Beyond Global Awareness – Decolonizing Your Classroom Bookshelves

A presentation for the National Association for Gifted Children conference 2021.

by Myra Garces-Bacsal

November 13, 2021

Comment 1

Myra here.

Every Saturday we hope to share with you our thoughts on reading and books. We thought that it would be good practice to reflect on our reading lives and our thoughts about reading in general. While on occasion, we would feature a few books in keeping with this, there would be a few posts where we will just write about our thoughts on read-alouds, libraries, reading journals, upcoming literary conferences, books that we are excited about, and just book love miscellany in general.

Tomorrow, I will be doing another presentation at the National Association for Gifted Children annual convention with wonderful colleagues. To complement that presentation, I will be sharing the book list here. I do feel that these books fit our themes perfectly as we decolonize our bookshelves via #SurvivalStories2021 throughout the year.

The idea is to “decolonize bookshelves” by decentering library collection from Eurocentric, hetero-normative, White male focus, and include more works by under-represented groups.

This curation is based on some of the themes that will be mentioned in our presentation.

Myra here.

The idea is to “decolonize bookshelves” by decentering library collection from Eurocentric, hetero-normative, White male focus, and include more works by under-represented groups.

Using Literacy for Self-Empowerment

Steamboat School by Deborah Hopkinson and Ron Husband – 2017: Jane Addams Children’s Book Award

The Book Itch: Freedom, Truth, and Harlem’s Greatest Bookstore by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson and Gregory Christie – 2016: Jane Addams Children’s Book Award

The Oldest Student: How Mary Walker Learned To Read by Rita Lorraine Hubbard and Oge Mora

Waiting for The Biblioburro by Monica Brown and John Parra

Schomburg: The Man Who Built A Library by Carole Boston Weatherford and Eric Velasquez

Diverse Picturebooks that surface complexity, power relations, state and race-inspired violence

Something Happened In Our Town: A Child’s Story About Racial Injustice by Marianne Celano, Marietta Collins, Ann Hazzard and Jennifer Zivoin

Not My Idea: A Book About Whiteness by Anastasia Higginbotham

I’m Finding My Talk by Rebecca Thomas and Pauline Young

I Lost My Talk by Rita Joe and Pauline Young

Chester Nez And The Unbreakable Code: A Navajo Code Talker’s Story by Joseph Bruchac and Liz Amini-Holmes

Can I Touch Your Hair? A Conversation by Irene Latham and Charles Waters and Sean Qualls and Selina Alko

Hector: A Boy, A Protest, And The Photograph That Changed Apartheid by Adrienne Wright – 2020: Children’s Africana Book Award

Si Kian by Weng D. Cahiles and Aldy C. Aguirre and Kimberly B. Dela Cruz

Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre by Carole Boston Weatherford and Floyd Cooper

The Undefeated by Kwame Alexander and Kadir Nelson – 2020: Caldecott Medal, 2020: Coretta Scott King Book Award

Diverse Picturebooks challenging stereotypes / assumptions on marginalized groups: people in poverty

The Patchwork Bike by Maxine Beneba Clarke and Van T. Rudd – 2019: Charlotte Zolotow Award Nominee

Carmela Full Of Wishes by Matt De La Peña and Christian Robinson – 2019: Charlotte Zolotow Award Nominee

Brick By Brick by Heidi Woodward Sheffield

The Paper Kingdom by Helena Ku Rhee and Pascal Campion

Kitten And The Night Watchman by John Sullivan and Taeeun Yoo

Adrian Simcox Does Not Have A Horse by Marcy Campbell and Corinna Luyken

A Different Pond by Bao Phi and Thi Bui – 2018: Caldecott Medal Nominee

Watercress by Andrea Wang and Jason Chin

Diverse Picturebooks challenging stereotypes / assumptions on marginalized groups: refugees / (im)migrants

Wherever I Go by Mary Wagley Copp and Munir Mohammed

Story Boat by Kyo Maclear and Rashin Kheiriyeh

The Paper Boat: A Refugee Story by Thao Lam

Wishes by Muon Thi Van and Victo Ngai

Escape: One Day We Had To Run by Ming and Wah and Carmen Vela

Nour’s Escape by Abir Ali and Gulnar Hajo

A Sky Without Lines by Krystia Basil and Laura Borras

Where Are You From? by Yamile Saied Mendez and Jaime Kim

Areli Is A Dreamer: A True Story by Areli Morales and Luisa Uribe

Migrants by Issa Watanabe

The Suitcase by Chris Naylor Ballesteros

The Capybaras by Alfredo Soderguit

Please see here for even more titles of books featuring xenophobia, displacement, (im)migrants, refugees.

