While Apartheid ended 30 years ago, its impact still resonates today. Using facts, personal stories and an engaging graphic cartoon, Together Apart is a child’s history book that answers questions and provoke discussions. In a time of rising Fascism, it is vital for our ongoing journey toward a truly inclusive and just society.
The Book Tree Podcast – Episode 7 looks at why Together Apart: The Story of Living in Apartheid by author and literacy scholar Xolisa Guzula is more important than ever. Plus reviews of the three proudly South African books for little ones.
Brave Like Me! is based on the author Zulaikha Patel’s true story of being a scared young girl who finds her braveness through self-belief and later activism against racism and discrimination.
Under the Blood Red Sun is about a twelve-year-old Japanese boy named Tomi living in Hawaii during the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbour in World War 2. This award-winning book is a good springboard to explore the ways in which war impacts on ordinary people’s lives.
What can one young girl do in the face of Islamophobia and ignorance? How do we work out what’s right and wrong in an increasingly complex world? One cold and misty morning Alix and Samir save a drowning man who turns out to be Muhammed – an undocumented Iraqi immigrant escaping torture and seeking asylum.
With the state of politics in the world turning a scary extreme right it’s more important than ever to read, educate and open our children’s minds to the diversity of the world.
Chocolate Me! is a picture book about differences and how they can be celebrated if seen in the right light. Chocolate Me is a little boy who wonders about all the ways he is different from his white friends, Timmy, Johnny and Mark who, with their ‘normal’ names, straight hair, and fair complexions make Chocolate Me feel like he is all kinds of wrong. A perfect springboard for diversity discussions.
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