People Colors

Black is a Rainbow Color written by Angela Joy

A child reflects on the meaning of being Black in this anthem about a people, a culture, a history, and a legacy that lives on.

Brown: the many shades of love written by Nancy Johnson James

In this loving ode to the color brown, a boy describes the many hues of his family.

If Dominican Were a Color written by Sili Recio

Illustrations and easy-to-read text portray the Dominican Republic in all of its hues, from the cinnamon in cocoa to the blue black seen only in dreams.

Magnificent Homespun Brown: a celebration written by Samara Cole Doyon

Joyful young narrators celebrate feeling at home in one’s own skin.

Honeysmoke: a story of finding your color written by Monique Fields

A young biracial girl searches for the perfect color word to describe herself.

Skin Again written by bell hooks

The skin I’m in is just a covering. It cannot tell my story. The skin I’m in is just a covering. If you want to know who I am, you have got to come inside and open your heart way wide. Celebrating all that makes us unique and different, Skin Again offers new ways to talk about race and identity. Race matters, but only so much–what’s most important is who we are on the inside.

Sulwe written by Lupita Nyong’o

When five-year-old Sulwe’s classmates make fun of her dark skin, she tries lightening herself to no avail, but her encounter with a shooting star helps her understand there is beauty in every shade.

Tan to Tamarind: poems about the color brown: poems written by Malathi Michelle Iyengar

When you look in the mirror, what do you see? Tan, sienna, topaz, or tamarind? Poet Malathi Michelle Iyengar sees a whole spectrum of beautiful shades of brown. Swirls of henna decorate ocher hands and feet at an Indian wedding. Cinnamon lips smile over a cup of cafe con leche. And maple leaves drift like stars onto upturned russet faces in fall. This warm and inviting poetry collection helps young readers discover that no matter what your skin tone, every shade is beautiful. Jamel Akib’s pastel illustrations bring the richness of brown to vivid, varied life.

Shades of People written by Shelley Rotner

Explores the many different shades of human skin, and points out that skin is just a covering that does not reveal what someone is like inside.

The Skin You Live in written by Michael Tyler

Rhyming text and illustrations celebrate being content with the skin in which one lives, whatever that skin might be. With the ease and simplicity of a nursery rhyme, this lively story delivers an important message of social acceptance to young readers.

The Colors of Us written by Karen Katz

Seven-year-old Lena and her mother observe the variations in the color of their friends’ skin, viewed in terms of foods and things found in nature.

All the Colors of the Earth written by Sheila Hamanaka

Celebrate the colors of children and the colors of love–not black or white or yellow or red, but roaring brown, whispering gold, tinkling pink, and more.

Nonfiction

All the Colors We Are: the story of how we get our skin color written by Katie Kissinger

Magnificent color photographs and simple, engaging language capture the essence of one way we are special and different from one another–our skin color! Answers the “what and why” questions that children love to ask. Includes unique activity ideas.

All the Colors We Are: The Story of How We Get Our Skin Color teaching ideas: https://socialjusticebooks.org/all-the-colors-we-are-story-skin-color/

The Blacker the Berry: poems written by Joyce Carol Thomas

Black is dazzling and distinctive, like toasted wheat berry bread; snowberries in the fall; rich, red cranberries; and the bronzed last leaves of summer. In this lyrical and luminous poetry collection, Coretta Scott King honorees Joyce Carol Thomas and Floyd Cooper celebrate these many shades of black beautifully.

Precious Pollinators

Beehive written by Jorey Hurley

An exploration of the life cycle of bees and how they construct hives and make honey.

Flower Talk: how plants use color to communicate written by Sara Levine

A cantankerous talking cactus reveals to readers the significance of different colors of flowers in terms of which pollinators (bees, bats, birds, etc.) different colors “talk” to.

The Thing about Bees: a love letter written and illustrated by Shabazz Larkin

A love poem from a father to his two sons, and a tribute to the bees that pollinate the foods we love to eat.

Flowers are Calling written by Rita Gray

Rhyming text explores the wonders of natural cooperation between flowers and the animals and insects of the forest.

Nonfiction

Flowers! Written by Gail Gibbons

This introduction to the basics and life cycle of flowers includes common regional species, flowers’ habitable range, basic flower care and cultivation, and flower anatomy and pollination.

