Cultural Diversity

Chino has to stay at home with her Papa while her Mama goes out to work. When Chino is worried that Mama might not come back, Mama leaves her sleeping scarf for her– the one she wears ‘to keep her hair all soft and nice’ – to play with for the day. The scarf weaves its way through Chino’s day with her, helping her play games and forming part of her conversations with both her grandparents and her Papa. The scarf is a reminder throughout the day of the love of her Mama and of the rest of her family, too.

Through this charming and seemingly simple story, Adichie explores the reversal of traditional home roles, the value of multi-generational family bonds, and the simple anxiety of a child who wants to know their parent will return. It’s a bright and colourful text to read aloud.

This picture book provides a beautifully illustrated introduction to Chinese New Year.

The night before the celebrations, Mai-Anne explains that the Lunar New Year is about to arrive and that her family enjoys a special set of traditions. Mai-Anne helps to clean and decorate the house and is excited when her grandmother (Nai Nai) arrives in time for the most important dinner of the year – fish for good luck, noodles for a long life, dumplings for blessings and nian gao for success. After dinner, Mai-Anne and Nai Nai settle down together and Nai Nai recounts the important story of the Great Race. Along with Mai-Anne, the reader learns about the story of the twelve animals who race to cross the river. Then Mai-Anne enjoys a special family Dragon Dance, eats sweet tangerines and wears a special red outfit for luck.

This is a lovely picture book to read at Chinese New Year but also all year round too as a book that celebrates family moments, bonds with grandparents and the joy of special traditions. The illustrations and text are both warm and celebratory in tone. It also features a non-fiction section on the final pages with more information about Chinese New Year and the dragon dance.

There’s so much to like about this colourful picturebook: the lively illustrations, including endpapers; the different fonts which are almost as expressive as the text and conjure up beautifully the scents and sounds of Caribbean culture, the warmth conveyed by artful storytelling, warmth which derives from Faruq’s relationship with the characters who shape his culinary (and boyhood) journey; not to mention the addition of a recipe for lime cookies.

This is a story to make your mouth and your eyes water – as if witness to the work of cooking up a sumptuous family feast and then finding yourself invited too. It’s a book that lends itself to being read aloud in class or at home (and even more so if the dialect sounds authentic). It would also work well in a nurture group setting, allowing the children a hand at making some of the food and as a celebration of different cultures.

We are big fans of Sleep Well, Siba & Saba, an important book for celebrating diversity. This stunningly illustrated picture book offers a snapshot into life for two sisters growing up in Uganda, with a delightful story that rejoices in the precious details of the sisters’ day to day lives as well as with their hopes and dreams for the future. We love the beautiful and detailed illustrations and the uplifting story with its almost lullaby-like style and poetic sibilance, ready to captivate readers as they peep inside a fascinating window into everyday life in another culture.

Dadaji’s Paintbrush is a sumptuous story of a young boy’s special relationship with his grandfather, set in a small village in India.

This is a beautiful story that deals with the difficult subject of the loss of a grandparent in a gentle and understanding way.  The beautiful Indian setting that will be unfamiliar to many readers highlights the universal experiences of love and loss, showing that no matter where you are, some human experiences unite us all.

The illustrations are simple and beautiful and we particularly liked how the colours linked with the main character’s emotions. We also loved the evocative and sensory setting descriptions in the story – we could almost taste the mangoes!

As well as gently exploring the topic of grief, the story is ultimately filled with hope and draws out the values of art, community and legacy. There’s so much to unpack in this stunning story.

The arrival on this book in the school library or at home is likely to excite many children especially if it happens when Eid is being celebrated, as it did here. No wonder the child, whose own hands had just been decorated, looked so delighted when she heard the story of Noor’s family wedding. She could see herself in it, feel proud of her heritage and could identify with the joy shared; a joy communicated also in the swirls and tones and colours of the illustrations.

