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 Missing Daddy, written by anti-criminalization and anti-violence educator and organizer Mariame Kaba, and illustrated by a multidisciplinary artist from Chicago, bria royal. Published in 2019, this book can be found on our Incarceration booklist, and is recommended for children in elementary school, though it could be adapted for early childhood.
In Missing Daddy, the young narrator’s father went to prison when she was just three. Sometimes her classmates can be cruel, but she is surrounded by a loving family and an understanding teacher and counselor. This poignant book will help not only young children who find themselves in this circumstance, but will also sensitize classmates and educators themselves. Missing Daddy is a warm and necessary book.
Five Key Takeaways from Missing Daddy:
- Positive self-identity
- Diversity of human experience
- Diversity in family structure
- Diversity of economic class
- Impact of incarceration
Booklist
Learn More
- Guide to Selecting Anti-Bias Children’s Books
- Anti-bias Education resource page
- Top Ten Things You Should Know: Kids with an Incarcerated Parent from ALSC, recommended by Mariame Kaba
- Locked Away: The Toll of Mass Incarceration on Students: Children with imprisoned siblings or parents often suffer silently, but schools can help students confront the stigma and trauma by Melinda D. Anderson
- The Children of Incarcerated Parents Library from Rutgers University
Note: Book titles on SocialJusticeBooks.org are linked to Powells.com (an independent, unionized bookstore) and/or Bookshop (indie bookstore platform). A small percentage from book sales through these links goes to Teaching for Change.
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