Grow Big Hearts With Books
Research shows that reading aloud is a great way for kids to reinforce important ideas. If you have time, using books during Us Time in your classroom will help students make connections between the lessons and their lives.
Books About Feelings
The Color Monster: A Story About Emotions By Anna Llenas
One day, Color Monster wakes up feeling very confused. His emotions are all over the place; he feels angry, happy, calm, sad, and scared all at once! To help him, a little girl shows him what each feeling means through color.
The Feelings Book By Todd Parr
The Feelings Book illustrates the wide range of moods people experience, helping children think about the feelings they feel throughout the day or all at once.
Grumpy Monkey, Written by Suzanne Lang, Illustrated by Max Lang
Jim the chimpanzee is in a bad mood for no reason. His friends can’t understand — and have suggestions to help him feel better. Maybe he just needs a grumpy day!
My Blue is Happy, Written By Jessica Young, Illustrated by Catia Chien
What is your blue like? A lyrical ode to colors — and the unique ways we experience them — follows a little girl as she explores the world with her family and friends.
How Are You Peeling? Foods With Moods By Saxton Freymann and Elffers Joost
Explore the feelings with produce! The book asks readers to explore how they feel in different situations, while the pictures give away the emotions on the “faces” of fruits and veggies.
When Sadness is at Your Door by Eva Eland
Sadness can be scary and confusing at any age! When we feel sad, especially for long periods of time, it can seem as if the sadness is a part of who we are–an overwhelming, invisible, and scary sensation. In When Sadness Is at Your Door, Eland approaches this feeling as if it is a visitor.
In My Heart: A Book of Feelings by Jo Witek
In My Heart explores a full range of emotions, describing how they feel physically, inside, with language that is lyrical but also direct to empower readers to practice articulating and identifying their own emotions.
Outside In by Deborah Underwood
Outside In is about the ways nature creates and touches our lives.
When Sophie Gets Angry — Really, Really Angry by Molly Bang
What will Sophie do when her mother tells her it’s her sister’s turn to play with her stuffed gorilla?
Llama Llama Mad at Mama by Anna Dewdney
Llama Llama is angry that he has to go to the grocery store with his Mama. Both Llama Llama and Mama learn lessons.
La Catrina: A Bilingual Book of Emotions by Patty Rodriguez and Ariana Stein
Introduce toddlers to basic feelings words and their corresponding facial expressions with this Dia de Muertos themed board book.
Ruby Finds a Worry by Tom Percival
Ruby has a worry — which grows bigger and bigger and bigger! This book is a good springboard for talking to children about emotions and anxieties.
Books About Identity/Belonging/Race/Racism
Shades of People By Shelley Rotner and Sheila M. Kelly
Cocoa, tan, rose, and almond—people come in lots of shades, even in the same family. A perfect resource for starting conversations about race with young children, Shades of People celebrates the diversity of everyday life. This beautiful picture book and its board book edition, All Kinds of People, pair simple text and vibrant photographs to explore one of our most notable physical traits.
Who’s in a Family? By Robert Skutch (Author), Laura Nienhaus (Illustrator)
Family is important, but who’s in a family? Why, the people who love you the most! This equal opportunity, open-minded picture book has no preconceptions about what makes a family a family.
Families By Shelley Rotner & Sheila M. Kelly
Celebrate diversity with this picture book for very young children about the many faces of contemporary families. Bright photographs by National Geographic photographer Shelley Rotner capture families having fun together, enjoying all the ways they are similar and different.
All the Colors We Are By Katie Kissinger
Celebrate the essence of one way we are all special and different from one another — our skin color! This bilingual (English/Spanish) book offers children a simple, scientifically accurate explanation about how our skin color is determined by our ancestors, the sun, and melanin. It’s also filled with colorful photographs that capture the beautiful variety of skin tones.
Black is Brown is Tan By Arnold Adoff and Illustrator Emily Arnold McCully
When it was first published in 1973, Black is Brown is Tan featured the first interracial family in children’s books. Decades later, this book remains a joyous and loving celebration of all the colors of the race, now newly embellished with bright watercolor paintings that depict a contemporary family of the twenty-first century.
Love Makes a Family By Sophie Beer
Love is baking a special cake. Love is lending a helping hand. Love is reading one more book. In this exuberant board book, many different families are shown in happy activity, from an early-morning wake-up to a kiss before bed.
Martin’s Big Words By Doreen Rappaport and Illustrator Bryan Collier
This Caldecott Honor, Coretta Scott King Honor, and New York Times Book Review Best Illustrated Children’s Book picture book biography of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., brings his life and the profound nature of his message to young children through his own words.
Last Stop on Market Street By Matt de la Peña and Illustrator Christian Robinson
This award-winning modern classic is an inclusive ode to kindness, empathy, gratitude, and finding joy in unexpected places, and celebrates the special bond between a curious young boy and his loving grandmother.
The Day You Begin By Jacqueline Woodson
National Book Award winner Jacqueline Woodson and two-time Pura Belpré Illustrator Award winner Rafael López have teamed up to create a poignant, yet heartening book about finding courage to connect, even when you feel scared and alone.
I Am Enough By Grace Byers (Author), Keturah A. Bobo (Illustrator)
This gorgeous, lyrical ode to loving who you are, respecting others, and being kind to one another comes from Empire actor and activist Grace Byers and talented newcomer artist Keturah A. Bobo. We are all here for a purpose. We are more than enough. We just need to believe it.
Your Name is a Song By Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow (Author), Luisa Uribe (Illustrator)
Frustrated by a day full of teachers and classmates mispronouncing her beautiful name, a little girl tells her mother she never wants to come back to school. In response, the girl’s mother teaches her about the musicality of African, Asian, Black-American, Latinx, and Middle Eastern names on their lyrical walk home through the city.
The Family Book By Todd Parr
There are so many different types of families, and THE FAMILY BOOK celebrates them all in a funny, silly, and reassuring way.