If Bees Disappeared written and illustrated by Lily Williams

Explores what would happen if bees became extinct, and how their extinction would effect not just bees’ environment, but the world as a whole.

Honeybee: the busy life of Apis mellifera written by Candace Fleming

A tiny honeybee emerges through the wax cap of her cell. Driven to protect and take care of her hive, she cleans the nursery and feeds the larvae and the queen. But is she strong enough to fly? Not yet!
Apis builds wax comb to store honey, and transfers pollen from other bees into the storage. She defends the hive from invaders. And finally, she begins her new life as an adventurer.

No Monkeys, No Chocolate written by Melissa Stewart

When you think of chocolate, you might think of a candy bar, a birthday cake, or a glass of chocolate milk. But where does chocolate come from? This book tells about the cocoa bean, which grows in the tropical rain forests and how the animals and other living things play an important part, even the monkeys.

My Tiny Life by Ruby T. Hummingbird written and illustrated by Paul Meisel

With Mom feeding him insects and nectar, Ruby T. Hummingbird is soon able to beat his wings and fly–up, down, backward, and forward–and forage for himself. But don’t be fooled! This elegant creature can turn into a fierce fighter if another hummingbird tries to feed on his flower–or his hummingbird feeder.

Parts of a bee printable: https://alittlepinchofperfect.com/bee-activities-and-printables/

Pompom pollinator game: http://: http://4kids2guineapigs.blogspot.com/2013/08/the-pollinator-game.html

How to create a pollinator garden: https://www.fws.gov/midwest/news/PollinatorGarden.html

Pollinator facts and resources: https://www.fws.gov/pollinators/PollinatorPages/AboutPollinators.htmlhttps://

www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/pollinators/Monarch_Butterfly/teacherandstudent/index.shtml

Boats Float!

Wishes written by Muon Van

In this spare, poetic picture book based on author Muon Van’s family history and told through a series of wishes, a family packs up everything they own and embarks on a perilous oceanic voyage toward a better life.

And Then Came Hope written and illustrated by Stephen Savage

When the ships of the harbor aren’t feeling well, the hospital ship Hope comes to the rescue.

Out into the Big Wide Lake written by Paul Harbridge

A picture book about a girl who spends the summer with her family at a lake and learns to become more self-reliant.

The Paper Boat written and illustrated by Thao Lam

At her home in Vietnam, a girl rescues ants from the sugar water set out to trap them. Later, when the girl’s family flees war-torn Vietnam, ants lead them through the moonlit jungle to the boat that will take them to safety. Before boarding, the girl folds a paper boat from a bun wrapper and drops it into the water, and the ants climb on. Their perilous journey, besieged by punishing weather, predatory birds, and dehydration, before reaching a new beginning, mirrors the family’s own.

Vincent Comes Home written and illustrated by Jessixa Bagley

Vincent lives on a cargo ship. His paws have never touched land. He spends his days chasing seagulls and eating fresh fish, and at night he stares at the stars that chart his ship’s course.

Old MacDonald had a Boat written by Steve Goetz

In this take on the classic folk song, farmer MacDonald and his wife gather their tools and with the helpful farm animals they build a boat.

Along the River written by Vanina Starkoff

Boats of all shapes and sizes travel on the river, through the seasons, toward the sea. Who will you meet on the river?

How it Feels to be a Boat written and illustrated by James Kwan

As a little boat’s high seas adventures get underway, disagreeable passengers make her seasick. When she runs aground, will teamwork turn the tide?

Float written and illustrated by Daniel Miyares

Wordless picture book about a boy who loses his paper boat in the rain.

Boats float! Written by George Ella Lyon

In rhyming text the reader is introduced to all the different kinds of boats floating on rivers, lakes, oceans, and ponds.

Nonfiction

Build it! things that float: make supercool models with your Lego classic set written by Jennifer Kemmeter

Boats written by Julie Murray

Illustrations and simple text describe different kinds of boats and the work they do.

How to make a Rubber Band Powered Boat: https://www.youngsmarties.com/how-to-make-a-rubber-band-powered-boat/

Hands-on Science Fun with Balloon Boats: https://www.lifewithmoorebabies.com/2012/09/balloon-boats.html

Pool Noodle Boat Racing Game: https://seevanessacraft.com/2015/06/craft-pool-noodle-boat-racing-game/#_a5y_p=3954915

Thailand floating boat craft: https://www.confessionsofahomeschooler.com/blog/2010/11/expedition-earth-thailand-floating.html

How Much Weight Can Your Boat Float? https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project-ideas/Aero_p020/aerodynamics-hydrodynamics/how-much-weight-can-your-boat-float#procedure

Bring on the Birds!

