Reading
Within the early years, we have found that using material, which assists discussions around difference and diversity is helpful in developing young children's confidence about a range of social issues.
Included below are only a few books for early years to assist work on difference and diversity. Visit the Centre for Education for Racial Equality website and go to the section on Curriculum. Look for Badger books which celebrate difference. There are useful notes by Prue Goodwin and Chris Routh of the Reading and Language Information Centre, University of Reading, on the range of books they have used to promote reading and topic work on issues like diversity, difference and racism. These books can be used as springboards for young people in talking about religious diversity and sectarianism.
Visit the website by Incentive Plus.
This is a commercial website but a very useful one for educators who are interested in education for citizenship, diversity, inclusion and anti-discrimination work. Incentive Plus claims that they recognise the importance of educating for responsible participation in society. This means helping children and young people become emotionally intelligent, socially skilled and ethically principled. It means helping develop good character, teaching social responsibility and promoting active citizenship.
Nicolas Allan, You're All Animals (2000)
Publisher: Hutchinson Children's Books
ISBN: 0091767970
Hardback 32 pages
Suitable for age 3 onwards
Synopsis:
Billy Trunk is a very superior little elephant, who considers all his classmates beneath him because they are 'different'. He joins a chat line on the internet to find a friend and is delighted to discover that somebody just like him attends his school. Computer conversations are very successful but what will happen when the two friends meet for the first time? This story offers an opportunity to consider friendship and the ways in which feeling insecure can make someone behave unkindly. (Synopsis from Prue Goodwin and Chris Routh, University of Reading)
Tony Bradman (editor), Skin Deep: A Collection of Stories About Racism (2004)
Publisher: Puffin Books
ISBN: 0141315059
Paperback 224 pages £4.99
Suitable for age 5 onwards
Synopsis:
A collection of stories dealing with aspects of racism, written by authors such as Jamila Gavin, Beverley Naidoo, Malorie Blackman and Melvin Burgess. The stories explore the roots of racism and the tensions between different ethnic groups.
Susan Elizabeth Copsey, Children Just Like Me (1995)
Publisher: Dorling Kindersley for UNICEF
ISBN: 0751353272
Hardback 79 pages
Suitable for age 5 onwards
Synopsis:
Throughout this year a young photographer has been meeting and talking to children from all over the world. The children describe their dreams and beliefs, hopes and fears, as well as the day-to-day events of their lives. In Children Just Like Me, each child speaks only for him/herself but the conversations, accompanied by photographs, convey a sense of their community and particular way of life. Children Just Like Me records the remarkable diversity and yet extraordinary similarity of children from today's global village. This special book has been produced in association with UNICEF (the United Nations Children's Fund), recognised the world over for its work dedicated to promoting an understanding of the needs and rights of children everywhere.
Emma Damon, All Kinds of Beliefs: A Lift-the-flap-book (2000)
Publisher: Tango Books
ISBN: 1857075056
Pop-up 16 pages £8.99
Suitable for age 3 onwards
Synopsis:
This book 'fills a gap'. It is an excellent foundation book for teaching children to celebrate the rich heritage of religious differences and their cultural connections. The 'pop-up' feature reinforces the notion that you cannot understand the inner workings of others by simply looking at their exterior. The beautiful art, basic information and excellent production make it a 'must' for every home, school, church, temple, mosque and library. The book even makes a point of affirming that there is integrity for those who choose not to identify with a major religious tradition.
Jihad Darwiche, Youssef the Boy from Cordoba (1996)
Publisher: United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO)
ISBN: 9231032763
Paperback 50 pages £11.00
Suitable for age 7 onwards
Synopsis:
This story takes place almost 1,000 years ago in Muslim Spain. At the time a spirit of tolerance reigned, and Muslims, Christians, Jews, Arabs, Berbers, Spaniards and many other ethnic groups co-existed in harmony. It is the story of Youssef who is shipwrecked on the way from Iran to Cordoba, and rescued and brought up there by Said, a kindly merchant.
David McKee Elmer, The Patchwork Elephant (1990)
Publisher: Red Fox
ISBN: 0099697203
Paperback 34 pages
Suitable for age 3 onwards
Synopsis:
The story of Elmer the patchwork elephant is a great favourite and has long been an ideal book to open up discussion with children about being different and valuing diversity. There are many Elmer stories for children to enjoy which continue the theme in some way. (Synopsis from Prue Goodwin and Chris Routh, University of Reading)
Chris Gibb, The Dalai Lama: Peacemaker from Tibet (2003)
Publisher: Hodder Children's Books
ISBN: 0750240164
Paperback 48 pages £6.99
Suitable for age 7 onwards
Synopsis:
A fascinating and colourful biography on this inspirational leader. Tenzin Gyatso was born in Tibet in 1935 into the Buddhist religion, and became the 14th Dalai Lama when he was just 4 years old. In 1950 China invaded Tibet and set about destroying the Tibetan way of life. In 1959 the Dalai Lama was forced to flee across the Himalayas to India where he became an exile. The Chinese soon took total control of Tibet and today life is still hard for the Tibetan people who have become prisoners in their own country. The Dalai Lama has set up a safe haven for fellow Tibetan refugees in Dharamsala in India where the Tibetan culture is still celebrated and where schools, hospitals and monasteries have been built. Young readers will be amazed at the remarkable life and resolve of the Dalai Lama. Now a truly international figure, the Dalai Lama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989. Contains quotation panels, date chart, glossary and Index.
