diversity

The following picture books affirm Black lives, bodies, experiences, and culture, and offer opportunities for discussion about racial injustice among parents and children of all races.

Picture Books

A is for activist by Innosanto Nagara

A is for Activist is an ABC board book written and illustrated for families who want their kids to grow up in a space that is unapologetic about activism, environmental justice, civil rights, LGBTQ rights, and everything else that activists believe in and fight for. The alliteration, rhyming, and vibrant illustrations make the book exciting for children, while the issues it brings up resonate with their parents' values of community, equality, and justice. 

In honor of World Refugee Day, browse the titles below and find stories that will take you on a journey to a new place. Some fiction, some nonfiction, all focus on a story of leaving somewhere behind for a new life.

Click on the titles for location and availability. Additional media formats included below.

 

90 miles to Havana by Enrique Flores-Galbis
Also available in: e-audiobook

When unrest hits the streets of Havana, Cuba, Julian's parents must make the heartbreaking decision to send him and his two brothers away to Miami via the Pedro Pan operation. But when the boys get to Miami, they are thrust into a world where bullies seem to run rampant and it's not always clear how best to protect themselves.

The bone sparrow by Zana Fraillon

"Subhi's contained world as a refugee in an Australian permanent detention center rapidly expands when Jimmie arrives on the other side of the fence and she asks him to read her late mother's stories to her"--.

The history of the United States is rich in religious tolerance and diversity. Here are several sources that help to understand the plethora of faith persuasions active today throughout the U.S. and the world and the push to preserve their unique traditions and heritage.

 

The Religions Book

Religious literacy : what every American needs to know / Stephen Prothero

Religions of the world : the illustrated guide to origins, beliefs, traditions & festivals

Religions of the World (DVD)

Cultural Literacy for Religion (DVD)

Religions/ Carl Wilkerson

Illustrated dictionary of religions : rituals, beliefs, and practices from around the world

A History of God: The 4000 year quest of Judaism, Christianity and Islam

A History of God: The 4000 year quest of Judaism, Christianity and Islam (DVD)

A None's Story: Searching for Meaning Inside Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism and Islam

Children of Abraham: Judaism, Christianity, Islam

Religious Holidays and Calendars: an Encyclopedia

How Different Religions View Death and Afterlife

The Amish / Donald B. Kraybill, Karen M. Johnson-Weiner, and Steven M. Nolt

The Amish [videodisc] / American Experience / Donald B. Kraybill, Karen M. Johnson-Weiner, and Steven M. Nolt

The Amish [videodisc] : how they survive / Buller Films LLC

Complete Idiot's Guide to Christianity

The Christians [videodisc] / written and presented by Bamber Gascoigne ; a Granada Television production

Great World Religions: Christianity (sound recording)

Buddhism: The Illustrated Guide

Buddhism: Origin, Beliefs, Practices, Holy Texts, Sacred Places

Great World Religions: Buddhism (sound recording)

Confucianism and Taoism (videorecording)

Essential Hinduism

Contemporary Hinduism: Ritual, Culture and Practice

Complete Idiot's Guide to Hinduism

Great World Religions: Hinduism (sound recording)

India : a sacred geography / Diana L. Eck

For the love of being Jewish : an A-to-Z primer for bubbies, mensches, meshugas, tzaddiks, and yentas / written by Steven Stark Lowenstein ; illustrated and designed by Mark Anderson

The everything Judaism book : a complete primer to the Jewish faith--from holidays and rituals to traditions and culture / by Richard D. Bank

Judaism / by Martha Morrison, Stephen F. Brown

Introduction to Judaism [videodisc] / Shai Cherry

Great World Religions: Judaism (sound recording)

Islam and the future of tolerance : a dialogue / Sam Harris, Maajid Nawaz

Islam: What Non-Muslims Need to Know/ John Kaltner

Decoding the Past: The Secrets of the Koran (DVD)

Great World Religions: Islam (sound recording)

It's dangerous to believe : religious freedom and its enemies / Mary Eberstadt

Religious Tolerance [Web site]

Pluralism Project [Web site]

 

 

Check out one of the following YA titles to discover a different culture, or perhaps find a reflection of your own experiences.

