Skip to main content

25 Books with Diverse Characters that Aren't (*gasp!) About Diversity

Representation is important. We know this. And there have been a great number of wonderful books that focus on diversity and the lives of diverse people and their struggles/challenges. Those books absolutely should be on our library shelves. But representation isn't JUST about telling the stories of adversity. Representation is about reflecting a diverse population in everyday, sometimes mundane situations. Where race/gender/culture ISN'T integral to the story. I could write 15 paragraphs about "Snowy Day" and why it was groundbreaking (and the fact that it had to break ground is heartbreaking). This removes the "otherness" from the "others" and brings us together. So, now that I'm done soapboxing - here's some of my favorite books with diverse characters that aren't about diversity. 

1. Princeless. I LOVE this series. Like, really love it. First off, it's a graphic novel, which means it never stays on my shelf. 2nd, the main character is amazing, and so are the secondary characters. Ok, so the story isn't ordinary or mundane. But still. Read this. Here are the stats:


  • Age Range: 9 - 12 years
  • Grade Level: 4 - 6
  • Lexile Measure: GN440L (What's this?)
  • Series: Princeless (Book 1)














2. The Girl with the Parrot on Her Head. A simple story about a super imaginative little girl whose best friend moves away. And she has a box of wolves. A big box. 


  • Age Range: 2 - 5 years
  • Grade Level: Preschool - Kindergarten
  • Hardcover: 40 pages
  • Publisher: Candlewick (April 26, 2016)
  • Language: English













3. A Most Unusual Day. This book is sort of like Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible.... but with a twist at the end. Because even though the day feels very off to Caroline, it isn't because she's having a terrible day after all - it's because she's excited about a big change to her little family.

  • Age Range: 4 - 8 years
  • Grade Level: Preschool - 3
  • Lexile Measure: 540 (What's this?)
  • Hardcover: 40 pages
  • Publisher: Greenwillow Books (April 10, 2018)
  • Language: English

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Bloom's Taxonomy for a Digital Age

Bloom's Taxonomy. One of the things we are constantly hearing in our school is the push for increased rigor in our classroom, as a result of the STAAR tests and others like it becoming more rigorous. We are told to push for higher order thinking and questioning from our students. One of the tools we use to look at how we can increase rigor is Bloom's Taxonomy. But some things about Bloom's don't translate exactly when we are talking about the digital age and the classroom or library. For example, remembering is the lowest piece of the triangle for Bloom's, but remembering looks different when you have instant access to a powerful computer that can use essentially limitless online resources to find answers. I've mentioned to my husband just how much more this and future generations will know about the world around them simply because they no longer have to remember everything they're interested in knowing. If I pass a historical marker for a place I haven...
7 comments
Read more

Library Communication and Social Media

When social media became a "thing", businesses were one of the first entities to jump on board. Many companies realized that social media created an essentially free way to advertise. As social media developed, targeted marketing using social media became an even more effective way to communicate and advertise with specific consumer bases. Educational entities eventually got on board as well. What does this have to do with your library? Plenty. Let's take a look at most popular social media platforms - Facebook and Twitter, and how they are being used by libraries to promote and communicate with their clients as well as help educate and connect library staff members worldwide. Stay tuned for a future post on the social media platform that is ahead of Twitter in teen use, Instagram. Facebook The brain child of Mark Zuckerberg and his Harvard classmates, Facebook was created in 2004 as a way for college students to connect online. Myspace, a Facebook predecessor, had al...
3 comments
Read more

Bloggin' It Up.

I'm a huge blog reader. I love learning and reading about others' perspectives and I find blogs to be a great way to be entertained or educated. When you follow a lot of blogs like I do, you are going to need a feed reader, or you're going to spend a lot of time checking for new blog posts that aren't up yet, or missing great reads because you stop checking. Back in the day, I used Google's RSS feed reader, which I loved. But Google did away with it, so it was off to shop for a new one. I now use Feedreader, which you can find here . It's simple. It's been around for a long time and it gets high ratings from other users. I'm not that picky as long as interfaces are generally intuitive, and Feedreader is a simple, barebones, feed reader that works. Now, when I started out reading blogs, it was an extension of reading Live Journals. I'm not sure how many of you remember LJ and it's darker cousin, Dead Journal. I had accounts at both and wrote the...
6 comments
Read more