Honouring all races and ethnicities: Cultural competence with diverse youngCanLit

Continuing with the booklists that accompanied my presentation Becoming Culturally Competent with Diverse YoungCanLit at the Ontario Library Association's Superconference in Toronto last week, I hope this third post in a series of seven will help all become culturally competent. (See the first post here for details.)

Today's post will focus on...

A Change of Heart
Written by Alice Walsh
Illustrated by Erin Bennett Banks
Nimbus Publ.
32 pp.
Ages 4-10
2016
African American Lanier Phillips, Newfoundland, racism
Review here

French Toast
Written by Kari-Lynn Winters
Illustrated by François Thisdale
Pajama Press
32 pp.
Ages 6+
2016
Haitian, skin colour, name-calling
Review here

From Lands of the Night
Written by Tololwa Mollel
Illustrated by Darrell McCalla
Red Deer Press
32 pp.
Ages 7+
2014
Tanzania, illness, ancestors, celebration
Review here

Guru Nanak: The first Sikh Guru
Written by Rina Singh
Illustrated by Andrée Pouliot
Groundwood Books
64 pp.
Ages 9+
2011
Sikh faith

Haiti My Country
Written by Haitian schoolchildren
Illustrated by Rogé
Fifth House Publishers
44 pp.
Ages 7-11
2014
Haiti, nature, poetry

An Infidel in Paradise
Written by S. J. Laidlaw
Tundra Books
311 pp.
Ages 12+
2013
Pakistan, religion, intolerance
Review here

Malaika’s Costume
Written by Nadia L. Hohn
Illustrated by Irene Luxbacher
Groundwood Books
32 pp.
Ages 3-7
2016
Trinidad & Tobago, Carnival, absentee mother
Review here

Mingan My Village
Written by Innu schoolchildren
Illustrated by Rogé
Fifth House Publishers
42 pp.,
Ages 7-11
2014
Innu, Mingan Indian Reserve, Quebec

Mission Mumbai: A novel of sacred cows, snakes, and stolen toilets
Written by Mahtab Narsimhan
Scholastic Canada
272 pp.,
Ages 9-12
2016
India, Hinduism, Mumbai
Review here

My Life Before Me
Written by Norah McClintock
Orca Book Publishers
248 pp.
Ages 12+
2015
Historical fiction, racism, murder
Review here

Stepping Stones: A Refugee Family’s Journey
Written by Margriet Ruurs
Illustrated by Nizar Ali Badr
Orca Book Publishers
28 pp.
All ages
2016
Refugees, Syria, dual-language, Arabic, immigration
Review here

Thunder Over Kandahar
Written by Sharon E. McKay
Annick Press
264 pp.
Ages 12+
2010
Afghanistan, class differences, women, religion

The Tiffin
Written by Mahtab Narsimhan
Dancing Cat Books
190 pp.
Ages 8-13
2011
India, abandonment, child labour
Review here

Tilt Your Head, Rosie the Red
Written by Rosemary McCarney
Illustrated by Yvonne Cathcart
Second Story Press
24 pp.
Ages 4-7
2015
Hijabs, compassion, support
Review here

Violet
Written by Tania Duprey Stehlik
Illustrated by Vanja Vuleta Jovanovic
Second Story Press
23 pp.
Ages 5-8
2010
Prejudice, tolerance, self-acceptance, colour

When the Rain Comes
Written by Alma Fullerton
Illustrated by Kim La Fave
Pajama Press
32 pp.
Ages 4-8
2016
Sri Lanka, monsoons, rice-planting, oxen, floods
Review here

Download the complete booklist here