Five More Diverse Board Books

First of all, my apologies for the lack of posts lately. All of us writers have been particularly busy lately with moves, school, and work. We have some exciting upcoming plans for summer though--specifically with folk and fairy tales--so stay tuned for that! In the meantime, I realized we haven't had a post about board books since April, so here are five more diverse board books (in no particular order). Again, I won't include synopses since they are relatively straight-forward, but if you have any questions about a a specific title, feel free to leave it in the comments. Enjoy!

1. A You're Adorable
by Martha Alexander


2. Ten Little Babies
 by Gyo Fujikawa

Five Picture Books That Celebrate Jazz

April was an exciting month being National Poetry Month, Autism Awareness Month, Asperger's Awareness Month, and including Earth Day and Arbor Day. Additionally, April was also Jazz Appreciation Month. I had some difficulty acquiring the books I wanted to feature--hence this post being late--but better late than never!

Bebop Express
written by H.L. Panahi, illustrations by Steven Johnson and Lou Fancher

Fancher and Johnson's collage art portrays a racially diverse array of jazz musicians and appreciators aboard the fictional Bebop Express which travels from city to city in search of jazz. Every city has its own unique style which is expressed in words and rhythmic sounds which should make for a fun read-aloud. 

Five Fun Picture Books for Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month

It's May and that means it's Asian-Pacific Heritage Month! Of course, we celebrate everyone all year long, but we like to make a special effort to highlight specific people groups when it is their special month. We'll have lots of recommendations for you over the course of the month so be sure to stop by often.

 Big Sister, Little Sister

written and illustrated by LeUyen Pham

 

The title says it all in this hilarious book about the trials of being a little sister, narrated by Little Sister. Little Sister definitely thinks she gets the short end of the stick, getting hand-me-downs and never getting to do things first, but she still has fun being a little sister. In the end, Little Sister comes to the conclusion that though Big Sister is bossy she is a good big sister, and while she'll always be older, Little Sister will always be better at being a little sister. A laughter-filled book about sisterhood with appeal to a broad age. 

The Seven Chinese Sisters

written by Kathy Tucker, illustrated by Grace Lin

 

In this girl-centered retelling of the Chinese folktale Ten Brothers, six sisters, each different and each with their own special skill, save their youngest sister from a dragon.

Book Recommendation: Happy International Children's Book Day!

Today is International Children's Book Day which is celebrated on Hans Christian Andersen's birthday. In honor of this day, we're recommending this lovely version of The Ugly Duckling retold and illustrated by Rachel Isadora. As you can see from the front cover below, the "Ugly Duckling" in this book is a black swan. We love that Isadora decided to include diversity, even in a book about animals. The illustrations for this book are as lovely as what we've come to expect from Isadora, and if you're at all familiar with her work, you will appreciate her ability to create beautiful art in a variety of styles and mediums.

Today is also World Autism Awareness Day and April is Autism Awareness Month, so we will try to have some recommendations on books that feature autistic characters for you soon.

Five Picture Books About Brave and Clever Girls

Beautiful Warrior: The Legend of the Nun's King Fu
written and illustrated by Emily Arnold McCully

During the reign of the last Ming Emperor, a girl was born who was named Jingyong, meaning "Quiet Courage." Scorning a future for his daughter as a lady-in-waiting, her father raised her as a son, having her tutored in the five pillars of learning, including martial arts. Jingyong excelled at Kung Fu and when her city was overtaken by enemies, she journeyed to study with the monks of the Shaolin Monastery. Seeing her incredible skill at Kung Fu, they renamed her Wu Mei, which means "Beautiful Warrior." When a local girl is bullied into accepting a marriage proposal from a thug and comes to her for help, Wu Mei teaches the girl Kung Fu so she can solve her own problems. This is an excellent retelling of the legend of Wu Mei and does a superb job of helping readers understand the principles behind Kung Fu. An Author's Note further expands readers understanding of the art, explaining that there is much more to Kung Fu than what we see in Western movies.