“When you see the Earth from space, you don’t see any divisions of nation-states there. This may be a symbol of the new mythology to come; this is the country we will celebrate, and these are the people we are one with.” This simple observation from American mythologist Joseph Campbell offers hope for “community,” suggesting that multiple perspectives can co-exist. Growth of understanding and acceptance can be facilitated through the examination of others’ ideas.
At the 2000 ALA Summer Conference, members of the ALSC International Relations Committee set as our charter to develop a bibliography celebrating the diversity found in communities in the United States, a topic that was in line with the yearlong theme of then-ALSC President Virginia Walter. Each committee member was to seek out children’s books in picture book format that celebrated diverse cultures in American society. Narrowing our focus, we searched for books that not only reflected diversity, but went further. We wanted the contents to show understanding and appreciation for the differences found in U.S. communities, to demonstrate a bringing together of people as they draw strength from one another. These interactions between people of different backgrounds were to be the heart of each book. Other criteria for selection included maintaining good graphic and literary quality in the book and its availability in print.
Like everything else post-September 11th, our celebration of diversity in American communities changed. This bibliography serves as a reminder of just how marvelous our diverse communities are in the United States. We offer this bibliography as a tool to reaffirm just what makes America so strong in times of crisis – it is our understanding of those different from us, it is our interactions with our neighbors, it is our drawing strength from one another.
Begaye, Lisa Shook.
Building a Bridge
Illustrated by Libba Tracy.
Northland, 1993.
Paperback edition, 1999.
A Navaho girl and a white girl learn to overlook their different appearances and become friends on the first day of kindergarten.
Bunting, Eve.
Smoky Night
Illustrated by David Diaz.
Harcourt, 1994.
When the Los Angeles riots break out in the streets of their neighborhood, a young boy and his mother learn the value of getting along with others no matter what their background.
Cohen, Barbara.
Molly’s Pilgrim
Illustrated by Daniel Mark Duffy.
Lothrop, Lee and Shepard, 1998.
Told to make a pilgrim doll for Thanksgiving, Molly is embarrassed when her mother creates a Russian Doll.
Coles, Robert.
The Story of Ruby Bridges
Illustrated by George Ford.
Scholastic, 1995.
Five-year old Ruby must confront the hostility of white parents when she becomes the first to integrate Frantz Elementary School in New Orleans.
Cox, Judy.
Now We Can Have a Wedding!
Illustrated by DyAnne DiSalvo-Ryan.
Holiday House, 1998.
Sally’s wedding guests believe that a proper wedding should include their special ethnic food, and they prepare delicacies from around the world.
DiSalvo-Ryan, DyAnne.
City Green
Morrow, 1994.
Marcy and Miss Rosa start a campaign to clean up an empty lot and turn it into a community garden.
DiSalvo-Ryan, DyAnne.
Grandpa's Corner Store
Morrow/Avon, 2000.
A new supermarket threatens grandfather’s corner grocery business, but his granddaughter, Lucy, organizes the neighbors to convince him to stay.
Enderle, Judith Ross and Stephanie Jacob Gordon.
Something’s Happening on Calabash Street
Illustrated by Donna Ingemanson. Chronicle Books, 2000.
When the people in his diverse urban neighborhood celebrate a festive street fair, Mischa shares in the excitement.
Friedman, Ina.
How My Parents Learned to Eat
Illustrated by Allen Say.
Houghton Mifflin, 1984.
An American sailor courts a Japanese girl and each tries to learn the other’s way of eating.
Gray, Libba Moore.
Miss Tizzy
Illustrated by Jada Rowland.
Simon and Schuster, 1993.
The eccentric Miss Tizzy, a beloved friend to all the neighborhood children, needs their help when she is sick in bed.
Guthrie, Donna.
A Rose for Abby
Illustrated by Dennis Hockerman.
Abbingdon Press, 1988.
Abby, whose father preaches in a large urban church, sees a homeless woman and is inspired to do something to help the neighborhood’s many street people.
