Marina Santos

ECD 252
Diverse Book Project
Title: A is for Activist
Author: Innosanto Nagra
Illustrator: Innosanto Nagra
Summary: An A-Z book about advocacy.
Theme/Focus: Advocacy
Purpose: To inspire children to share and advocate for their
beliefs and what is morally/ethically right. Also, math
integration by counting the cats on each page-1:1
correspondence and alphabet knowledge by relating the
advocacy actions to each letter of the alphabet. The adult can
engage the children in questions and comments about things
that are wrong to raise awareness. They can talk about ways
and what they can advocate for. They can ask the children
about issues they notice and about different ways that they
can become advocates. This can span into a project about
becoming advocates for a cause where the children can take
the call to action directly in their classroom.
Title: Counting on Community
Author: Innosanto Nagra
Illustrator: Innosanto Nagra
Summary: A counting book about places, people, and things in a
community.
Theme/Focus: Community
Purpose: To encourage the children to talk about and share
special things about their communities. This book opens the
door for community discussion, to engage in community
partnerships, and as a way to generate ideas of how aspects of
everyones community could be integrated into the classroom.
Also, math integration by counting things in the community and
creating 1:1 correspondence by finding and counting the ducks
on each page. During reading, to address bias, the adult can
engage the children in discussion starters by asking about
things in their communities and the group can compare and
contrast while asking questions to one another to understand
why they are so special and important to their community.

Marina Santos
ECD 252
Title: World Food Alphabet
Author: Chris Caldicott
Illustrator: Chris Caldicott
Summary: An A-Z book about diverse foods and cooking
methods/materials around the world.
Theme/Focus: Food
Purpose: For the children to see the beauty and nutritional
value in diverse foods around the world. The children can use
this book to explore diverse foods and cooking methods and see
how they may be different but all serve the same purpose-to
sustain human life. The adult and the children can engage in
discussion starters about the foods they eat at home and
different ways they prepare them.
Title: Shades of Black
Author: Sandra L. Pinckney
Illustrator: Myles. C. Pinkney
Summary: Photograph book that highlighting beautiful
vocabulary to describe skin color without using black or white.
Theme/Focus: Race/Skin Color
Purpose: For the children to see the diversity in skin color and
that there is beauty to be appreciated in all colors. No two are
alike. Questions and comments can be made about each childs
skin color and make comparable to things around them and their
beauties.
Title: A Life Like Mine: How Children Live Around the World
Author: UNICEF
Illustrator: Various
Summary: Encyclopedia like book showing the cultures and ways
people live around the world. The book focus on the lives of
children.
Theme/Focus: Culture/lifestyle
Purpose: To show the children that people have different
lifestyles and to foster inclusion by putting emphasizing
respect. Questions and comments can be made about how and
why different people, including the children in and out of the
classroom, live the way they do.

Marina Santos
ECD 252
Title: I Have the Right to be a Child
Author: Alain Serres
Illustrator: Aurelia Fronty
Summary: The basic rights ALL children are entitled to are
laid out in this book.
Theme/Focus: Human Rights
Purpose: To show children, that regardless of their
backgrounds, they ALL have basic rights to things like love,
food, shelter, watermany connections to Maslows Hierarchy
of Needs are emphasized in this book. Questions about why
everyone has needs and what those needs are can be asked. The
children can be encouraged to think about why these needs are
the same and why some needs can be different too. The equal
vs. fair debate could also be engaged.
Title: W is for World
Author: Kate Cave
Illustrator: Photographs from various; Oxfam
Summary: A book that utilizes real photographs to document
how children live around the world.
Theme/Focus: Anti-bias, diversity, world practices
Purpose: To show the children that people live and do things
differently. The children can use this book to explore
differences and gain a sense of respect, inclusion, and
appreciation for others and their ways of life. They can ask
questions about how and why people live the way they do.
Title: I, Too, Am America
Author: Langston Hughes and Bryan Collier
Illustrator: Bryan Collier
Summary: Langston Hughes classic poem transformed into a
book featuring diverse images of people who are American.
Theme/Focus: Nationalities
Purpose: To show the children that all people, regardless of
country of birth, color of their skin, race, ethnicity, or religion,
have a right to be an American. This book shows children that
Americans come in many different forms and not all Americans
are the stereotypical white Christian. Questions and comments
can be asked about why some people are denied certain rights
and how we can advocate for them. We can also discuss what
rights all people should have.