Diverse Picturebooks Demonstrating a range of Multiculturalism and Historic Inequities through Food

Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story by Kevin Noble Maillard and Juana Martinez-Neal – 2020: Charlotte Zolotow Award Nominee

Freedom Soup by Tami Charles and Jacqueline Alcantara

Salma The Syrian Chef by Danny Ramadan and Anna Bron

Our Little Kitchen by Jillian Tamaki

Amy Wu And The Perfect Bao by Kat Zhang and Charlene Chua

Bilal Cooks Daal by Aisha Saeed and Anoosha Syed

Thank You, Omu! by Oge Mora – 2019: Caldecott Medal Nominee

Diverse Picturebooks Using Art and Music for Social Justice

Mama Africa! How Miriam Makeba Spread Hope with Her Song by Kathryn Erskine and Charly Palmer

When I Get Older: The Story Behind “Wavin’ Flag” by K’Naan and Rudy Gutierrez

Nina: A Story Of Nina Simone by Traci N. Todd and Christian Robinson

Strange Fruit: Billie Holiday And The Power Of A Protest Song by Gary Golio and Charlotte Riley-Webb

Flying Paintings: The Zhou Brothers – A Story Of Revolution And Art by Amy Alznauer and ShanZuo Zhou and DaHuang Zhou

The People’s Painter: How Ben Shahn Fought for Justice with Art by Cynthia Levinson and Evan Turk

Revolutionary Power of Joyful, Hopeful, Uplifting Stories

Black Is A Rainbow Color by Angela Joy and Ekua Holmes

The Me I Choose To Be by Natasha Anastasia Tarpley and Regis and Kahran Bethencourt

I Am Every Good Thing by Derrick Barnes and Gordon C. James

Magnificent Homespun Brown: A Celebration by Samara Cole Doyon and Kaylani Juanita – 2021: Coretta Scott King Award Nominee

Hair Love by Matthew A. Cherry and Vashti Harrison

Crown: An Ode To The Fresh Cut by Derrick C. Barnes and Gordon C. James – 2018: Caldecott Medal Nominee

Nighttime Symphony by Timbaland and Christopher Myers and Kaa Illustration

Your Legacy: A Bold Reclaiming of Our Enslaved History by Schele Williams and Tonya Engel

One Girl by Andrea Beaty and Dow Phumiruk

Diverse picturebooks depicting marginalized communities and intersectionalities

Intersectionallies: We Make Room For All by Chelsea Johnson and LaToya Council and Carolyn Choi and Ashley Seil Smith and Foreword by Kimberlé Crenshaw

Our Skin: A First Conversation About Race by Megan Madison and Jessica Ralli and Isabel Roxas

Queen Of Physics: How Wu Chien Shiung Helped Unlock the Secrets of the Atom by Teresa Robeson and Rebecca Huang

It Began With A Page: How Gyo Fujikawa Drew the Way by Kyo Maclear and Julie Morstad

The Harvey Milk Story by Kari Krakow and David Gardner

Pride: The Story Of Harvey Milk And The Rainbow Flag by Rob Sanders and Steven Salerno

Mayor Pete: The Story Of Pete Buttigieg by Rob Sanders and Levi Hastings

Julian At The Wedding by Jessica Love

Donovan’s Big Day by Leslea Newman and Mike Dutton

When Aidan Became A Brother by Kyle Lukoff and Kaylani Juanita

What Do You Do With A Voice Like That?: The Story of Extraordinary Congresswoman Barbara Jordan by Chris Barton and Ekua Holmes – 2019: NCTE Orbis Pictus Award Nominee

Sharice’s Big Voice: A Native Kid Becomes a Congresswoman by Sharice Davids and Nancy K. Mays and Joshua Mangeshig Pawis-Steckley

Strange Fruit: Billie Holiday And The Power Of A Protest Song by Gary Golio and
Charlotte Riley-Webb