Getting to Know Our Neighbors
By Elizabeth Andrews, author of the Our Neighbors series from ABDO’s Pop! division
{Guest post by ABDO}
Wherever people walk in America, they will pass others from all different backgrounds. This blend of people is also apparent in an American classroom. No one looks exactly the same. No one has the same family story.
When I started writing the Our Neighbors series for ABDO’s Pop! division, I knew I wanted to get to know each culture’s day-to-day life before writing. I was learning about Somali, Indian, Chinese, Lebanese, Brazilian, and Mexican Americans. Blogs, news articles, and YouTube videos let me dive into each specific culture.
My childhood was simple. There was no significant culture that shaped my family background. As I researched, I came to realize that other people with strong cultural ties in their families had lives that were guided by tradition. I thought that was beautiful. So, I decided to open each book in the Our Neighbors series with a happy scene that fit into a classic aspect the children of each culture would experience.
The opening scene in the titles on Chinese, Indian, and Mexican Americans was based around holidays. These were fascinating, and I did a deep dive during research. There are so many small aspects to cultural holidays like Lunar New Year. The colors hold important meanings and even the foods that are eaten. Creating the setting for the first chapter and putting it into the perspective of an elementary schooler allowed me to explain symbols in a simple way. I wanted young readers to move through a small bit of the holiday themselves.
In the other three titles, describing Somali, Brazilian, and Lebanese Americans, I chose to make the first chapter a scene from a special day, but not a holiday. I wanted to make sure these books didn’t lean on set calendar dates to portray the culture.
The first chapter in C was the most fun for me to write. The samba is a dance that blends all parts of Brazilian culture because it has roots in African and Brazilian ancestors. It’s a skill that Brazilian American children learn from older generations. Placing a character in a ballroom dance competition for the first scene of the book felt like a good way to introduce this group of diverse Americans.
As the titles progressed through the following chapters, family and daily life began to look similar between all six of the cultures. Children go to school, they make their own friends, and they find out who they are as individuals. I believe that kind of personal growth fits almost all school-age kids in America. What makes each group unique and even more special are the traditions that shape them at home. I hope the Our Neighbors series shows that while not every child has the same family heritage, they are all finding ways to live joyful, rich lives.
Author Bio
Elizabeth Andrews has been working with ABDO for four years. She’s an intern-turned-editor and began writing ABDO titles in 2020. Elizabeth has released 24 nonfiction titles in the Pop! division. She grew up in Minnesota and has a deep love for the state. After graduating from the University of North Dakota in 2018, she moved to Minneapolis and has no plans to leave. She enjoys spending her free time outdoors, no matter the weather. Walking her dog through the woods and reading along a river are her favorite places to be. Elizabeth wants to work with books forever. Her dream genre to work with is young adult fiction.
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About ABDO
ABDO has been a leader in children’s educational publishing for school and public libraries since 1985, providing high-quality nonfiction and fiction titles for children and young adults in grades PreK–12. We are known throughout the industry for our excellence in both reading materials and customer service. The majority of our titles are available as both library-bound hardcovers and eBooks. Our goal is to help children of all ages, skill levels, and backgrounds develop a love of reading, and we believe the best way to do that is to ensure they have access to stories that reflect them.
ABDO offers a large array of diverse titles in both fiction and nonfiction. Our Magic Wagon division is dedicated to producing original titles that celebrate diversity, encourage inclusion, and inspire young readers. Focusing on readers in PreK-Grade 8, this division features series such as My Family (PreK-2), Libby Wimbley (PreK-Grade 3), Storm Cliff Stables (Grades 2-5), Camp Nowhere (Grades 2-8), and Get in the Game (Grades 3-8). The Duchess Harris Collection, a compelling line of books providing scholarly expertise with collegiate perspectives for mid-and high-level grades, offers more than 90 nonfiction texts, exploring current and historical people and events that have made an impact on our lives, laws, and culture.
ABDO has really been an excellent source of non-fiction books for children for a very long time. This series looks to be no exception to the conceptual continuity you’d expect from them. I think this series would do best in larger collections to complement any country book collections they already have. The more of these items we have the better, though, as they aid in building empathy with our diverse neighbors, and opening everyone’s eyes to what each of us brings to our communities.