Teaching Cultural Compassion

A Vote is a Powerful Thing

It's that time - time for adults to make our voices heard. It's never too early to start talking to your kids about how the leadership of our country and communities are chosen - and take them with you to the polls! Here are a few books about just that.  Also, please check to make sure you are registered to vote in your community.  You can click this link to make sure you are and to confirm where you will go to vote!

A new classic, Your Voice, Your Vote by Leah Henderson and Keisha Morris is a great tale of a kid getting to go to the polls with her adults! Quetta is excited to go - until it starts raining. Grandma remembers a time when voting wasn't so easy, though, and reminds Quetta about the history of why it's important that they stay in line. There's a twist near the end I won't ruin, but don't worry, Quetta will save the day!

New eariler this year is a board book alphabet primer called V is for Voting by Kate Farrell and Caitlin Kuhwald. With diverse people represented, a bit of history, and a general message of active civic engagement, even the smallest future voters will understand.

Leo's First Vote! by Christina Soontornvat and Isael Roxas is the newest of these selections. Leo's father has just become a citizen! He's very excited to go vote with his dad - but he nor his dad realize how many steps there are to doing so. Readers work through the process with Leo and his dad - learning how to register, listening to candidates and others discuss the election, waiting in line and... will they make it in time?

Not so new - but newly in paperback - is A Vote is a Powerful Thing by Catherine Stier and Courtney Dawson about how voting works as shown through a classroom vote about where to go for a field trip! Callie has heard about the upcoming presidential election and learns through the class vote how very important each vote is - no matter the topic.

Check out these and more books by and about Civic Engagement at TCC's list on Bookshop.org.  

Just a reminder that any books purchased through the links above will give a small commission back to the work of Teaching Cultural Compassion.

Olympian Reading!

Have you been watching the Olympics? Will you watch the Paralympics? Be sure to check out these books by Olympians and Paralympians!

Naomi Osaka is known for winning her first US Open at 20 years old, but she's still playing and just represented Japan in the Paris Olympics! The Way Champs Play is her first picture book. With female-empowering illustrations by the talented Kamala Nair, Naomi reminds kids (and their adults) that being fair and being a good teammate is what being a champion is all about!

Lebron James has now written two picture books and a middle grade novel! Besides helping the US Men's basketball team to another gold medal game, Lebron is also a dedicated father. That clearly comes through his picture books I Am More Than and I Promise.  Both illustrated by Niña Mata, they remind kids of their own worth and that they are in charge of how they act and react to others. Great for affirmations with preschool and early elementary age kids!

From My Head To My Toes is Olympic Gold Medal Gymnast Aly Raisman's first picture book! After her bad experiences with the adults in charge of USA Gymnastics, she wants to make sure that all kids know that they can set boundaries around their bodies--and feel good about their bodies. In illustrations featuring Aly and her adorable dog, Bea Jackson's art helps show kids of all kinds that this lesson is for them.

There are two new autobiographies to tell you about as well:

The Mermaid with No Tail is the semi-autobiographical--the storyline is true, even if the characters are fantastical--story of Paralympic Gold Medal Swimmer Jessica Long.   From her birth with clear disability to her adoption by loving parents and her drive to never give up, you'll get her story through the colorful, imaginative illustrations by Airin O'Callaghan and Jessica's own words.

Wings of an Eagle is the story of how Billy Mills went from the Oglala Lakota land, South Dakota winters to a Gold Medal in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.  Working and running through being orphaned, living with Jim Crow discriminations at home, and a mysterious health issue, Billy tells his own story.  Readers learn how he was able to dig deep and find ways to heal through the illustrations by S. D. Nelson (for whom Billy was a childhood hero).

Check out these and more books by and about Olympians and Paralympians at TCC's list on Bookshop.org.  

Just a reminder that any books purchased through the links above will give a small commission back to the work of Teaching Cultural Compassion.