Book picks similar to
My Words Flew Away Like Birds by Debora Pearson
picture-books
picture-book
immigration
children-s
The Patchwork Bike
Maxine Beneba Clarke - 2016
That's when you and your brothers get inventive and build a bike from scratch, using everyday items like an old milk pot (maybe mum is still using it, maybe not) and a used flour sack. You can even make a numberplate from bark, if you want. The end result is a spectacular bike, perfect for going bumpity-bump over sandhills, past your fed-up mum and right through your mud-for-walls home.A delightful story from multi-award-winning author Maxine Beneba Clarke, beautifully illustrated by street artist Van T Rudd.
Goodbye, Friend! Hello, Friend!
Cori Doerrfeld - 2019
. . and the wonder that new beginnings can bring.Change and transitions are hard, but Goodbye, Friend! Hello, Friend! demonstrates how, when one experience ends, it opens the door for another to begin. It follows two best friends as they say goodbye to snowmen, and hello to stomping in puddles. They say goodbye to long walks, butterflies, and the sun...and hello to long evening talks, fireflies, and the stars. But the hardest goodbye of all comes when one of the friends has to move away. Feeling alone isn't easy, and sometimes new beginnings take time. But even the hardest days come to an end, and you never know what tomorrow will bring.
Goldy Luck and the Three Pandas
Natasha Yim - 2014
She eats up the littlest panda’s rice porridge, breaks his rocking chair, and rumples all the blankets on his futon. When Goldy takes responsibility for her actions, she makes a new friend (and a whole plate of turnip cakes!) just in time for Chinese New Year.
Going Down Home with Daddy
Kelly Starling Lyons - 2019
Daddy hums as he packs our car with suitcases and a cooler full of snacks. He says there’s nothing like going down home.”
Down home is Granny’s house. Down home is where Lil Alan and his parents and sister will join great-grandparents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. Down home is where Lil Alan will hear stories of the ancestors and visit the land that has meant so much to all of them. And down home is where all of the children will find their special way to pay tribute to family history. All the kids have to decide on what tribute to share, but what will Lil Alan do?In this rich and moving celebration of history, culture, and ritual, Kelly Starling Lyons’ eloquent text explores the power of family traditions. Stunning illustrations by Coretta Scott King Honor-winner Daniel Minter reveal the motion and connections in a large, multi-generational family.
America, My Love, America, My Heart
Daria Peoples-Riley - 2021
Exquisitely illustrated, with a powerful, lyrical text, America, My Love, America, My Heart will challenge readers of all ages to examine and evaluate personal beliefs and attitudes toward the many different colors of America. America, do you love me? My black. My brown. My pride. My crown.What begins as a single question from a single child multiplies as America, My Love, America, My Heart sweeps across the country with every page turn, inviting in more and more children of color—and their questions. Does America love them when they speak? Or whisper? Or shout? When they stand? Does America love them just as they are?Inspired by the questions of her own childhood, author and artist Daria Peoples-Riley has created a powerful and important book for Americans of all ages—an essential addition to every bookshelf and classroom. Her poetic text encourages readers to confront bias, prejudice, and discrimination and invites readers to reflect and respond with their own answers, while honoring the identities of black and brown children and people of color.The unforgettable monochromatic oil paintings incorporate patriotic colors—red, white, and blue—to evoke deeply felt emotion and unique perspective. This rich, resonant book is a conversation starter for children, for families, for classrooms, and for communities.
Unraveled
Leanne Hatch - 2021
After he is born, the bond between baby and blanket is instant. So much so that as Cole grows older, the two are inseparable, until the day he notices the blanket is slowly coming unraveled.Cole tries playing with it the way he always had but it doesn't work and he decides to let go of what is now a bundle of yarn. But Mama isn't quite ready to let go and knits the yarn into something new--a sweater--delighting Cole. The bond is once again instant.Leanne Hatch brings this story of growing up and taking things with us in new ways to life with her warm text and richly textured art.A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection
Hey Black Child
Useni Eugene Perkins - 2017
Hey black child,Do you know who you are?Who really are?
