May - Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month

May is a month ready to celebrate a lot of special people.

Mother's Day.
Teacher Appreciation Week.

Children's Book Week.

Mental Health Awareness Month.

Jewish American Heritage Month.

May is also Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month. Covid has wreaked havoc on so many lives. The hate crimes against the AAPI community are unacceptable. I highly encourage you to find your own ways to show love and support in the best way that feels comfortable to you. Donations are obviously one way. I also encourage you to follow book bloggers, bookstores, and others in the children's literature community this month as they tell you, with their own voices, what matters to them.

Here are a few of my favorite books for Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month. Stay tuned for more throughout May! (To purchase any of these books online through my bookstore, click on the image! Or click here for the book list and watch the list grow throughout the month.)

Laxmi feels uncomfortable when the other kids point out the soft hairs growing above her lip. Then her parents, as parents often do, remind her that she should be proud of who she is. What a beautiful book about family, love, and being yourself!

Wu Chen Shiung was born in China in a time when young girls weren't allowed to go to school. Yet the women in her life were determined for her to have a different future. An inspiring story about what it means to defeat the odds and achieve your dreams.

A super funny book that any kid with a sibling will appreciate. The narrator of the story describes all the things they love, and don't love, about the "bear" living with them. A great book to read when one of your children is feeling less than appreciative of their siblings.