Required Reading #1

Crown: An Ode to a Fresh Cut is a memorable telling experience of a young black boy, walking into a barbershop to get a fresh cut. He sees many customers and their hairstyles and thinks of all the ways the hairstyle can portray something spectacular. He leaves with confidence and the feeling of flawlessness, magnificence, and royalty.

Award Winner

Checkout Bookmarks on Netflix! A series where celebrities readers share children's books by black authors. This series intends to create kid-friendly conversations about empathy, equality, self-love, and antiracism.

Cece had meningitis as a young child. She lost her hearing and wore a Phonic Ear. It was a massive contraction that hung around her neck. Cece felt that it gave her superpowers because it enabled her to hear teachers all over the building, especially in the bathroom.

El Deafo is an uplifting graphic novel memoir.

Leigh Botts is working through several life challenges. He is the new kid in school, his parents are divorced and his father is not around. Leigh writes letters to his favorite author and is able to uncover several feelings that he has had tucked away.

This Cuban folktale tells a beautiful story of a cockroach who is searching for love. When her grandmother explains the "coffee test," Martina learns who is a suitable mate, and who is not!

The origins of "Martina the Beautiful Cockroach."

CJ takes the bus with his Grandma every Sunday after church. With lots of questions and simple answers from his grandmother, CJ learns to find beauty in the everyday surroundings of his hometown.

As the first Latino Librarian in New York City, Pura Belpre becomes an advocate for bilingual materials in the library. Her passion shows in her work to ensure children see themselves on the shelves of her library!

The illustrations in this story are so beautiful. I couldn't help doing several pictures walks just to admire the artwork.

Stop and Think Lesson Idea - have students use context clues to discover the meaning of the Spanish words used in place of English words throughout the story.

A young girl, She-Who-Is-Alone, performs a selfless act by sacrificing the only thing she has from her family to stop the drought and save her tribe. Her sacrifice brings about the beautiful Texas Bluebonnet that becomes a reminder of her family every spring.

What a powerful story about the heroism of Rosa Parks. Ms. Parks leaves work early one day to care for her sick mother. She sits in the neutral section of the bus but is soon asked to give up her seat. Right then and there, Rosa takes a stand that will change segregation forever.

The title of this book could not match the contents any better. The body is impressive, and Robie Harris does a fantastic job with this nonfiction text, hitting on the details of what the body is capable of. It is filled with comic illustrations, as well as detailed information the will help answer the questions of any curious child.

Do you enjoy graphic novels? This has several short stories with all your favorite characters from your favorite graphic novels. Haven't read any yet, this is a great one to start with!

Non-fiction at it's best. Gross as a Snot Otter, will be sure to get students rolling! This text goes through all the gross traits of creatures and worms. Students may be grossed out, but the information is reliable, and I feel confident that it will stick!

Extension Activity - Students could choose a creature to continue to research in the library.

Catherine wants the world to see David as normal. He's not, nor will he ever be. She quickly befriends Jason, who is paralyzed and communicates by pointing at cards in his binder. Catherine soon finds herself embarrassed by her new friend even though she cringes to think of the similar ways others treat her brother, David. Will Catherine learn to embrace her life or continue to hide behind her feelings and make excuses for her life.

This story is an eye-opener to how family members of children with autism feel when the child is not acknowledged. I read this book about ten years ago, and I was so glad I picked it up again for this assignment. Literature circles with this title would be an excellent whole school/whole district read.

Baseball is an American sport with influences that have come from many different places. A group of men who have had some of the strongest influence on baseball was a group of African Americans that refused to take no for an answer when there was a "gentlemen's decision" about not including African Americans in professional baseball.

Jess wants to be the fastest runner in fifth grade. He works all summer to accomplish this goal until a new neighbor joins the race. Leslie runs faster than any boy and quickly earns the title Jess has worked so hard for. Aside from the races and unsuspecting friendship, Leslie and Jess develop a bond and often escape to a magic land called Terabithia. Tragedy occurs, and sadly, Jess is left to deal with the death of his best friend.

Max is sent to bed without dinner after giving his mother a hard time. He dreamed up a forest that grew and grew. Max sailed away to where the wild things are. When he came to the place where the wild things are, he tamed them, and they called him the king of all wild things. Max begins to feel lonely and decided that he wants to be where he is loved. Will he choose to stay or leave his crown?

Where the Wild Things are was banned in 1963 for being too dark and physiologically damaging because Max could not control his emotions, and he was sent to bed without dinner.

Written in reverso, this book of poems is read down the page from top to bottom and then again from the bottom to the top. What happens when you change the capitalization and punctuation. Sometimes this simple change can completely change the meaning of the poem.

Raised in the times of technology, this inquisitive donkey (aka, jackass), is unfamiliar with "a book". He asks if the book can do all the things his computer can do and rather or not it needs a screen name, password, mouse, wifi, etc.

When Bea's parents sat her down for a "family meeting," she was not expecting them to tell her they were divorcing. Although some big things were going to change, some things would not. Bea carries around a notebook given to her by her parents that would list the things that would not change. Bea finds comfort in this notebook as she continues to add to it, lists, worries, drawings, etc. Number 23 on that list, Jesse, dad's boyfriend, is staying. As the excitement grows, Bea looks forward to gaining a sister, but is her future sister equally excited?

Written by award-winning author Rebecca Stead.

The three pigs encounter the wolf, just like in the classic story of the three little pigs. However, this time, the pigs are able to escape before getting eaten the wolf by leaving the story. They fly away on a paper airplane and visit other fairy tales!

A memoir by Jacqueline Woodson told of her childhood in verse. She recalls events, people, and places that held special meaning in her life. Although she struggled with reading and often lived in the shadow of her sister, Jacqueline always had her stories.

Watch this beautiful clip of author Jacqueline Woodson, read from her memoir.