Sunkissed Summer Reading

To help you keep the reading party going this summer for your children, I just wanted to offer a few tips on how to create a reading friendly home and what to look for when choosing multicultural children’s literature. Children should be reading at least 30 minutes every day. If it’s one of those busy days that 30 minutes of reading is just too much, read a poem or a few jokes from a joke book. No matter what, DO NOT skip-out on reading every day. Create a reader friendly home environment by keeping books visible. Instead of having books on book shelves or tucked away neatly, lay a few out on the coffee table or in a basket in the living room.  Having books in open view and accessible, your child will be more likely to pick up a book and read than going to book shelf. In my home, we have been doing this for about two months, and it really works!  If your child is going to stay at a family member’s house have them bring along a bag of books. Or if you have a sitter, make sure you add “reading” to their list of things to do.  Remember to let your children chose their own reading material. Any reading is good reading. Last make sure you have good multicultural children’s literature in your home collection.

Some things to consider in choosing multicultural books this summer are: accuracy, stereotypes, setting, language, illustrations, author’s perspective, and interest’s stories.  In accuracy consider how old photos and pictures are. Modern stories should reflect recent events.  For example books on South Africa should reflect changes in the apartheid system.  Be careful with stereotypes in books, such as The Five Chinese Brothers. In this book, all the brothers are yellow and look alike, which enforces the stereotype that all Asian people look alike.  Settings should be considered for issues like not all Native American tribes lived in tepees. If you’re discussing present-day Native Americans they live in homes like you and me. Be careful of books that separate characters into two groups: those who speak Standard English and those who don't. This division can reinforce stereotypes that all people in a group speak in a particular way. Translated books should reflect the original content and not sound awkward because of word-by-word interpretations. Read the book before you share it with children and make sure the author perspective is respectful to the culture. Author perspective is important to look at because you can tell from the tone and use of words the author’s position on the book’s subject. Incorporate interest stories, not just culturally specific. Look for books that reflect multicultural characters that contain themes like friendship, family, and school. Have fun reading with your child this summer! 

Leave a comment telling us about your personal summer reading tips! Sunkisses-Candid
Here is a list of good summer reading to get you started (they are in no particular order):

• Christopher Paul Curtis books
• Jerry Pinkney books
• Frank Morrison books
• Kadir Nelson books
• E.B. Lewis books
• Bryan Collier
• Mildred D. Taylor books
• I Like Myself! by Karen Beaumont illustrated by David Catrow
• Giant Steps to Change the World by Spike Lee, Tonya Lewis Lee illustrated by Sean Qualls
• Dancing in the Wings by Debbie Allen illustrated by Kadir Nelson
• The Listeners (Tales of Young Americans) by Gloria Whelan illustrated by Mike Benny
• Keena Ford series by Melissa Thomson
• Come On, Rain by Karen Hesse illustrated by Jon J. Muth
• Whose Toes are Those? by Jabari Asim illustrated by LeUyen Pham
• Miami Jackson Series by Patricia McKissack, Fredrick McKissack and Michael Chesworth
• Little Bill Books for Beginning Readers by Bill Cosby
• One-Hundred-and-One African-American Read-Aloud Stories by Susan Kantor
• Darkest Child: A Novel by Delores Phillips
• The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats 
• One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia 
• Hip Hop Speaks to Children with CD: A Celebration of Poetry with a Beat by Nikki Giovanni, Alicia Vergel de Dios, Damian Ward and Kristen Balouch 
• Sit-In: How Four Friends Stood Up by Sitting Down by Andrea Pinkney and Brian Pinkney 
• Stitchin' and Pullin': A Gee's Bend Quilt by Patricia McKissack and Cozbi A. Cabrera 
• Who Will I Be, Lord? By Vaunda Micheaux Nelson illustrated by Sean Qualls 
• The People Could Fly: American Black Folktales by Virginia Hamilton, Leo Dillon and Diane Dillon
• Black Magic Dinah Johnson illustrated by R. Gregory Christie 
• Colors of Me by Brynne Barnes illustrated by Annika M. Nelson
• Acoustic Rooster and His Barnyard Band by Kwame Alexander illustrated by Tim Bowers
• Queen of the Scene by Queen Latifah illustrated by Frank Morrison 
• Children of God Storybook Bible by Desmond Tutu
• Sugar Plum Ballerinas Series by Whoopi Goldberg, Deborah Underwood and Maryn Roos
• Amazing Grace books by Mary Hoffman
• Chicken Sunday by Patricia Polacco
• Ruby and the Booker Boys Series by Derrick D. Barnes
• Poetry for Young People: Langston Hughes by David Roessel, Arnold Rampersad and Benny Andrews 
• Sienna's Scrapbook by Toni Trent Parker and Janell Genovese
• Chocolate Me! by Taye Diggs illustrated by Shane Evans
• Flossie and the Fox by Patricia McKissack  illustrated by Rachel Isadora
• This Our Dark Country: The American Settlers of Liberia by Catherine Reef
• Twice as Good: The story of William Powell and Clearview, the only golf course designed, built, and owned by an African-American by Richard Michelson illustrated by Eric Velasquez