Heo, Yumi.
Father’s Rubber Shoes
Orchard, 1995.
Yungsu misses Korea terribly until he begins to make friends in America.
Heo, Yumi.
One Afternoon
Orchard, 1994.
Minho and her mother have a busy afternoon doing errands in their neighborhood.
Jenness, Aylette.
Come Home with Me: A Multicultural Treasure Hunt
Illustrated by Laura DeSantis.
Norton, 1993.
Children hunt for ethnic objects and learn about culture using an interactive method of flipping back and forth in the book searching for clues.
Lee, Milly.
Nim and the War Effort
Illustrated by Yangsook Choi.
Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1997.
In her determination to prove that an American can win the contest for the war effort, Nim does something that leaves her Chinese grandfather bewildered.
Lin, Grace
The Ugly Vegetables
Charlesbridge, 1999.
A little girl thinks her mother’s vegetable garden is the ugliest garden in the neighborhood until she discovers that her neighbors are happy to enjoy the delicious soup her mother makes with them.
Mochizuki, Ken.
Heroes
Illustrated by Dom Lee.
Lee and Low, 1995.
Paperback edition, 1997.
Japanese American Donnie, whose playmates insist he be the “bad guy” in their war games, calls upon his reluctant father and uncle to help him get away from that role.
Mora, Pat.
Tomas and the Library Lady
Illustrated by Raul Colon.
Knopf, 1997.
While helping his family in their work as migrant laborers, Tomas finds an entire world to explore at the local public library.
Munoz Ryan, Pam.
One Hundred is a Family
Illustrated by Benrei Huang.
Hyperion, 1994.
Groups making up many different kinds of families introduce the numbers one to ten and then by tens to one hundred.
Nikola-Lisa, W.
Bein’ With You This Way
Illustrated by Michael Bryant.
Lee & Low, 1995.
Individual differences are celebrated in this lyric poem as children of different ethnic groups gather in the park one afternoon.
Paek, Min.
Aekyung’s Dream
Children’s Book Press, 1990, 1992.
A young Korean immigrant learns to adjust to her new life in America.
Polacco, Patricia.
Tikvah Means Hope
Doubleday, 1994.
After a devastating fire in the hills of Oakland, California during Sukkoth, a Jewish family and their neighbors find symbols of hope among the ashes.
Polacco, Patricia.
The Trees of the Dancing Goat
Simon & Schuster, 1996.
A Jewish family helps make Christmas special for their sick neighbors during a scarlet fever epidemic.
Rosa-Casanova, Sylvia.
Mama Provi and the Pot of Rice
Illustrated by Robert Roth.
Atheneum, 1997.
Mama Provi takes her special chicken and rice dish to her sick granddaughter and along the way trades some of her special dish for those of her neighbors.
Schotter, Roni.
Nothing Ever Happens on 90th Street
Illustrated by Kyrsten Brooker.
Orchard, 1997.
When Eva sits on her stoop trying to complete a school assignment, she gets a great deal of advice and action.
Seuss, Dr.
The Sneetches, and Other Stories
Random House, 1989.
Some Sneetches have stars on their bellies and think they're superior to their star-less cousins, until a stranger turns the Sneetch community topsy-turvy and makes everyone truly equal.
Spinelli, Eileen.
Somebody Loves You, Mr. Hatch
Illustrated by Paul Yalowitz.
Simon & Schuster, 1991.
An anonymous valentine changes the life of unsociable Mr. Hatch.
Wells, Rosemary.
Yoko
Hyperion, 1998.
When Yoko brings sushi to school for lunch, her classmates make fun of what she eats, until one of them discovers how delicious sushi tastes.
Wyeth, Sharon Dennis.
Something Beautiful
Illustrated by Chris Soentpiet.
Doubleday, 1998.
When she goes looking for something beautiful in her city neighborhood, a young girl finds beauty in many different forms.