Mel Fell written and illustrated by Corey R. Tabor

While Mama is away on an errand, Mel the bird decides to learn how to fly. Off the branch she goes, thus beginning a fall that gets really long—and really suspenseful. The oblong pages are designed to be turned vertically so the tree trunk forms a continuous band on one side as Mel plummets past wide-eyed owls, swarming bees, an overly ambitious snail (“I . . . will . . . catch . . . you . . . !”), and others before plunging into water where she snags a fish. As lines of text twist around to follow her, she finally wings her way up past the tree’s cheering residents to get a loving hug from Mama back at the nest: “I flew! I flew!”

I am a Bird written by Hope Lim

Each morning, a little girl and her dad ride their bike to school. As they twist and turn through the city streets, the little girl sings her bird song for all to hear. But when the girl sees the strange woman in blue carrying a mysterious bag, she goes quiet until the woman is out of sight. One day, when the little girl and her dad are running late, the girl discovers what the woman in blue does with her bag each morning. The surprising revelation transforms the girl’s fear of the stranger into a kinship to be celebrated.

Barnaby written by Andrea Curtis

Barnaby is a blue budgie who thinks he’s really something special. He’s the pride and joy of the lady who owns him–until he’s not. One day, the lady comes home with another bird, a smaller, yellow budgie. And Barnaby won’t have it. He protests, makes a nuisance of himself, and then one day, after being scolded by the lady, Barnaby flies out the window and away. Outside of his gilded cage, Barnaby discovers a wider, wilder world.

A Garden to Save the Birds written by Wendy McClure

After a bird flies into their window, two children and their mother study how to keep birds safe, and soon their whole neighborhood is helping in different ways.

Too Much Stuff! Written and illustrated by Emily Gravett

Magpies Meg and Ash want their nest to be the best, and to have everything their chicks will need when they hatch, so they add everything from cuckoo clocks to mops and socks.

A House for Every Bird written and illustrated by Megan Maynor

A young artist has drawn birds and bird houses in corresponding colors. Now it’s time to match them up. The blue bird goes in the blue house, the orange bird in the orange house, and so on. But wait! The birds don’t agree with the narrator’s choices and, much to her distress, are rebelling by swapping houses. Can the narrator make the birds see sense? Or is it possible that you just can’t tell a bird by its feathers?

Two Many Birds written and illustrated by Cindy Derby

Want to sit on the tree? Get in line! This Bird Monitor has a few rules. But what happens when he goes a little too far?

Numenia and the Hurricane: inspired by a true migration story written and illustrated by Fiona Halliday

Thousands of birds are migrating from the Arctic to the Caribbean when a hurricane rips a young whimbrel, Numenia, from her sisters, forcing her to struggle on alone. Includes note about the true story that inspired the book.

Nonfiction

Bird Show written and illustrated by Susan Stockdale

Celebrates the beauty and diversity of some of the world’s most remarkable birds, introducing amateur ornithologists to familiar and exotic species and their vibrant colors, patterns and other feathered features.

The Atlas of Amazing Birds written and illustrated by Matt Sewell

Profiles birds around the world and categorizes them by location, including the Iberian magpie, the Arctic tern, the California condor, the Indian peafowl, and the Madagascan pygmy-kingfisher.

All the Birds in the World written and illustrated by David Opie

Take a beautifully illustrated journey — with an adorable kiwi bird as your guide — through the vast and colorful world of birds, with its tapestry of textures, sounds, and sights.

Homemade bird feeder: https://teachbesideme.com/homemade-window-bird-feeder/

Life Cycles: Nests and Eggs activities: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1qL8SmghxUDoSr9sCC3eCnq-JCo6udnFqmgJcaslSZM0/edit#heading=h.ef8veyu8wtzz

Bird beak experiments: http://adventuresinmommydom.org/bird-beak-experiment/

Make a birds nest: https://kidscraftroom.com/make-a-birds-nest-steam-project/

Bird crafts: https://www.daniellesplace.com/html/birdcrafts.html