Those who don’t have personal experience of such celebrations can learn respect for traditions other than their own, as well as facts about the art of henna painting in the author’s final note. They too will identify with having relatives – their own mama/mum, baba/dad, nani/gran or dada/grandad – to whom they want to show love. As Noor realises, demonstrations of that love are unlimited… there is room for all our dear ones on our hands, yes, but in our hearts too. This is an enchanting story that is highly recommended for individual and communal reading.

A colourful and heartwarming picturebook story about celebrating Eid.

Safa is excitedly getting ready for Eid-al-Fitr. The preparations are fun to make and include drawing henna patterns on her hands, putting up decorations and eating delicious foods. She’s also looking forward to her favourite part – the presents. While she celebrates, Safa isn’t keen to share her present of a new bike, but her Mum helps her to learn how Eid is about sharing and to see the wider meaning of celebrating with family and loved ones.

A warm story about Eid that EYFS and KS1 children will love to read all year round.

Onyeka and her best friend, Cheyenne, are both Nigerian and live in London. One day, Onyeka’s hair glows blue and crackles with electricity when Cheyenne is in trouble. Onyeka’s mum is forced to tell her that she is ‘Solari’ and has inherited this trait from her dad. When Onyeka struggles to control her power and it starts to make her sick, her mum decides it’s finally time to return to Nigeria and try and locate Onyeka’s dad and learn to control her powers. Despite being surrounded by other Solari, Onyeka still feels like she doesn’t belong. The other children have lived with their powers for years, but Onyeka has only just discovered hers. If only her mum could find her dad, and maybe she could get some answers!

This exciting, edge-of-your-seat adventure story would make a fantastic read for Upper Key Stage 2 children, particularly for those who are fans of superhero stories and films. Tola Okogwu says in the author’s note in the book that she hopes it will “act as both a mirror and a window” in terms of representation, and I think lots of people will agree that it does. What a wonderful book.

Omar is a boy with a huge imagination that can land him in trouble. As well as being very funny, the stories tackle important issues like bullying and prejudice, with Omar’s diary-style entries covering the everyday ups and downs of life including Muslim traditions, school worries, friendships, family life and a big dose of toilet humour.

Read our Q&A with author Zanib Mian over on our blog.

This is a deeply moving story that has left an impact long after reading it and is the first in a highly recommended series. Inspired by the author’s childhood, the story charts the experiences of a Chinese girl called Mia living in America with her parents, and explores the themes of immigration, prejudice, poverty, institutionalised racism and what it looks like to hold onto hope in turbulent times.

Having immigrated to California from China, Mia’s family run a motel. Life is hard work, money is short, the American people are unpredictable, and the motel owner, Mr Yao, is not somebody to be crossed. Yet Mia observes life around her with heart and humour, seeing the best in people and following her parents’ lead to offer compassion and help in all circumstances. Throughout the story, Mia becomes a beacon of light for many, as she works to navigate the challenging circumstances around her with integrity and hope.

Mia’s account of the difficulties her family faces as immigrants in modern-day America is moving and powerful. Mia is a thoroughly likeable main character who never gives up on pursuing her dreams and reaching for the stars.

This is a beautiful story that gently stirs the soul and is recommended for upper KS2.

Kiki Kallira is not a hero. She is not brave, daring, or strong. She is the kind of girl who worries about her mother being murdered by geese if she leaves the door open. But she can do one thing… draw. Drawing takes all of her anxieties away. That is until she unwittingly unleashes mythological creatures from the Hindu legends she draws in her sketchbook and is given no choice but to become a hero, or both her world and the one she has created will be in big trouble…

Kiki has to be one of my favourite main characters that I have read recently. The descriptions of her anxieties and how they affect her life really will resonate with many children. By following Kiki and her journey to discover whether she can be the brave hero that the world needs, children learn that heroes come in all shapes and sizes and everybody has their own strengths.

This is the story of a young Ethiopian boy called Solomon, who has a passion for running. He dreams of becoming a medal-winning athlete. Little does he know that soon he will need to run with all his might in a race to save his grandfather’s life. This inspiring story was shortlisted for the prestigious Carnegie Medal.