Marina Santos
ECD 252
Title: Compost Stew
Author: Mary McKenna Siddles
Illustrator: Ashley Weiff
Summary: An alphabet focusing on composting and the parts, or
ingredients, needed to make a compost.
Theme/Focus: Agriculture/Food
Purpose: This book can be used to inspire the children to
recycle various things that can be used to create a compost.
This book can also be used to inform the children about how
they can create their own compost to use to feed their
gardens. This book can be used to talk about all the different
ways people eat and get their food. The children can engage
questions and comments about things like different types of
foods and ways to prep it What ways do you get/eat your
food? Is it ok to eat food that uses compost? Why/why not?
Could we make a compost to try out this different way of
creating food?
Title: Not Every Princess
Author: Jeffery and Lisa Boone
Illustrator: Valeria Docampo
Summary: The story about a little girl who likes to do things
that traditional princesses do not typically do.
Theme/Focus: Gender Roles/Identity
Purpose: To inspire and show children that they can be and do
anything they want to do. They can go against the crowds and
what is typical and do things that make them happy. The
children can discuss different things that make them happy,
they can engage questions about why people dress different,
what makes a princess, how happiness trumps what others
things, and different ways they can advocate for others who
face bias.
Title: For Every Child
Author: Carolina Castle (UNICEF)
Illustrator: John Birmingham
Summary: A book about the rights EVERY child has.
Theme/Focus: Human Rights
Purpose: To show the children that they matter, are important,
and have a voice in this world, as well as certain undeniable
rights. This book can be used to help children advocate for
others when prejudices are being shown.

Marina Santos
ECD 252
Title: Four Feet, Two Sandals
Author: Karen Lynn Williams and Khandra Mohammad
Illustrator: Doug Chayka
Summary: The story of two refugee Pakistani girls, who no
longer have living parents, who each find one shoe in the
matching a pair of sandals that UNICEF donated that finally fit
perfectly. The girls decide to share the shoes and a friendship
develops as they share their stories of fears, struggles,
triumphs, and goals.
Theme/Focus: Refugees, charity, helping others, sharing
Purpose: To inspire the children to value what they have, to
help others, and to appreciate the little things in life because
to some, the little things are the big things. This book also
inspires intrinsic motivation and to value personal traits and
values like kindness over materialistic things. When using this
book children can address bias facing different clothing types,
jobs, and middle eastern ways of life. They can discus
similarities and difference and highlight the positives and ways
to include this culture and their inspiration of friendship into
their classroom.
Title: Jacobs New Dress
Author: Sarah and Ian Hoffman
Illustrator: Chris Case
Summary: The story of a boy who loves to play dress up and his
favorite characters to dress-up as are traditionally female
like princesses and those who wear dresses. Jacob must strive
to beat bullies and convince his family to let him be him and
wear what he is comfortable in.
Theme/Focus: Gender Identity
Purpose: Children to see that they can be anything they want to
be, wear anything they want to be, and to advocate on the
behalf of what is right for others. This book can inspire
stereotypical gender role breaking. The children can discuss
why Jacob likes dresses/why they like their clothes, they can
compare and contrast. They can try on/use all different types
of clothes in dramatic play as a way to smash bias.

Marina Santos
ECD 252
Title: Country ABC Series (various nations around the world)
Author: Various
Illustrator: Various
Summary: An ABC book with each letter depicting a key
element to that nations diverse culture.
Theme/Focus: Culture
Purpose: To expose children to different cultures around the
world and initiate a sense of respect and inclusion. This can be
used as a way for children to learn about different types of
cultural practices, family make ups, ways of lifein positive
ways.
Title: ABC A Family Counting Book
Author: Bobby Combs
Illustrator: Desiree and Brian Rappa
Summary: An ABC book that highlights LGBTQ families and the
things they all do.
Theme/Focus: Families
Purpose: To show children, that regardless of family make-up,
many families still do the same things together. This shows
children that what makes a family is love and doing things with
and for one another. The children can be asked questions about
what makes a family and to make lists of different types of
families and why they all are special and important. This book
addresses single and two parent families, families that include
grandparents, aunts/uncles/cousins, adopted children, hetero
and homosexual families, and just about every type of family
there is.
Title: Families
Author: Meredith Tax
Illustrator: Marilyn Hafner
Summary: A book about the different types of families.
Theme/Focus: Family
Purpose: To show the children that families are all very
different and that what defines a family is love. The children
can read this book to see the different types of families and
be affirmed by their family being included in a book. They can
make lists of different types of family and ask questions about
why certain families are the way they are as a way to smash the
stereotype of the perfect Disney family. This book addresses
single and two parent families, families that include
grandparents, aunts/uncles/cousins, adopted and foster
children, hetero and homosexual families, step family members,
and just about every type of family there is.

Marina Santos
ECD 252
Title: Whos in a Family
Author: Robert Skutch
Illustrator: Laura Neinhaus
Summary: Story scenes about different types of family makeups.
Theme/Focus: Family
Purpose: To show the children that families are all very
different and that what defines a family is love. The children
can read this book to see the different types of families and
be affirmed by their family being included in a book.
Title: A Days Work
Author: Eve Bunting
Illustrator: Ronald Hilmer
Summary: The story of a non-English speaking grandfather and
his grandson who acquire a job gardening, despite the
grandfather having no previous knowledge of gardening and the
inability the speak English.
Theme/Focus: Language, Migrants, Jobs
Purpose: To show children that people have different skills and
work different jobs. This book also shows children a unique
family make up-a grandfather and his grandson-an
intergenerational family. This book can be used to inspire
children to try new things and work hard in order to achieve
goals; with motivation and support, anything is possible. The
children can discuss and ask questions about different ways
people work/make money, and how and why they do it. They can
even take on these roles in the dramatic play area.