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Topic: Diversity & Inclusion

Dealing with Racism

Non-fiction

This book helps young children find out about and understand racism. It features seven case studies from children who have a range of problems from a girl who is being left out because she is Muslim to the new boy in school from another country who is struggling to fit in. Readers are taught to stand up for what is right in a safe way and become comfortable discussing this serious issue with others. Practical advice is provided in a way that readers of all ages can understand and put into practice. The end of the book features a short playscript to act out and discuss. The book has engaging illustrations throughout.

In this series case studies combine with sensible, practical advice to help children find out what to do in difficult situations. Titles include Bullying, My Parent’s Divorce, My Stepfamily, When People Die and Our New Baby.

Journey to Jo’Burg

Chapter book

This is the story of love, commitment and the flowering of the human spirit against the background of South Africa’s apartheid.

Frightened that their baby sister Dineo will die, thirteen-year-old Naledi and her younger brother Tiro run away from their grandmother to Johannesburg to find their mother, who works there as a maid. Their journey illustrates at every turn the grim realities of apartheid – the pass laws, bantustans, racism, the breakdown of family life.

The opulence of the white “Madam’s” house contrasts starkly with the reality that Naledi and Tiro face – that their baby sister is suffering from starvation, not an incurable disease.

This edition of Beverley Naidoo’s classic story includes a special “Why You’ll Love This Book” introduction by Michael Rosen, former Children’s Laureate.

The Spots and the Dots

Picturebook

SHORTLISTED for the Teach Primary Book Awards 2021. An amazing reversible picture book that celebrates community and acceptance with artwork from award-winning artist Marion Deuchars. Choose to read from the perspective of the Spots or the Dots by turning this picture book upside down. Find the similarities in others and celebrate their differences. The Spots live on one side of the hill. The Dots live on the other. Both are fearful and suspicious of the other, but are they really all that different? When a young Spot and a young Dot meet at the top of the hill, they are about to find out… Flip the book upside down and choose whether to read from the perspective of the Spots or the Dots, right up until the middle, where the two communities collide.

How High the Moon

Chapter book

Boston was nothing like South Carolina. Up there, colored folks could go anywhere they wanted. Folks didn’t wait for church to dress in their fancy clothes. Fancy was just life. Mama was a city girl . . . and now I was going to be one too.

It’s 1944, and in a small, Southern, segregated town, eleven-year-old Ella spends her summers running wild with her cousins and friends.

But life isn’t always so sunny.

The deep racial tension that simmers beneath their town’s peaceful facade never quite goes away, and Ella misses her mama – a beautiful jazz singer, who lives in Boston.

So when an invitation arrives to come to Boston for a visit Ella is ecstatic – and the trip proves life-changing in more ways than one. For the first time, Ella sees what life outside of segregation is like, and begins to dream of a very different future.

But her happiness is shattered when she returns home to the news that her classmate has been arrested for the murder of two white girls – and nothing will ever be the same again.

A beautifully written and deeply moving story about finding and fighting for your place in the world.

Product Details

Ella Queen of Jazz

Picturebook

Ella Fitzgerald sang the blues and she sang them good. Ella and her fellas were on the way up! It seemed like nothing could stop her, until the biggest club in town refused to let her play… and all because of her colour. But when all hope seemed lost, little did Ella imagine that a Hollywood star would step in to help. This is the incredible true story of how a remarkable friendship between Ella Fitzgerald and Marilyn Monroe was born – and how they worked together to overcome prejudice and adversity. An inspiring story, strikingly illustrated, about the unlikely friendship between two celebrated female icons of America’s golden age.

Windrush Child

Chapter book

In this heart-stopping adventure, Benjamin Zephaniah shows us what it was like to be a child of the Windrush generation.

Leonard is shocked when he arrives with his mother in the port of Southampton. His father is a stranger to him, it’s cold and even the Jamaican food doesn’t taste the same as it did back home in Maroon Town. But his parents have brought him here to try to make a better life, so Leonard does his best not to complain, to make new friends, to do well at school – even when people hurt him with their words and with their fists.

How can a boy so far from home learn to enjoy his new life when so many things count against him?

Timelines From Black History

Non-fiction

Erased. Ignored. Hidden. Lost. Underappreciated. No longer. Delve into the unique, inspiring, and world-changing history of Black people.

From Frederick Douglass to Oprah Winfrey, and the achievements of ancient African kingdoms to those of the US Civil Rights Movement, Timelines From Black History: Leaders, Legends , Legacies takes kids on an exceptional journey from prehistory to modern times.

This DK children’s book boasts more than 30 visual timelines, which explore the biographies of the famous and the not-so-famous – from royalty to activists, and writers to scientists, and much, much more. Stunning thematic timelines also explain the development of Black history – from the experiences of black people in the US, to the story of postcolonial Africa.

Did you know that the richest person ever to have lived was a West African? Or that the technology that made the lightbulb possible was developed by African American inventor, and not Thomas Edison? How about the fact that Ethiopia was the only African country to avoid colonization, thanks to the leadership of a brave queen?

Stacked with facts and visually vibrant, Timelines From Black History: Leaders, Legacies, Legends is an unforgettable and accessible hive of information on the people and the issues that have shaped Black history.

Includes content previously published in Timelines of Everything and Timelines of Everyone.

Front Desk

Chapter book

Mia Tang has a lot of secrets: 1. She lives in a motel, not a big house. 2. Her parents hide immigrants. 3. She wants to be a writer.

It will take all of Mia’s courage, kindness, and hard work to get through this year. Will she be able to hold on to her job, help the immigrants and guests, and go for her dreams?

Perfect for fans of Boy At the Back of the Class and A Kind of Spark.

The Undefeated

Picturebook, Poetry

WINNER OF THE CALDECOTT MEDAL, THE CORETTA SCOTT KING AWARD, THE KATE GREENAWAY SHADOWER’S CHOICE AWARD AND A NEWBERY HONOR BOOK. This is for the unforgettable. The unafraid. The undefeated. From New York Times bestselling-author Kwame Alexander comes this powerful and important ode to black history: the strength and bravery of everyday people and the grit, passion, and perseverance of some of the world’s greatest artists, athletes, and activists. With references to lyrics and lines originally shared by our most celebrated heroes, this poem digs into the not-so-distant past to underline the endurance and spirit of those surviving and thriving in the present. Listen to the powerful poem read by Kwame Alexander himself via an audiolink inside the book.

The Only Way is Badger

Picturebook

Badgers are best. Or so Badger thinks. “If it’s not black and white then it’s just not right!” he says. But what if he’s wrong?

A book about acceptance, difference and learning to say sorry.

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Stone Girl Bone Girl

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