Diverstories x Super Smalls
Diverstories and Super Smalls have teamed up for a second year in a row to bring you 10 children’s books that celebrate and empower diverse voices. These books are all about celebrating diversity, discovering new adventures, building self-confidence, and inspiring others. We hope they find their way into your classroom, backpacks, and hearts. We believe that books have the power to inspire us, start conversations, and create significant change…so let's keep reading!
What Are Your Words? by Katherine Locke and illustrated by Anne Passchier
Whenever Ari's Uncle Lior comes to visit, they ask Ari one question: "What are your words?" Some days Ari uses she/her. Other days Ari uses he/him. But on the day of the neighborhood's big summer bash, Ari doesn't know what words to use. On the way to the party, Ari and Lior meet lots of neighbors and learn the words each of them use to describe themselves, including pronouns like she/her, he/him, they/them, ey/em, and ze/zir. As Ari tries on different pronouns, they discover that it's okay to not know your words right away--sometimes you have to wait for your words to find you.
2. Becoming Vanessa by Vanessa Brantley-Newton
On Vanessa's first day of school, her parents tell her it will be easy to make friends. Vanessa isn't so sure. She wears her fanciest outfit so her new classmates will notice her right away. They notice, but the attention isn't what she'd hoped for. As the day goes on, she feels more self-conscious. Her clothes are too bright, her feather boa has way too many feathers, and even her name is too hard to write.
The next day, she picks out a plain outfit, and tells her mom that her name is too long. She just wants to blend in, with a simple name like the other girls--why couldn't her parents have named her Megan or Bella? But when her mother tells her the meaning behind her name, it gives her the confidence she needs to introduce her classmates to the real Vanessa.
3. What Will You Be? by Yamile Saied Méndez and illustrated by Kate Alizadeh
What will you be when you grow up?
A young girl dreams about all the endless possibilities, sparking a sense of wonder, curiosity, and growth. With her abuela's loving guidance, she learns her potential is limitless.
4. Your Name is a Song by Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow and illustrated by Luisa Uribe
Frustrated by a day full of teachers and classmates mispronouncing her beautiful name, a little girl tells her mother she never wants to come back to school. In response, the girl's mother teaches her about the musicality of African, Asian, Black-American, Latinx, and Middle Eastern names on their lyrical walk home through the city. Empowered by this newfound understanding, the young girl is ready to return the next day to share her knowledge with her class. Your Name is a Song is a celebration to remind all of us about the beauty, history, and magic behind names.
5. El Cucuy Is Scared, Too! by Donna Barba Higuera and illustrated by Juliana Perdomo
Ramón is a little boy who can't sleep. He is nervous for his first day at a new school. And El Cucuy is the monster who lives in Ramón's cactus pot. He can't sleep, either. It turns out that El Cucuy is scared, too!
This gentle, perceptive story explores the worries that can accompany moving to a new place and beginning a new journey--and reveals how comfort, bravery, and strength can be found through even the most unexpected of friendships.
6. School’s First Day of School by Adam Rex and illustrated by Christian Robinson
It's the first day of school at Frederick Douglass Elementary and everyone's just a little bit nervous, especially the school itself. What will the children do once they come? Will they like the school? Will they be nice to him?
The school has a rough start, but as the day goes on, he soon recovers when he sees that he's not the only one going through first-day jitters.
7. What the Road Said by Cleo Wade and illustrated by Lucie de Moyencourt
Which way do I go?
That is your choice to make,
said the Road.
But what if I go the wrong way?
The Road curved a little, almost as if it was giving me a hug, and said, Do not worry. Sometimes we go the wrong way on our way to the right way.
It's okay to be afraid or to sometimes wander down the wrong path. Bestselling poet and activist Cleo Wade's What the Road Said features illustrations by Lucie de Moyencourt and encourages us to lead with kindness and curiosity, remembering that the most important thing we can do in life is to keep going.
8. Big Feelings by Alexandra Penfold and illustrated by Suzanne Kaufman
Big Feelings helps children navigate the emotional challenges they face in their daily lives. What should we do when things don't go to plan? We may feel mad, frustrated, or overwhelmed, but by talking it through, compromising, and seeing another point of view, we can start fresh, begin anew.
9. Evelyn del Rey Is Moving Away by Meg Medina and illustrated by Sonia Sanchez
Evelyn Del Rey is Daniela's best friend. They do everything together and even live in twin apartments across the street from each other: Daniela with her mami and hamster, and Evelyn with her mami, papi, and cat. But not after today--not after Evelyn moves away. Until then, the girls play amid the moving boxes until it's time to say goodbye, making promises to keep in touch, because they know that their friendship will always be special.
10. The Paper Kingdom by Helena Ku Rhee and illustrated by Pascal Campion
When the babysitter is unable to come, Daniel is woken out of bed and joins his parents as they head downtown for their jobs as nighttime office cleaners. But the story is about more than brooms, mops, and vacuums. Mama and Papa turn the deserted office building into a magnificent kingdom filled with paper. Then they weave a fantasy of dragons and kings to further engage their reluctant companion--and even encourage him to one day be the king of a paper kingdom.
You’ll notice that the hyperlinks take you to Diverstories’ Bookshop. When you buy a book through our Bookshop, 10% of all proceeds go to Diverstories, so we can keep filling Little Free Libraries with diverse stories. Thank you for your support!