Books in this category reflect the people of the world's nations, religions, and cultures, sometimes as a central feature of the story and other times as part of the story's background.
This is whichCatvalue: 2
All Books in the Cultural & Religious Groups Category
Baseball Saved Us Dom Lee (Illustrator), Ken Mochizuki (Author) When a Japanese-American boy and his family are interned in a camp during WWII, they decide to combat their depression by building a baseball field. During a game the boy channels his humiliation--both from being a prisoner and from being a bad player--to anger, giving him the strength to hit a game-winning home run. [Grade Level: 2 - 4]
Beyond the Ridge Written and Illustrated by Paul Goble A Plains Indian woman experiences the afterlife. [Grade Level: K - 3]
Big Moon Tortilla Joy Cowley (Author), Dyanne Strongbow (Illustrator) After her homework is ruined and her glasses break, a young girl is comforted by her grandmother's song and one of her warm tortillas. [Grade Level: Pre-K - 3]
The Birthday Swap Written and Illustrated by Loretta Lopez A young girl looks for the perfect birthday gift for her sister and ends up with a big surprise of her own. [Grade Level: K - 3]
Black Is Brown Is Tan Arnold Adoff (Author), Emily Arnold McCully (Illustrator) First published in 1973, this book marked the first acknowledgment of an interracial family in children's book publishing. The lyrical text depicts an interracial home in which there is fun, security, and plenty of love. With an African American mother, the “skin color of chocolate,” and a Caucasian father, who's skin is “not white, but light in color with tans and pinks and all the colors of the rainbow,” this story blends colors in such a way that the beauty of this family truly shines through. In this 2004 version, McCully has updated the illustrations with watercolor paintings to show the brown-skinned momma, the white daddy, and the two children in a 21st-century setting.
[Grade Level: K - 3]
Black Is Brown Is Tan Arnold Adoff (Author), Emily Arnold McCully (Illustrator) First published in 1973, this book marked the first acknowledgment of an interracial family in children's book publishing. The author uses lyrical text--an African American mother, "the skin color of chocolate," and a Caucasian father, "who's skin is not white, but light in color with tans and pinks and all the colors of the rainbow,"--to paint a portrait of a loving and natural family setting. McCully has updated the illustrations with watercolor paintings to show the brown-skinned momma, the white daddy, and the two children in a 21st-century setting. [Grade Level: 1 - 3]
The Blue Jackal Written by Rashmi Sharma An adaptation of a Punchtuntra fable with a message about feeling superior. [Grade Level: K - 6]