Do you know you can beWhat you want to beIf you try to beWhat you can be?
This lyrical, empowering poem celebrates black children and seeks to inspire all young people to dream big and achieve their goals.
Looking for a Jumbie
Tracey Baptiste - 2021
So Naya sets out on a nighttime adventure to find out for herself.No such thing, say the friends she makes along the way.But Naya is sure that jumbies are real. Some have big mouths. Or thick fur. Or glowing skin. Or sharp teeth. Kind of like her new friends....
All Because You Matter
Tami Charles - 2020
A love letter to Black and brown children everywhere: reminding them how much they matter, that they have always mattered, and they always will.Tami Charles pens a text that is part love letter, part anthem, assuring readers that they always have, and always will, matter.
Niko Draws a Feeling
Bob Raczka - 2017
But no one appreciates his art. Until one day, Niko meets Iris . . .
Amy Wu and the Perfect Bao
Kat Zhang - 2019
Can she rise to the occasion?Amy loves to make bao with her family. But it takes skill to make the bao taste and look delicious. And her bao keep coming out all wrong.Then she has an idea that may give her a second chance…Will Amy ever make the perfect bao?
Ten Beautiful Things
Molly Beth Griffin - 2020
Ten Beautiful Things gently explores loss, a new home, and finding beauty wherever you are.Lily and her grandmother search for ten beautiful things as they take a long car ride to Iowa and Lily's new home with Gran. At first, Lily sees nothing beautiful in the April slush and cloudy sky. Soon though, Lily can see beauty in unexpected places, from the smell of spring mud to a cloud shaped like a swan to a dilapitated barn. A furious rainstorm mirrors Lily's anxiety, but as it clears Lily discovers the tenth beautiful thing: Lily and Gran and their love for each other.Ten Beautiful Things leaves the exact cause of Lily's move ambiguous, making it perfect for anyone helping a child navigate change, whether it be the loss of a parent, entering or leaving a foster home, or moving.
Grace and Box
Kim Howard - 2021
Box delivered a refrigerator earlier in the week and by the end of it, Grace and Box had already been to space, gone camping, and explored the depths of the sea together.But on Sunday, Grace notices something's wrong with her buddy. Box has some rips and crumples that Band-Aids, ice packs, and rest on the couch can't seem to heal. Grace certainly doesn't want these adventures to end, so she is determined to fix Box so that they can continue their play together!A universal friendship (child and box) has come alive in this imaginative and humorous picture book. The depths of friendships run deep with children, even if they're just boxes to us!
The Town of Turtle
Michelle Cuevas - 2018
But in Turtle's heart, there is room for everyone! This tale of a lonely turtle who comes out of his shell to find friendship and community celebrates diversity and inclusion. When a solitary turtle decides to make some renovations to his shell, he doesn’t have a blueprint, only a dream for a better life. He starts by building a deck—though he figures the deck could use a fireplace. And a fireplace needs wood, so naturally, he plants a garden. But it isn’t really a garden without a pond . . . Soon, Turtle can barely recognize his own shadow. Finally satisfied with the intricate world upon his back, word begins to spread of the magical “Town of Turtle,” attracting newcomers from far and wide. All are welcome in Turtle’s town, where life is a little less lonely, if only you come out of your shell.
Count on Me
Miguel Tanco - 2019
For some, it's music. For others, it's art. For our heroine, it's math. When she looks around the world, she sees math in all the beautiful things: the concentric circles a stone makes in a lake, the curve of a slide, the geometric shapes in the playground. Others don't understand her passion, but she doesn't mind. There are infinite ways to see the world. And through math is one of them.This book is a gorgeous ode to something vital but rarely celebrated. In the eyes of this little girl, math takes its place alongside painting, drawing and song as a way to ponder the beauty of the world.