Children’s books are great for teaching tolerance and celebrating diversity. It is essential to introduce these values to children from a very young age. Kids need to be prepared and confident when faced with situations of intolerance and discrimination–either toward themselves or toward others around them.
In our multicultural society, it is a certainty that children will hear words of acceptance and tolerance as well as words of hatred and discrimination. The books below can help prepare them by celebrating diversity and teaching tolerance, as well as showing what happens when hatred and discrimination are unleashed in a community.
The Skin You Live In
by Michael Tyler
Preschool – 2nd grade
The Colors of Us
by Karen Katz
Preschool – 2nd grade
Whoever You Are
by Mem Fox
Kindergarten – 2nd grade
Same, Same
But Different
by Jenny Sue Kostecki-Shaw
Preschool – 3rd grade
Smoky Night
by Eve Bunting
1st grade – 6th grade
It’s Okay to Be Different
by Todd Parr
Preschool – 1st grade
Happy to Be Nappy
by bell hooks
Preschool – 3rd grade
All the Colors of the Earth
by Sheila Hamanaka
Preschool – 3rd grade
Let’s Talk About Race
by Julius Lester
Grades 3-6
SOURCE: THE-BEST-CHILDRENS-BOOKS.ORG