Alison Leslie Gold, Hannah Goslar Remembers (1997)
Publisher: Bloomsbury
ISBN: 0745740276
Paperback 135 pages
Suitable for age 8 onwards
Synopsis:
Hannah was Anne Frank's friend. They played and had good times together. Until one day, Anne disappeared and Hannah and her family began to realise that everything was changing around them. The book takes the reader through the hardships of living through the Second World War. Finally Hannah and her family face the nightmare of deportation to a concentration camp - where Hannah once more meets up with Anne.
Bobbi Jane Kates and Joe Mathieu (illustrator), Who I am (1992)
Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers
ISBN: 0679832270
Paperback 32 pages
Suitable for age 3 onwards
Synopsis:
Excellent book from the popular Sesame Street series which helps very young people to think about 'who I am' and to value their individual uniqueness.
Judith Kerr, When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit (2002)
Publisher: Collins
ISBN: 000713763X
Paperback 240 pages £5.99
Suitable for age 8 onwards
Reviews (taken from book jacket):
Anna is too busy with schoolwork and tobogganing to listen to the grown-ups' talk of Hitler. But one day she and her brother are rushed out of Germany in alarming secrecy, away from everything they know. Their father is wanted by the Nazis - dead or alive. It is the start of a huge adventure, sometimes frightening, very often funny, and always, always exciting.
Judith Kerr was born in Berlin and left Germany in 1933 to escape the Nazis. Her novels are based on her own experiences.
Synopsis:
Suppose your country began to change. Suppose that without your noticing, it became dangerous for some people to live there any longer. Suppose you found, to your complete surprise, that your own father was one of those people. That is what happened to Anna in 1933. She was nine years old when it began, too busy with her schoolwork and play to take much notice of political posters, but out of them glared the face of Adolf Hitler, the man who would soon change the whole of Europe. Anna suddenly found things moving too fast for her to understand. One day, her father was unaccountably missing. Then she and her brother Max were being rushed by their mother away from everything they knew - home and schoolmates and well-loved toys - out of Germany.
Judy Lalli and Douglas L Mason-Fry (illustrator), I Like Being Me (1997)
Publisher: Free Spirit Publishing Inc.
ISBN: 1575420252
Paperback 54 pages
Suitable for age 3 onwards
Synopsis:
A collection of poems about being kind, solving problems, learning from mistakes, telling the truth, dealing with feelings, being a friend, and more. This book invites children to feel good about themselves, while encouraging them to be tolerant of others. An ideal starting point for promoting positive attitudes.
Lois Lowry, Number the Stars (1991)
Publisher: Collins
ISBN: 0006736777
Paperback 144 pages £3.99
Suitable for 8 upwards
Synopsis:
A powerful story set in Nazi-occupied Denmark in 1943. Ten-year-old Annemarie Johansen requires a selfless act of bravery to help save her best friend, Ellen, a Jew. It is 1943 and for Annemarie life is still fun - school, family, sharing fairy stories with her little sister. But there are dangers and worries, too. The Nazis have occupied Copenhagen and there are food shortages, curfews and the constant threat of being stopped by soldiers. When Ellen's parents are taken away to be 'relocated' by the Nazis, Ellen is taken in by Annemarie's parents and suddenly Annemarie's family are under threat. A Newbery Medal winner by an acclaimed author.
Pamela Melnikoff, Plots and Players (1988)
Publisher: Jewish Publication Society
ISBN: 0827605765
Paperback 164 pages £11.28 (www.amazon.co.uk)
Suitable for age 8 onwards
Synopsis:
Three exiled Portuguese Jewish children, secretly practicing their faith in intolerant sixteenth-century London, fight against the poison of prejudice in trying to save the life of Queen Elizabeth's Jewish doctor.
Eileen Van Dort and Gerda Westerink (illustrator), Am I really different (1998)
Publisher: Floris Books
ISBN: 0863152724
Hardcover 24 pages
Suitable for age 3 onwards
Synopsis:
If you're a ladybird with only one spot, you can't help feeling a bit different. But when you look more closely, you see that no two ladybird's patterns are the same. So are you really different?