Inclusive Stories for Kids
#TogetherAgainstBias
Published on: June 2, 2021
Linet Mera, PhD
Join us on June 19th, 2021 (yes! Juneteenth!) for a cozy reading corner featuring stories written by BIPOC authors lending their voices and life experiences to their stories with BIPOC main characters. Join us at any time during our hour together for colorful books, diverse characters, songs, and rhymes.
Kids ages 2 and up can enjoy this virtual reading event with their caregivers. Caregivers can read along and discover books that are truly inclusive with diverse central characters.
About our reader & performers:
Linet smiling holding a paint brush and pages in front of a watercolor painting outdoors. Photography by Carly Bennett Photography.
Dr. Linet Mera (she/her) is co-Executive Director of the Unconscious Bias Project (UBP) where she designs and facilitates programs for adults in diversity, equity, and inclusion. She is a white-passing woman of color with indigenous ancestry, a scientist, and a Colombian American mom of a 4 year old who loves to read. As part of her work at UBP, she has read at several reading corners for kids and is always on the lookout for resources to support caregivers and educators to talk about race and bias.
Chris, holding a guitar outdoors, sitting on a blanket in front of a toddler smiling at the camera.
Dr. Christopher Baker (he/him) is a scientist at the University of California at Berkeley, and an accomplished guitarist and songwriter.
Together with Linet and their kid, they co-wrote original songs to welcome and close our reading space together.
Books
We’ve partnered with our friend Henriette from Mama Let’s Read to pick favorite stories that are loved by parents, caregivers, and kids.
These curated stories are written and illustrated by BIPOC authors and artists that bring to life central characters just like them!
Picture of book covers of Eyes that Kiss in the Corners, Furqan’s First Flat Top, Antiracist Baby.
Furqan’s First Flat Top | El Primer Corte de Mesita de Furqan
Author and illustrator Robert Liu-Trujillo (he/him) was born and lives in Oakland, California. His art spans fine art, illustration, murals, graffiti, and children’s books. He’s a dad of a teenage boy and baby girl and is active in several social justice venues and art forms collaborating with other artists and activists across the Bay and beyond.
This book is also translated by Cinthya Muñoz.
Eyes that Kiss in the Corners
Author Joanna Ho (she/her) was born to two immigrant parents from Taiwan and China in St. Paul, Minnesota. She has a background in English education and currently serves as vice principal at a Bay Area high school. Mother of two “rascally children”, she realized that there weren’t many diverse characters in children’s books and started writing because she “believe(s) all kids need to see themselves and others in books.
Illustrator Dung (pronounced Zung) Ho (she/her) was born and raised in Hue Imperial City and currently resides in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. She draws inspiration in nature and brings life to interesting characters in several children’s books. Her colorful art has been featured in the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art.
Antiracist Baby
Author and Professor Dr. Ibram X. Kendi (he/him) is a historian and antiracist scholar born to activist parents in New York City and currently resides in Boston, Massachusetts. He has won numerous prestigious awards for his prolific writing aimed at academics, general audiences, and children. He describes himself as a “hardcore antiracist and softcore vegan” that loves spending time with friends and family.
Illustrator and visual artist Ashely (Ash) Uananiau Lukashevsky was born and raised in Honolulu Hawaii. The describe themselves a “mixed queer” and uses their work to “as a tool to strengthen social movements for racial justice, immigrant justice, climate justice, mental health and LGBTQIA+ liberation.”
Artists, authors (when available), and publishers Harper Collins and Penguin Random Hills gave their permission for us to read these books.
Accessibility:
Live closed captioning is available for the event. Please let us know how we can make this event more accessible to you by replying to your confirmation email or emailing us at ubp@ubproject.org.
This event is FREE!
This event is free and part of our Breaking Bread & Bias 2021 outreach campaign. We would be grateful for any support you can lend us to help us keep bringing free resources to our communities. If you would like to sponsor this event in whole or in part please check out our Breaking Bread & Bias Sponsorship page.
Event recording
Our reading corner will be recorded, check the event confirmation page for more details on how we will use the recording.