Guidance for Selecting...

Guidance for Selecting the Picture Books We (Adults) Need

As tools, Picture Books are dynamic. They can serve as:

"Mirrors, Windows and Sliding Glass Doors" (Sims Bishop, 1990)
Prisms (Krishnaswami, 2019)
Shelters (Norsworthy, 2024)

Picture Books can be sources of grounding, refuge, affirmation and hope - or they can be paralyzing and fear inducing harmful sources of disconnection and isolation. How we select and use Picture Books impacts us and those we share them with.

The following list of websites and articles have been curated to support the selection of Picture Books that affirm our expansive humanities, our agency, and leverage the power of wonder, awe, curiosity, connection, possibility and action in our world.

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I'm Your Neighbor Books

Features Immigrant and New Generation Stories

From their website: Home of The Welcoming Library: which includes a collection of 30 Picture Books featuring Immigrant & New Generation stories, with book specific questions designed to grow conversations that build belonging. The collection can travel and visit schools and other community spaces.

Visit I'm Your Neighbor Books

Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC)

From their website: The CCBC is a unique and vital gathering place for books, ideas, and expertise in the field of children’s and young adult literature. The CCBC is a non-circulating examination, study, and research library for Wisconsin school and public librarians, teachers, early childhood care providers, university students, and others interested in children’s and young adult literature.

Search the CCBC Book Choices

Diverse BookFinder

From their website: The new updated Diverse BookFinder site offers a searchable collection of children's literature from books for littles through young adults. Diverse BookFinder has a Collection Analysis Tool, a blog with curated recommendations, information on creators (authors and illustrators) and more!

Visit Diverse BookFinder

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