Brown Girl Dreaming

Brown Girl Dreaming

By Jacqueline Woodson

On the surface, Brown Girl Dreaming is the story of a girl’s journey from the South to the North and how her perceptions of race and self changed during that time. Go a bit deeper, and you may discover it to be a kind of touchstone for other children’s books about the African-American experience in North America. Brown Girl Dreaming may be the story of a girl’s journey to find her vocation and her voice but Jacqueline Woodson's novel in verse is more than a story. For it tells us more than most of our children’s nonfiction history books do.

Love, Violet

Love, Violet

By Charlotte Sullivan Wild, illustrated by Charlene Chua

A trailblazing book that normalizes feelings between two girls. I haven't seen another picturebook that embraces a young child's feelings for someone of the same sex quite the way this one so boldly does. Tender and sweet, it's the story of shy Violet and her crush with the snow-sparkling eyelashes, Mira.

Lovely language and a strong story arc, Love, Violet should be your choice for Valentine's Day.

Books to read if you liked Madeline

Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans

Spunky, adventurous, and full of confidence, Madeline has rocked the girl world for decades. If you've read through all the sequels, here are some books that evoke some of the same feelings.

Louise, the Adventures of a Chicken by Kate DiCamillo, illustrated by Harry Bliss

Plucky Louise longs for both adventure and a cozy home to return to when she'd finished being brave.

Paperbag Princess by Robert Munsch

For 40 years The Paperbag Princess has been teaching girls it's alright to stand up for yourself, and that beauty is only skin deep.  

When We Were Very Young by A.A. Milne

Playful poems to read and reread with children.

Olivia by Ian Falconer

When Olivia tries on 17 outfits even before the book is begun, you may be debating which one is your favourite, but the funniest one is certainly Olivia in pantyhose. This pig is full of life and will delight readers on each page with her overly euphoric good nature.

Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey

The sweetest story of a mother and child who go blueberry picking. Little Sal has more fun eating the blueberries from the pail rather than allowing them to accumilate. At one point the two get mixed up with a mother bear and her cub before finding their rightful partners again. 

Me...Jane by Patrick McDonnell

This is a story of Jane Goodall as a little child in the English countryside where she observes nature and writes in her journal about what she sees.

 

Samira Surfs

Samira Surfs

by Rukhsanna Guidroz, illustrated by Fahmida Azim  

11-year-old Samira and her family are Rohingya refugees who have traveled by boat to Bangladesh. Unregistered, they must live outside the camp, are banned from formal employment, and are resented by some of the locals. This middle-grade novel starts off at Samira’s new home, “made of bamboo choppy by Baba’s bare hands”, a leaky roof, and a single room for their family of four. The tightly woven verses take us to the beach where Samira sells eggs to beach-goers. She would love to use some of the money for school, but her father wouldn’t send her even if they could afford it because she’s a girl. Fortunately, her older brother, Khaled, gives her English lessons.

We cheer for Samira as she sets out with quiet determination to show everybody how she can work to make money for their family, learn English, and learn to surf. After meeting a group of girl surfers at a local surf club where there’s an announcement for a contest with a cash prize, Samira is empowered to overcome her fear of water that developed after her grandparents died falling into the water from the boat when coming to Bangladesh.

Azim’s lively illustrations bring Samira’s world to life, highlighting both the beauty of Bangladesh and Samira’s spirit.  

Verse novel. 9-14

 

“I’ve learned that belonging, having a home, having a country, means everything, is everything.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dad By My Side

By Soosh

Browsing for a good Father's Day book, I stumbled upon Dad By My Side by author illustrator Soosh. The first thing to strike me was the vast difference in size between the burly, husky dad and the petite girl. In an author note, Soosh explains how this is on purpose in order to accentuate the way the daughter views her father -- as a sanctuary, a force of all good, and a source of wisdom. Shown in a variety of activities, dad is constantly present and willing to try his hand at anything, from hula hooping to sewing a dress to cheering each other up when they're sad. 

Warm watercolour vignettes were initially posted on Instagram and quickly garnered over 2 million views per week, propelling the publication of Dad By My Side. Soosh now has her second book out, Mermaid and Me, and it's equally charming.

Just Like Me

Just Like Me

By Vanessa Brantley-Newton

Marvelously constructed with layered textures, happy colours, and a poem on each page that reflects different girls' personalities and strengths. Uplifting and affirming poems like “The Day I Decided To Become Sunshine” or "I Am Enough" will find their way into young hearts. On the last page, all the girls come together to pull each other up and form a paper chain. A stand-out.