Raising Race Conscious Children’s favorite children’s books…and what we say when we read them
by Sachi Feris and Lori Riddick
At Raising Race Conscious Children, people often ask us what exact words to use to talk about a variety of subjects around race and other identity-markers. We have created this post for Multicultural Children’s Book Day, sharing some of our favorite book titles along with the words we use when we read. That said, there is no one “right” thing to say. What we say will differ based on our children’s racial identities and interests—but we love to inspire adults to practice “the words they use” through the world of children’s literature. When we read a book dozens of times to a child, we can try on different words and engage in the practice of race consciousness.
Race Consciousness Book Picks
- My Aunt Came Back by Pat Cummings
What we say when we read:
“I love how her aunt always has her hair in braids which is a really important part of our culture as Black people. I think she looks beautiful. And it reminds me how beautiful you look when you wear your hair in braids. I love how when the aunt goes to learn about another country and culture, she always brings something back for the little girl…but she also always keeps her hair in braids. I really like that she is proud of who she is and always remembers who she is because she keeps her hair in braids.”
-Lori
STRATEGY: Name race
- Hello Goodbye Window by Norton Juster, illustrations by Chris Raschska
What we say when we read:
“This little kid if going to visit their grandma and grandpa…in our family, we call our grandparents Baba and Zedo….every family has different names for grandparents. This family calls them Nana and Poppy. And Nana has darker brown skin and Poppy has peachy skin, and the kid has skin that in between like we have different skin colors in our family.”
-Lori
STRATEGY: Name race
- Corduroy by Don Freeman
What we say when we read:
“This is one of my favorite books from when I was little…but I didn’t remember that the character of Lisa was a girl with brown skin. When I was little, we didn’t really talk about skin color. And most of the books I had when I was little had characters with White skin. Sometimes when we read books at home, I notice that a lot of books still have more White characters which isn’t fair—so I really like to try to find books like Corduroy with characters who have brown skin.”
-Sachi
STRATEGY: Name Whitenes
- Swimmy by Leo Lionni
What we say when we read:
“I wonder how Swimmy feels to be the only black fish…if I were Swimmy, I would feel proud because being the only black fish would make me special—but I also might sometimes want to find a friend who looked liked me.”
-Sachi
STRATEGY: Consider feelings
- A Pig Is Moving In by Claudia Fries (Out of Print)
What we say when we read:
“It’s not very nice that the other animals are judging the pig and making assumptions about him before they even get to know him. They are stereotyping the pig—that’s when you say that ‘all pigs’ are a certain way without even getting to know him first.”
-Sachi
STRATEGY: Challenge stereotypes
- Grandpa’s Corner Store by Dyanne Di Salvo
“Sometimes, when a big, new store opens, the smaller stores in a neighborhood close, which means people might lose their jobs and have to move to a different neighborhood. This is really, really unfair.”
-Sachi
STRATEGY: Fairness/Unfairnes
- We March by Shane W. Evans
What we say when we read:
“Bum, Bum, Bum, that’s the sound of people marching. The men in this picture are really important leaders who worked to make things fair for people of all different skin colors. (There are also a lot of women who worked to make things fair, but they’re not in this picture.) There were White men (and women) and Black men (and women) who worked together to make things fairer.”
-Lori
STRATEGY: Take action for change
About Raising Race Conscious Children
Bloggers, workshop facilitators and moms, Lori Taliaferro Riddick and Sachi Feris created Raising Race Conscious Children as a way to 
support parents and teachers who are trying to talk about race and diversity with young children. The goal of these conversations is to 
prepare young people to work toward racial justice. If we commit to collectively trying to talk about race with young children, we can lean on one another for support as we, together, envision a world where we actively challenge racism each and every day. Many of the blog’s posts are geared toward White people but a community of guest bloggers that represent diverse backgrounds and the strategies discussed may be helpful for all.
Each post models conversations that are transparent, concrete, and non-judgmental. Additional issues will be addressed that often intersect with race including class, gender, sexuality, disability, religion, etc.
Connect with Lori and Sachi via Facebook G+, and Twitter.