Culture: Native American

Budding cartoonist Junior leaves his troubled school on the Spokane Indian Reservation to attend an all-white farm town school where the only other Indian is the school mascot.

A big dose of lucky by Marthe Jocelyn

Culture: Canadian Aboriginal

Malou has just turned sixteen—hardly old enough to be out in the world on her own—and all she knows for sure is that she’s mixed-race and that she was left at an orphanage as a newborn. Beyond that, it’s a mystery—a mystery that takes her to the little town of Parry Sound, where she finds lots of young brown faces like hers. Are these her relatives, and why doesn’t anyone want to talk about it?

Curious about why Denmark has topped lists as the world's happiest country? Explore the vibrant culture of this northern land and find out.

How is it that these 5.6 million Danes are so content when they live in a country that is dark and cold nine months of the year and where income taxes are at almost 60 percent? At a time when talk across the Western world is focused on unemployment woes, government overreach, and anti-taxation lobbies, our Danish counterparts seem to breathe a healthier and fresher air. Interweaving anecdotes and research, Malene Rydahl explores how the values of trust, education, and a healthy work-life balance with  purpose—to name just a few—contribute to a “happy” population.

When she was given the opportunity of a new life in rural Jutland, journalist and archetypal Londoner Helen Russell discovered a startling statistic: the happiest place on earth is Denmark, a land often thought of by foreigners as consisting entirely of long dark winters, cured herring, Lego and pastries. What is the secret to their success? Are happy Danes born, or made? Helen gives herself a year to uncover the formula for Danish happiness. The Year of Living Danishly is a funny, poignant record of a journey that shows us where the Danes get it right, where they get it wrong, and how we might just benefit from living a little more Danishly ourselves.

The library is celebrating Cultural Diversity Month! Cultural Diversity means we appreciate different cultures within our society and communities. Our staff has contributed a variety of items representing their cultural heritages. Stop in to check out books on display or view our reading lists featuring cultural diversity in our collections on our website.

"It may be taboo to say, but some groups in America do better than others.Why do some groups rise? Drawing on groundbreaking original research and startling statistics, The Triple Package uncovers the secret to their success. A superiority complex, insecurity, impulse control--these are the elements of the Triple Package, the rare and potent cultural constellation that drives disproportionate group success.Americans are taught that everyone is equal, that no group is superior to another. But remarkably, all of America's most successful groups believe (even if they don't say so aloud) that they're exceptional, chosen, superior in some way. Americans are taught that self-esteem--feeling good about yourself--is the key to a successful life. But in all of America's most successful groups, people tend to feel insecure, inadequate, that they have to prove themselves. But the Triple Package has a dark underside too. Each of its elements carries distinctive pathologies; when taken to an extreme, they can have truly toxic effects. Should people strive for the Triple Package? Should America? Ultimately, the authors conclude that the Triple Package is a ladder that should be climbed and then kicked away, drawing on its power but breaking free from its constraints"--.

"Integration Nation takes readers on a spirited and compelling cross-country journey, introducing us to the people challenging America's xenophobic impulses by welcoming immigrants and collaborating with the foreign-born as they become integral members of their new communities. In Utah, we meet educators who connect newly arrived Spanish-speaking students and U.S.-born English-speaking students, who share classrooms and learn in two languages. In North Carolina, we visit the nation's fastest-growing community-development credit union, serving immigrants and U.S.- born depositors and helping to lower borrowing thresholds and crime rates alike. In recent years, politicians in a handful of local communities and states have passed laws and regulations designed to make it easier to deport unauthorized immigrants or to make their lives so unpleasant that they'd just leave. The media's unrelenting focus on these ultimately self-defeating measures created the false impression that these politicians speak for most of America. They don't. Integration Nation movingly reminds us that we each have choices to make about how to think and act in the face of the rapid cultural transformation that has reshaped the United States. Giving voice to people who choose integration over exclusion, who opt for open-heartedness instead of fear, Integration Nation is a desperately needed road map for a nation still finding its way beyond anti-immigrant hysteria to higher ground"--.

Culture by Terry Eagleton

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