Social Justice Books

Critically reviewed selection of multicultural and social justice books for children, young adults, and educators.

Freedom Reads: We March

Welcome to Freedom Reads: Anti-Bias Book Talk from Teaching for Change. In this video series, we introduce children’s books using an anti-bias, anti-racist lens as a strategy to talk about issues around race and the world with children. (View other episodes on the series home page and our YouTube playlist.) The book featured in the video below is […]

Sometimes We Do

Reviewed by Kent Haines Review Source: Games for Young Minds Book Author: You probably don’t need a rant from me about the state of our country or our world. After all, you signed up to receive lighthearted math game recommendations. So I’ll be brief: I fully and wholeheartedly support the protesters, their political goals, and […]

Freedom Reads: Anti-Bias Book Talk Series

In response to an overwhelming number of requests for recommendations of anti-bias children’s books, Teaching for Change launched the Freedom Reads: Anti-Bias Book Talk series. Beyond just sharing booklists, we want to share how we select high-quality, anti-bias books so that parents and teachers can do the same. Teaching for Change associate director Allyson Criner Brown […]

It Jes’ Happened

Reviewed by Rebecca Lehr Review Source: Independent Book Author: It Jes’ Happened: When Bill Traylor Started to Draw is a biographical children’s book about the  African American folk artist who started drawing at the age of 81 and produced over 1,000 drawings and paintings by his death at the age of 95. It chronicles his life […]

The Cat Man of Aleppo

Reviewed by Pat Corekin Review Source: Teaching for Change Book Author: Based on the true story of Mohammad Alaa Aljaleel, The Cat Man of Aleppo provides a poignant account of one man’s struggle to save the lives of cats abandoned in the wake of the Syrian war, which started in 2011 and is still ongoing. […]

Frankly in Love

Reviewed by Cierra Kaler-Jones Review Source: Teaching for Change Book Author: Although the title indicates that this might be a romance, the book covers love in not just romantic ways, but as family, friendship, protection, forgiveness, acceptance, and letting go. The true strength of the novel is that the author, David Yoon, navigates cultural differences, […]