Browse Items · Windows and Mirrors: Diversity in Books for Young Readers

Chill Wind

The main character, Aisha, is a nineteen-year-old black single mother of two living in the New York Projects. She does not take life too seriously and tries to enjoy it as much as she can -- that is, until she receives a welfare benefits termination…

Tags: Black/African (primary character); girl/woman (primary character); human (primary character); language: English; young adult fiction

Black Boy Joy

An anthology of stories regarding black boyhood and the experiences and joys of growing up as a person of color. Black Boy Joy brings together stories from 17 non-binary and black male authors.

Tags: Black/African (primary character); boy/man (primary character); human (primary character); language: English; middle grade book (ages 8-12); non-binary (primary character); unspecified sexuality (primary character)

5-minute Marvel stories

This book has no specific author as it is a collection of twelve 5-minute long stories by Marvel Press Book Group, featuring all-time favourite superheroes such as Ms. Marvel, Captain Marvel, Kate Bishop, Jane Foster, and many more. This comic book…

Tags: boy/man (secondary characters); comic book; girl/woman (secondary characters); group (characters); language: English; unspecified sexuality (secondary characters)

Baby-Sitters Little Sister: Karen's School Picture

Karen is faced with a dilemma when, after she gets glasses for the first time, she's made fun of by Ricky at school. With school pictures fast approaching, Karen needs to figure out what her priorities are.

Tags: brown skin (secondary characters); graphic novel; language: English; unspecified sexuality (primary character); unspecified sexuality (secondary characters); white, confirmed (primary character); white, confirmed (secondary characters)

Baby-Sitters Little Sister: Karen's Kittycat Club

Karen endeavours to start a cat-sitting club with her friend, Hannie, neighbour, Amanda, and their family pets. This is the fourth installment in a series of graphic-novel adapted versions of Ann M. Martin's Babysitter's Little Sister series.

Tags: brown skin (secondary characters); girl/woman (primary character); girl/woman (secondary characters); graphic novel; language: English; unspecified sexuality (primary character); unspecified sexuality (secondary characters); white, confirmed (primary character)

Molly Bang Exercise

An exercise created by following Molly Bang's principles of visual design outlined in Picture This: How Pictures Work. The images attempt to depict a bird attacking a victim using simple shapes cut from construction paper. The first image is of the…

Julián is a Mermaid

Author/Illustrator Jessica Love describes her Stonewall Book Award-winning Julián is a Mermaid as "a story about a boy and his Abuela. It is a story about being seen for who we are by someone who loves us"…

Alvin Ho: Allergic to Girls, School, and Other Scary Things

Alvin Ho tells the story of an Asain American Second grade boy, Alvin is afraid of a lot of things, including girls and school. At school Alvin is very quiet and hardly there, but when he's home he pretends to be a superhero who shares the qualities…

Tags: Asian (primary character); boy/man (primary character); early reader (ages 5-9); human (primary character); language: English; unspecified sexuality (primary character)

Some Thoughts Concerning Education (book cover)

A Snake Falls to Earth

A coming-of-age story about Nina, a 16-year-old Lipan Apache girl from Texas and Oli, a cottonmouth snake person. Nina believes in old stories and the idea there's much more to life than what is on Earth. Oli is from the Reflecting World and learns…

Tags: boy/man (secondary characters); girl/woman (primary character); human (primary character); Indigenous (primary character); language: English; LGBTQ+ (primary character); non-human (secondary characters); unspecified sexuality (secondary characters); young adult fiction

Blood Like Magic

A teen with is forced to sacrifice the love of her life in order to preserve her family's magical powers. Being a teen, she has never been in love and is tasked with finding Mr. Right in order to kill him. She applies for a matchmaking program and is…

Tags: Black/African (primary character); boy/man (secondary characters); girl/woman (primary character); human (primary character); human (secondary characters); language: English; LGBTQ+ (secondary characters); straight (primary character); straight (secondary characters); transgender (secondary characters); young adult fiction

We Are Water Protectors

In this Caldecott Medal-winning picturebook, a young Indigenous girl must rally her community to defend the Earth's water, the most sacred medicine of all, against a black snake that threatens to destroy the land.

Tags: boy/man (secondary characters); girl/woman (primary character); girl/woman (secondary characters); human (primary character); human (secondary characters); Indigenous (primary character); Indigenous (secondary characters); language: English; picture book

The Windows and Mirrors of Your Child's Bookshelf | Grace Lin | TEDxNatick

Children’s books author and illustrator Grace Lin explores the concept of windows and mirrors in children's literature.

One Moment in Time: Children Around the World

This book teaches about time zones by telling the story of eleven different children from around the world, documenting what each of them are doing throughout the day at the same point in time.

Tags: group (characters); language: English; picture book; unspecified gender (primary character); unspecified sexuality (primary character)

Mindy Kim and the Big Pizza Challenge (Mindy Kim Series)

In the sixth novel of the series, Mindy Kim, an Asian American child, enters a pizza trivia contest with her father. Mindy must help her father overcome some cultural differences and references that he does not understand, while her father simply…

Tags: Asian (primary character); Asian (secondary characters); boy/man (secondary characters); girl/woman (primary character); human (primary character); human (secondary characters); language: English; picture book; unspecified gender (secondary characters); unspecified sexuality (primary character)

Meet Cute Diary

Self-proclaimed trans romance expert Noah Ramirez is known for his blog of trans love stories, “Meet Cute Diary.” When the fictionality of the stories is revealed, Noah, who is white and Japanese on his mom’s side and Afro-Caribbean on his dad’s,…

Tags: Black/African (secondary characters); boy/man (secondary characters); girl/woman (secondary characters); human (primary character); human (secondary characters); language: English; LGBTQ+ (author); LGBTQ+ (primary character); LGBTQ+ (secondary characters); multiracial (author); multiracial (primary character); straight (secondary characters); transgender (author); transgender (primary character); white, confirmed (secondary characters); young adult fiction

PJ Masks Save the School!

Preschool is never boring with Catboy, Owlette and Gekko! Join them as they try to find out who stole the school supply that just suddenly went missing.

Tags: boy/man (primary character); boy/man (secondary characters); brown skin (secondary characters); girl/woman (secondary characters); human (primary character); human (secondary characters); language: English; picture book; unspecified sexuality (primary character); unspecified sexuality (secondary characters); white, assumed (primary character)

Singing Pebble Books Interview

An interview with booksellers Laura and Sam at Singing Pebble Books in Ottawa, Ontario, lead by Ashley Tenn. This interview is a discussion about bookselling at an independent bookstore and what roadblocks they encounter. Singing Pebble Books is a…

Grumpy Monkey

Jim is a grumpy monkey who does not want to admit it. His jungle friends suggest ways he can cheer himself up. But instead of trying to improve his mood, Jim sits with Norman, the gorilla, who lets him just feel his grumpiness. This New York Times…

Tags: boy/man (primary character); language: English; non-human (primary character); non-human (secondary characters); picture book; unspecified gender (primary character); unspecified sexuality (primary character); unspecified sexuality (secondary characters)

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