• Home
  • Our Shop
  • About Us
    • About MKB
    • Our Shop
    • MKB Board
    • Editorial Board and MKB Administrators
    • Our Contributors
    • For Bloggers: Join MKB
    • Books and Products from Our Members
    • Cultural Resources
    • Contact Us
  • Product Promotion Services
  • Blog Hops & Series
    • Holidays Around the World
      • Martin Luther King Day
      • Chinese New Year
      • Purim
      • Passover
      • Easter Around the World
      • Ramadan
      • Hajj (Eid al Adha)
      • Rosh Hashanah
      • Day of the Dead
      • Diwali
      • Hanukkah
      • Christmas in Different Lands
    • Heritage Months
      • Black History Month
      • Women’s History Month
      • Asian-Pacific Islander Heritage Month
      • Middle Eastern and North African Heritage Month
      • Hispanic Heritage Month
      • Native American Heritage Month
    • Blogging Carnivals
    • Creative Kids Culture Blog Hop
    • Global Learning for Kids
  • Resources for Raising Global Citizens
  • Privacy Policy

Multicultural Kid Blogs

For families and educators raising world citizens, through arts, activities, crafts, food, language, and love.

Introducing Love for Self and Others Through Books

February 14, 2020 by Mijha Godfrey

Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedinmailby feather

Books Introducing Love for Self and Others

We all want to raise children who love themselves and exude kindness to others. How exactly do we do that?

Caregivers are children’s primary role models. How we behave and talk about ourselves directly influences our kids’ outlook on the world. Just in case your talk isn’t always as positive as you might like, books are a powerful tool for influencing how our children think of themselves and the world.

The books we choose to read to our children when they are young have a huge effect on how they conceive of themselves and their world. Are the girls all damsels in distress? Are the boys always dirty and rough? Do children of color ever take center stage or are they always the sidekick, best friend or next-door neighbor? Do any of the protagonists have disabilities?

When we expose our kids to realities other than their own, we broaden their concepts of self and of other people.

When children are secure in themselves, that overflows into their relationships with others. The youngest children should start out with a confidence boost that will give them a firm foundation from which love for others can easily flow.

Books That Introduce Love for Self and Others

Note: This post contains affiliate links. If you click and purchase, Multicultural Kid Blogs will receive a small commission that will be used towards maintaining the site.

I Like Myself

I Like Myself by Karen Beaumont, illustrated by David Catrow, celebrates a love for self. A little girl with gorgeous wild hair revels in all of her wonderful qualities and encourages the readers to do the same.

Marvelous Me

Marvelous Me! by Lisa Marie Bullard, illustrated by Brandon Reibeling, is a great book after children mature past I Like Myself. The image on the front of the book says it all: an African American boy peering in the mirror, totally jazzed by what he sees.

i am human

As children grow, they start to develop a sense of how the outside world perceives them, shaping their beliefs about how they should behave and present themselves to the world. These pressures can make it hard for them to accept themselves as they are. Lack of self-acceptance also makes it harder to accept and love others, particularly people who challenge our expectations of what is “normal.”

I Am Human: A Book on Empathy by Susan Verde, illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds, recognizes the wondrous nature of human beings and reminds us to treat ourselves, and each other, gently. Another wonderful aspect of this book is that the main character we follow throughout the book is an African American boy. To have an African American male on the cover of a book that proclaims “I am human” is a radical statement of belonging and empathy in a world that often attempts to compromise the humanity of black boys.

day you begin

Child development researchers have found that children can distinguish racial differences by six months. They can identify sex and gender differences by two years.

Another book that is very helpful in addressing difference with children is The Day You Begin by Jacqueline Woodson, illustrated by Rafael Lopez.  In The Day You Begin, the protagonist begins to learn that we’re not all the same and that’s quite wonderful. When she finds strength in her uniqueness and the commonality of difference, she finds she’s no longer alone. Lopez’s illustrations leap off the page and draw the reader into the action of the story – how do we handle ourselves when we are alone and different and desperately looking for a foothold?

Diversifying Friendships

All of us should have friendships with people who are different from us. It could be as simple as striking up a conversation with another parent at school. Or inviting a parent to join a committee or attend an activity at the school. We have to take the risk and put ourselves in proximity to different people to build real relationships and community.

For children, it’s often easier because they go to school with children of different backgrounds and with different abilities. Here is a great challenge for a child. Find a friend who is of a different ethnicity than you are and draw that person’s face.  No one is just one brown or one pink or one yellow.

We all have undertones of reds, greens, yellows, and blues to our skin.  We are marvelously rich and layered. And we have intrinsic value.

Drawing someone is the perfect way to slow down and look at the face of a person we care about. Highlight the eyes, the smile, whatever features make that person special. Highlight your subject’s intrinsic humanity. Seeing an individual in order to draw her is the height of respect and relationship.

Related Posts

Why We Still Need More Diverse Children’s Books

The Impact of Culture on Our Sensitive Boys

Social-Emotional Learning and Why It Matters

Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedinmailby feather
The following two tabs change content below.
  • Bio
  • Latest Posts
My Twitter profileMy Facebook profileMy LinkedIn profileMy Instagram profileMy Pinterest profile

Mijha Godfrey

Mijha Godfrey, is a former affordable housing developer, lawyer and founder of Jambo Books. Jambo, which means both “hello” and “welcome” in Swahili, is a book subscription service for children aged 0 – 13 where all the books feature lead characters who are children of color. The stories in Jambo books do not contain the tired, stereotypical portrayals we too often find about children of color in literature. They focus instead on the beauty of childhood; the joys of friendship and family; the thrill of new adventures; the wonderful tapestry that is the life of a child of color. Mijha is passionate about helping parents raise children who won’t need to be taught how to tolerate people who are different from themselves because they will expect and enjoy healthy inclusion. Jambo Book Club members will recognize the same humanity in those who may not share their experiences, that they see in those who do. Jambo Books is her invitation to parents and those with children in their lives to build cross-cultural competencies in our children, through relatable, fun, fiction stories.
My Twitter profileMy Facebook profileMy LinkedIn profileMy Instagram profileMy Pinterest profile

Latest posts by Mijha Godfrey (see all)

  • Inspiring Pacific Asian American Stories: Changing the Game Book Review - January 22, 2023
  • Introducing Love for Self and Others Through Books - February 14, 2020

Filed Under: Books for Children, Teaching Diversity Tagged With: diversity, self esteem, self love

Subscribe to our mailing list

* indicates required

Follow Us!

Follow Us on FacebookFollow Us on Google+Follow Us on TwitterFollow Us on PinterestFollow Us on RSSFollow Us on Instagram

Anti-Bullying Resource FREE Download

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

Grab Our Button!

grab button for Multicultural Kid Blogs
<div class="multicultural-kid-blogs-button" style="width: 200px; margin: 0 auto;"> <a href="https://multiculturalkidblogs.com/" rel="nofollow"> <img src="https://multiculturalkidblogs.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/button-take-3.jpg" alt="Multicultural Kid Blogs" width="200" height="200" /> </a> </div>
Multicultural Children's Book Day Co-Host

Archives

Copyright © 2023 · Lifestyle Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.Accept Read More
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT