The Read Aloud Project was created by Priscilla Weddle and Marie Benner-Rhoades to provide homeschooling resources in peace and justice during the pandemic. For August, the project highlighted books about peace skills. In September, there will be activity sheets to go along with the videos. If you are interested in recording a video for the project, please email Priscilla at [email protected]. Here are the books that were read for the project in August:

Thank You, Omu! By Oge Mora

Summary: Everyone in the neighborhood dreams of a taste of Omu’s delicious stew! One by one, they follow their noses toward the scrumptious scent. And one by one, Omu offers a portion of her meal. Soon the pot is empty. Has she been so generous that she has nothing left for herself?

Reflective Question: Why do you think that sharing is important?

Written by Tamera Shaw and Grace Cook-Huffman

As On Earth Peace’s Racial Justice Intern Organizers, Grace Cook-Huffman and I, Tamera Shaw, led the fourth and final session of the “Raising Race Conscious Kids” webinar series. This session covered the future of racial justice. When thinking about how to frame this session, the first thing that came to mind was the need to provide a resource list for people to access after the completion of our webinar series. When talking about such a heavy topic, we knew that the previous three sessions weren’t going to be enough to address everything that exists in the world of race consciousness. We struggled with connecting our highlighted topics to raising kids because neither of us have children. However, we also wanted to include topics that might not necessarily be for children, but for those teaching children. We, as the teachers to children, must be doing the work as well.

My name is Priscilla Weddle and I am the Children’s Peace Formation Coordinator at On Earth Peace. I led the second session of “Raising Race Conscious Kids” with Laura Hay. The second session focused on racial scripts and how to disrupt them. Racial scripts are formed from past events or experiences and impact how racialized groups are viewed and interact with one another. While preparing for the session, I was concerned because the topic of racial scripts is complex and can be difficult to explain and understand. I decided to include several examples from Raising White Kids by Jennifer Harvey and Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria by Beverly Daniel Tatum in my slides to ensure that everyone would understand what racial scripts are.

I am always looking for books to read and recommend for the Read Aloud Project. During my search, I have discovered amazing books, authors, and publishers. Recently, I looked into the new children’s books releases of 2020 and found several books about justice and courage. I wanted to make a list of these new books to share with parents and caregivers to give them some ideas on what books they should look into reading next to the children in their lives. By reading a book, parents and caregivers are able to connect with their children and start important conversations with them. Here is a list of five books that were published in 2020:

Luci Soars by Lulu Delacre

Luci was born without a shadow. Mamá says no one notices. But Luci does. And sometimes others do too. Sometimes they stare, sometimes they tease Luci, and sometimes they make her cry. But when Luci learns to look at what makes her different as a strength, she realizes she has more power than she ever thought. And that her differences can even be a superpower.

The Read Aloud Project was created by Priscilla Weddle and Marie Benner-Rhoades to provide homeschooling resources in peace and justice during the pandemic. July’s theme was own voices, which refers to books written by authors from marginalized or underrepresented groups about their own experiences/from their own perspectives. If you are interested in recording a video for the project, please email Priscilla at [email protected] Here are the books that were read for the project in July:

JULY BOOKS

Shin-chi’s Canoe by Nicola Campbell

Summary: This book tells the story of two children’s experience at residential school. Shi-shi-etko is about to return for her second year, but this time her six-year-old brother, Shin-chi, is going, too.
As they begin their journey in the back of a cattle truck, Shi-shi-etko tells her brother all the things he must remember: the trees, the mountains, the rivers, and the salmon. Shin-chi knows he will not see his family again until the sockeye salmon return in the summertime. When they arrive at school, Shi-shi-etko gives him a tiny cedar canoe, a gift from their father.
Reflective Question: Who were the first people on the land you live on?

The Read Aloud Project began in April 2020 with the purpose of providing homeschooling resources in peace and justice during the pandemic. It involves members of the community recording videos of themselves reading children’s books about peace, justice, and courage. The response to the project has been amazing and I appreciate everyone who has supported the project by recording videos and viewing them. We have decided to extend the Read Aloud Project indefinitely and are looking at ways to improve it. So, I created a survey to figure out things like if people are interested in lesson plans to accompany the read aloud videos. Here is a link to the survey: http://ow.ly/PPG950Ayx6S. I look forward to receiving your feedback!

Immigration is a topic that should be discussed with children. Even though it can be uncomfortable for some parents to talk about this topic, it is important to explain what it means to be an immigrant and the difficulties they may face. Doing so will help children understand what people go through and will make them more empathetic towards others. A simple way parents can bring up the topic of immigration is by reading a book. Here are a few own voice children’s books about immigrants that detail their experiences:

The Read Aloud Project was created by Priscilla Weddle and Marie Benner-Rhoades to provide homeschooling resources in peace and justice during the pandemic. June was Pride Month, so the project highlighted books about the LGBTQ community. The project has been extended through July. July’s theme is own voices. If you are interested in recording a video for the project, please email Priscilla at [email protected] Here are the books that were read for the project in June:

This Day in June by Gayle E. Pitman

Summary: In a wildly whimsical, validating, and exuberant reflection of the LGBT community, This Day in June welcomes readers to experience a pride celebration and share in a day when we are all united.
Reflective Question: What does Pride Month mean to you?

I am always looking for books to read and recommend for the Read Aloud Project. During this search, I came across an EmbraceRace webinar titled “Finding and Reading Great Stories for and With Children.” The guest speaker was Katie Potter of Lee & Low Books. I had never heard of Lee & Low Books before and was excited to learn about their efforts to promote diversity in children’s books. Potter provided a surprising statistic on how Black, Latino, and Native authors combined wrote only 7 percent of new children’s books published in 2017.

Representation Matters

Written By Brittany Johnson

I am a Latina raising mixed children. My daughters, Haven and Harlow, are African American, Hispanic, and White. They have thick dark curls and brown skin. When you think of Little Red Riding Hood or Cinderella, you do not picture my daughters. You imagine fair skin, blue eyes, and blonde hair. Society has reinforced this image in our heads. When our children are young, they rely on picture books and movies to guide their imaginations. When you think of a princess or a fairy, what do you see?