This collection contains materials from the DIVerse Families bibliography organized by Grades K-3.
DIVerse Families is a comprehensive bibliography that demonstrates the growing diversity of families in the United States. This type of bibliography provides teachers, librarians, counselors, adoption agencies, children/young adults, and especially parents and grandparents needing to empower their children with materials that reflect their families.
Browse by Grade Level:
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My Special Needs Family
Claudia Harrington
Lenny follows Roxy for a school project and learns about her family life as someone with special needs.
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Mysterious Traveler
Mal Peet and Elspeth Graham
Desert guide Issa finds the baby girl Mariama after a sandstorm, and raises her as his own daughter--until a young man and his protectors come seeking a guide for their dangerous journey through the Bitter Mountains.
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My Two Moms
Claudia Harrington
Lenny, the class reporter, follows Elsie for a school project and learns about her life with her two moms.
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My Uncle's Wedding
Eric Ross
There’s so much to do now that Uncle Mike and Steve are getting married. Follow Andy on this enjoyable journey as he talks about his uncle's wedding, how it affects him, and the things he gets to do in preparation for the ceremony. You’ll laugh and smile as you read this adorable story about marriage and family.
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My Whirling Twirling Motor
Merriam Sarcia Saunders
Charlie feels like he has a whirling, twirling motor running inside him all the time and sometimes he just can’t settle. When his mom wants to talk to him, he figures he’s in trouble…but she has a surprise for him instead! Includes a Note to Parents, Caregivers, and Teachers with more information on ADHD, behavior management, and helping children focus on the positives.
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Nala's Magical Mitsiaq: A Story of Inuit Adoption
Jennifer Noah
When a blizzard prevents sisters Nala and Qiatsuk from going sledding, they end up staying home and hearing the story of Nala's adoption and learning about Inuit custom adoption instead.
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Naming Liberty
Jane Yolen
In parallel stories, a Ukrainian Jewish family prepares to immigrate to the United States in the late 1800s, and Frederic Auguste Bartholdi designs, raises funds for, and builds the Statue of Liberty in honor of the United States' centennial.
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Nathan's Wish: A Story About Cerebral Palsy
Laurie Lears
A boy with cerebral palsy helps out at a raptor rehabilitation center and is inspired himself when an owl that cannot fly finds another purpose in life.
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New Shoes
Susan Lynn Meyer
Set in the South during the time of segregation, this lushly illustrated picture book brings the civil rights era to life for contemporary readers as two young girls find an inventive way to foil Jim Crow laws.When her brother's hand-me-down shoes don't fit, it is time for Ella Mae to get new ones. She is ecstatic, but when she and her mother arrive at Mr. Johnson's shoe store, her happiness quickly turns to dejection. Ella Mae is unable to try on the shoes because of her skin color. Determined to fight back, Ella Mae and her friend Charlotte work tirelessly to collect and restore old shoes, wiping, washing, and polishing them to perfection. The girls then have their very own shoe sale, giving the other African American members of their community a place to buy shoes where they can be treated fairly and "try on all the shoes they want."
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Newspaper Hats
Phil Cummings
A little girl, Georgie, visits her grandfather in the nursing home where he is suffering from memory loss, and manages to reconnect with him when they make newspaper hats for everyone.
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Nice Wheels
Gwendolyn Hooks
The classmates of a new boy at school find that, although he is in a wheelchair, he can do what they do.
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Nina Bonita: A Story
Ana Maria Machado
Enchanted by Nina Bonita's black skin, a white rabbit determines to find a way to have children as beautiful and black as she is.
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Nine Candles
Maria Testa
After visiting his mother in prison on his seventh birthday, Raymond wishes it were his ninth birthday when Mama has promised to be home with his dad and him.
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Nini
Francois Thisdale
Long before Nini was born, she was in a safe place where a familiar voice promised her a loving home. But once she was born, that soft voice was replaced by the words of care givers in an orphanage. Though they were kind, Nini missed the soft voice and the promises it made. Then, one day, a man and a woman on the other side of the world learned that their dreams were about to come true. They would finally have a baby to love. When they all met, Nini once again heard a soft voice, as reassuring and as loving as the first, and trusted that the promises had come true. But her first memory was never lost--it remained an echo for her to share with her parents in her new home.
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Noah Chases the Wind
Michelle Worthington
Noah is different. He sees, hears, feels, and thinks in ways that other people don't always understand, and he asks a lot of questions along the way. Noah loves science, especially the weather. His books usually provide him with the answers he needs, until one day, there's one question they don't answer—and that is where Noah's windy adventure begins.
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No Mirrors in My Nana's House
Ysaye M. Barnwell
A girl discovers the beauty in herself by looking into her Nana's eyes.
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No Ordinary Family
Ute Krause and Nicholas Miller
When seven little bandits suddenly have to share their dad’s time with a Princess and her six little princes and princesses—it’s a royal mess. “When are they leaving?” “Oh, they’re staying, my dear,” said their dad. And stay they did. But when the little bandits devise a plan to make them leave, they soon discover that it’s royally boring without them… It’s patchwork times three in Ute Krause’s new delightful offering—for when their mom meets a dragon…the bandits and the royals alike are never the same again (and they couldn’t be happier for it!)
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Nora's Ark
Natalie Kinsey-Warnock
This heartwarming story by Natalie Kinsey-Warnock is based on a real-life event: the Vermont Flood of 1927. Watercolors by Caldecott Medal-winning artist Emily Arnold McCully capture both the sweeping drama of the flood and the comfort of a cozy kitchen filled with friends, neighbors, and good cheer.
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Nora's Chicks
Patricia Maclachlan
Nora and her family have just arrived from Russia and are making a new home on the American frontier. The prairie is very different from the forested hills Nora is used to. Most of all, it’s lonely. Papa has the cows he sings to as he milks them. Baby brother Milo has a dog to follow him wherever he goes. But Nora has no one and nothing to call her own until Papa brings home a dozen chicks and two geese. Nora names each one, and they follow her everywhere — even to church! But what will happen when one of her beloved chicks goes missing?
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Not All Princesses Dress in Pink
Jane Yolen and Heidi E. Y. Stemple
Rhyming text affirms that girls can pursue their many interests, from playing sports to planting flowers in the dirt, without giving up their tiaras.
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Not Every Princess
Jeffery Bone and Lisa Bone
After listing activities that are stereotypically, but not always, attributed to princesses, fairies, pirates, superheroes, and more, encourages the reader to imagine what one could be, despite others' expectations. Includes note to parents.
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Nurse, Soldier, Spy: The Story of Sarah Edmonds, A Civil War Hero
Marissa Moss
A story of a nineteen-year-old woman who disguised herself as a man to avoid an unwanted marriage and who distinguished herself as a male nurse during the Civil War, and later as a spy for the Union Army.
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Oh, Oh Baby Boy!
Janine Macbeth
Oh, Oh, Baby Boy follows a newborn baby as he grows up, laughs, plays, causes mischief, and makes friends. His father's involvement is woven throughout the story, and depicted in nontraditional ways. The baby's father cuddles, bathes, and cooks with his son, and re-enters the story when the baby boy eventually becomes a father himself, bringing the journey full circle.
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Ojiichan's Gift
Chieri Uegaki
A young girl finds a way to give the gift of a traditional Japanese garden back to her beloved grandfather and accept a difficult change.
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Olu's Dream
Shane W. Evans
Olu begs his father to be allowed to stay up and finish a project, but his father insists that he go to sleep, promising that he can have fun overnight, too.