Children’s Books that Affirm Diversity
Being Chinese American, having adopted internationally, and having taught in diverse schools, I recognize the importance of cross-cultural awareness and understanding. I am grateful for diverse friendships that have enriched my life and broadened my perspective of God’s love for all people. My hope is that my children will value others who may be different from them. Furthermore, as a parent, these books remind me to appreciate and affirm the ways my children are unique and different from me.
I heard Dorena Williamson speak at a Christian children’s books writing conference, and applaud her efforts to expose the problems of “colorblindness” and instead, call us to realign our vision with God’s view of diversity. This is the first book in a trio that articulates beautifully how we can see diversity in God’s creation and connects that concept to valuing diversity in each other. Children will relate easily to the iridescence of bubbles, many flavors of ice cream, and the encouragement to observe and explore their world to find more “colorful things” in nature. Cornelius Van Wright and Ying-Hwa Hu, a husband and wife team, illustrate the diversity of children in authentic ways that honor the uniqueness of each child. The “Parent Connection” at the back has insightful Bible verses that help families view cross-cultural relationships from God’s perspective.
Xochitl Dixon’s rhyming verses celebrate the ways God created us as racially and linguistically diverse with different God-given gifts and abilities. The second half of the book focuses on our similarities in how we feel and how we can use our gifts to show kindness. This balanced view of differences and similarities makes a complex idea simple. Also, the book is fun to read aloud and covers deep concepts that are meaningful to kids. There are also discussion questions provided at the end of the book to continue the conversation with your family.
This book is fast becoming one of our family’s favorites for showing how much God not only values diversity, but created it! Trillia Newbell weaves the biblical worldview of creation, fall, redemption, and restoration in a creative way that makes it easy for children to understand why people do not love one another the way God intended us to live. We live in a broken world and this picture book can be used to begin discussions with our children of why there is selfishness, suffering, and violence. The book invites and empowers families to participate in the restoration process. We don’t need to wait until heaven to reflect God’s diverse church and kingdom, but we can reflect it on earth today.
Catalina Echeverri illustrates these diverse concepts wonderfully that the pictures become “mirrors” for a child, or as my daughter says as she points to the drawing of an Asian girl, “That’s me!” Those affirmations are priceless. The book also provides a “window” for a child to view that world the way God sees it, loving and valuing the diversity of people God made.