Tamales
Written by: Gary Soto
Illustrated by: Ed Martinez
Genre: Multicultural
Grades: K-5
Awards: None
This book follows a girl named Maria. It is Christmas time and they are preparing tamales for the party they are having. Maria was helping her mother and kneading the masa to make the tamales taste good. Maria felt grown-up and loved wearing her mother's apron, and even wearing her mother's lipstick and perfume, but she especially wanted to wear her mother's ring. Once her mother stepped out for a bit, Maria grabbed for mother's ring from the counter and put it on. Maria quickly went back to kneading the masa once her mother walked right back in. Maria, her mother, and father went on to finish making the twenty-four tamales in time for the party. The whole family arrived, excited to see each other, and Maria and her cousins went off to play and talk about what presents they hope they'll get underneath the Christmas tree. Maria then realizes that she accidentally left her mother's ring in one of the twenty-four tamales and asked her cousins to help her look for it. The four of them ate all of the twenty-four tamales and they were not able to find it and it left them with tummy aches. Maria finally had the courage to tell her mother what had happened, but she noticed that her mother had her ring on her finger this whole time. Maria, her mother, and the whole rest of the family went into the kitchen to cook up more tamales and to spend time together.
I enjoyed reading this book and would love to have this in my classroom. I believe this book is good for Kindergartners all the way to fifth graders. This book will be good to read during the winter time and discuss with your students on how to deal with a situation like this and if anything like this has happened to them before.
Fish In The Air
Written and Illustrated by: Kurt Wiese
Genre: Multicultural
Grades: K-3
Awards: Caldecott Medal
This book follows a boy by the name of Fish. Fish enjoyed any object that looked like a fish. His mother made him shoes that looked like fish and he had a lantern that looked like a fish for the Lantern Festival. It was kite season, where everyone went out to fly their kites in the fields. Fish asked his father if he could have the biggest kite that looked like a fish. They went out to the market and bought the biggest fish kite that Fish has ever seen. Once his father bought him the kite, a big wind came to take Fish flying into the air with his kite. Fish flew over everyone in the streets, going over roofs, over the fields, and even over the river. A big red hawk snatched the kite, causing Fish to fall into the river. One of the fisherman that was sleeping, woke up thinking that he caught a big fish and used his net to catch it, but turns out he caught Fish. His father came running to rescue him and Fish decided that it is better off to get the smallest fish kite.
This would be a nice book to have in the classroom library. This book would be good for Kindergartners to third graders. I would have my students draw out and design their own kite that they would like to fly and have them explain if they were taken by the wind, what kind of adventures would they go on.
Families Are Different
Written and Illustrated by: Nina Pellegrini
Genre: Multicultural
Grades: K-3
Awards: None
This book follows a girl named, Nico, who along with her big sister, is adopted from Korea. Nico describes her parents as really old, have blue eyes, and wavy hair. One day, Nico becomes upset as she notices that her friends look like their mothers and that she doesn't look like her mom. Nico's mom then explains that every family is different from what Nico may see from her friend's families. Nico's mom give examples of families that may have a single mother or single father, parents being divorced, children being raised by their grandparents, stepfamilies, and more. Nico's mom teaches her that every family is stuck together with a strong glue called love.
This is a great book that I would love to read aloud to my students and have in my classroom. This book would be good for Kindergartners to third graders. I would have my students write or draw their families and explain what makes their family different, unique, and special.
