In Daddy's Arm I Am Tall: African Americans Celebrating Fathers

This book is a collection of poems from new and existing African American writers that dedicate to fathers. It shows the love and bond between fathers and children through the poems and illustrations. These poems show the sturggles and the positives of being not only an African American father, but also a father of any race.

Powerful text and very deep meanings to every poem in this book. The illustrations are outstanding. It is a great way to show fathers how to improve if they are not playing their roles. The collages used in the vivid illustrations can teach an art class the various techniques in how to create a collage. A great multicultural book to have in your classroom library.

Little Mama Forgets By: Robin Cruise

Little Mama Forgets is about a girl named Lucy and her grandmother that is beginning to forget things. She forgets simple things like tying her shoes, her way to the park or even as little as forgetting the toast in the oven. She forgets many more things but never forgets her love for Lucy.

This is a very emotional text that describes the love between the old and the young. The wording and meaning of the book gives hope to children that are facing this situation with grandparents at home. The book also has some phrases in Spanish to help with promoting the Spanish language with children. It can also be used to teach what Alzheimer's disease is, in a child centric way of teaching it.

The Colors of Us By: Karen Katz

The Colors of Us is about a girl named Lena and how she discovers that she and her neighbors and family are all different shades of brown. Lena and her mother walk down the streets of their neighborhood and every person is decribed to be many different shades of brown. Readers will enjoy reading how many different shades of browns are described through many different types of foods.
The illustrations are beautiful and very colorful. The words that are chosen send a very powerful message in such a perfect way for children to understand. Great book to add in your classroom library and even use for read alouds. It teaches diversity in the classroom and shows children the many different colors people can be.

The Kissing Hand

The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn is a story about a mother racoon and her son Chester racoon's first day of school. He is nervous, scared and is very hesitant to start. His mom ends up kissing his hand and telling him when he feels scared just put the palm of his hand by his cheek and the warmth of his mother's love will make him feel all better. The book is a great ice breaker for the first day of school and comes with stickers for the kids. If you go online you can find tons of activities that can be used with the book in your future classrooms.

Love You Forever

This book by Robert Munsch is a story about a mother and her newborn son. It shows how he grows and the different stages in his life. She sings to him all the time about how she loves him and he will always be her baby. It shows the love for her child and at the end how mature he is and how strong a love for and from a mother can be. A great book that everyone in the family will love and want to read more than once. A must read!!