Freedom Summer by Deborah Wiles

Freedom Summer is a wonderful book about friendship, regardless of color. It takes place in the early 1960's when the Civil Rights Act was passed. This book is fiction, but it is based on real events in Deborah Wiles' life. She remembers her local pool was opened to everyone after the Act was passed, but instead of allowing African-Americans to swim there, they simply filled it with cement. It is a story of true comradarie. The innocence of the children is so special and they are best friends no matter what they look like. Unfortunately the boys soon find that although everyone has been declared equal with equal rights in all public places, the prejudice still exists. This book shows the sadness, frustration, and hurt that comes with prejudice feeling. It would be a good book to discuss with your child or children to emphasize that we do not want to make others feel these feelings. We should welcome and support all people. I enjoyed this book because it is real. It does not sugar coat or sweep anything under the rug. It shows what really happened and will hopefully prevent future prejudice or negative feeling towards peers because of their color. This book has been honored many times, because of this authentic characteristic, I think. The awards are for both the written story and for the beautiful illustrations. A few of the book's most prestigious awards are the Coretta Scott King Award and the Ezra Jack Keats Award.

The book cover was copied from http://covers.openlibrary.org/b/id/435491-L.jpg

The Day of Ahmed's Secret by Florence Parry Heide & Judith Heide Gilliland



This story is about a boy named Ahmed who lives in Cairo. He has a secret to share with his family but works all day long and must wait to share it with them. This book gives a great depiction of what a boy in Cairo does; he works. He rides a donkey cart up crowded streets making deliveries. He describes the sights and sounds and it gives you a feeling of what it might be like to live in Cairo. Ahmed finally reaches home and shares his secret. The secret is that Ahmed knows how to write his name. The cultural discussion that can be made after reading  this picture book should include the children's role in the home. For example, in Ahmed's culture, he works all day and practices writing his name at home after work. In the reader's culture, the children might practice writing their name at school where they are all day. It is a little of a role reversal. After reading, it would also be beneficial to look through the pictures and compare the cities. Ahmeds' city of Cairo looks to have an open market on the street and still utilizes a donkey for transportation. It is also very close to the desert and the climate there might be different from the reader's hometown. This book gives a lot of insight into the life a child in Cairo.

Book cover copied from http://www.harpercollinschildrens.com/harperchildrensImages/isbn/large/6/9780688140236.jpg

I Lost My Tooth in Africa by Penda Diakite



This story is about a young girl who loses a tooth while visiting her father's family in Mali. She then places it under a calabash amd receives a hen and rooster from the African Tooth Fairy. This book is very enjoyable. The story captures the audience with rich tradition. African tradition is displayed throughout the book. The book includes interesting facts about the culture in the types of food, where and how the family eats, types of furniture like her "bamboo bed", hobbies, and so much more. The illustrations are beautiful. The illustrator used vibrant ceramic-tile illustrations that earned this book the Coretta Scott King Honor Book award. This story would be a great story to share with your student if you want to share a culture that is very beautiful, rich, warm, and full of new ideas and words. After reading this story to your student, you might show the map at the beginning of the book and discuss how sometimes families live on different continents or you could talk about how people who live on different continents might have different traditions than we do. Another topic might be the food theme. There are plenty of different types of food and cooking methods mentioned in this book along with table seating arrangements and habits. There are plenty of different discussions that could take place, these are just a few that might begin to trigger topics of conversation. This book is a great multi-cultural book that is a great pick if you are wanting to share cultures with your student.

Book Cover Copied from http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/i-lost-my-tooth-in-africa-penda-diakite/1006334162