My Family, Your Family by Lisa Bullard, illustrated by Renée Kurilla (Millbrook Press, 2015).
This is a great book about a little biracial girl named Makayla who goes around visiting her friends in the neighborhood. She sees how there are all different types of families, including kids who live with divorced parents, grandparents, and two dads, as well as couples with no children.
See my Pinterest for more books about mixed race/multicultural kids and families.
I Am Mixed by Garcelle Beauvais and Sebastian A. Jones, illustrated by James C. Webster (Strangers Comics, 2013).
This is a great book about a brother and sister who are of mixed race and whose parents have different cultural backgrounds, and how the siblings are the best of both. The book has some impressive blurbs from celebrities like Halle Berry and Heidi Klum, and was written by two actor/authors.
I found the story to be imaginative and fun; I think it would really help mixed kids with seeing themselves represented in a book and to feel proud of who they are. My only reservation is one aspect of the illustrations. There is something unsettling about the characters' eyes in many of the pictures; they remind me of dolls', but more in a creepy than cute way. Maybe kids wouldn't notice, or just it's me, I don't know. But it's too bad because I do feel that it detracts from my love of the story itself.
Emma's Easter by Lisa Bullard, illustrated by Constanza Basaluzzo (Millbrook Press, 2012).
This is a very cute book about a little girl celebrating Easter with her family. It's unique in that Emma's parents are interracial; she and her little brother are mixed. The story itself is standard; they dye eggs, go on an egg hunt, attend church, and have dinner with family. The problem is that Emma can't find the egg with her name on it. Of course she eventually finds it... but that bunny sure is sneaky!
There are little blurbs with facts about Easter throughout, which I like because I always enjoyed learning about the origins and traditions of holidays and how different cultures celebrate them. I also appreciated, as someone who is secular, that on the page that explains the Christian story of Easter and shows the family at church, there is a blurb saying that Easter is also a special day for people who aren't Christian and that the day also celebrates spring and new life. There is also a glossary and some activities and resources in the back.
All in all, I thought the book was very cute and will have to check out the other holiday books from Cloverleaf.
You can see more Easter books on my Pinterest board here.
I Am Me by Karla Kuskin, illustrated by Dyanna Wolcott (Simon & Schuster, 2000).
This is a fun, colorful book that all kids can relate to. Everyone points out ways the main character resembles her family members, and while the girl says all of those are true, she is also most importantly her own unique self. I love the bright, flowing illustrations.
These are two great books by British author Floella Benjamin, illustrated by Margaret Chamberlain. They are about children with two grandparents from very different cultures, one typically British, and one Trinidadian.
My Two Grannies (Frances Lincoln, 2008)
My Two Grandads (Frances Lincoln, 2011)
For more books about mixed race kids and multicultural families, see my Pinterest board here.
Always an Olivia: A Remarkable Family History by Carolivia Herron, illustrated by Jeremy Tugeau (Kar-Ben Publishing, 2012)
This really is a remarkable true family history of the author's. Her ancestor Sarah was a Jew who lived in Venice, Italy after her family escaped from Spain and Portugal during the Spanish Inquisition. One day in the early 1800s, she is kidnapped by pirates to be ransomed off in North Africa. However, another captive (who she eventually marries) helps the two of them escape and take a ship to America. They are dropped off at the Georgia Sea Islands, home of the Geechee (or Gullah) people, free American Americans. Their family eventually intermarries with the Geechees, but their descendents never forget their Jewish roots, always lighting candles on Sabbath.
There is an interesting article about the author's family history here.
Cinnamon Baby by Nicole Winstanley, illustrated by Janice Nadeau (Kids Can Press, 2011)
This is a really cute book about a woman named Miriam who owns a bakery and makes wonderful breads, her speciality being cinnamon bread. When Sebastian tries her bread, he ends up buying it every day for a year, then asking Miriam to marry him. Soon they have a baby who is the most beautiful and sweet smelling baby. However, soon the baby starts to cry and won't stop. The parents don't know what to do, until Miriam has the idea to bake her cinnamon bread, the smell of which causes the baby to stop crying and smile and fall asleep. Apparently the story was inspired by the author's daughter, who was soothed to sleep by the smell of cinnamon when she was a baby.
The illustrations are fun and sweet, and of course I love that they feature a multiracial family.
