K-3 Books | University of Central Florida

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.

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Shy Mama's Halloween

Anne Broyles

For Anya, Dasha, Irina, and Dimitrii, newly arrived to this country, Halloween seems a wonderfully strange and exciting holiday. They enlist Mrs. Rumanski and her midnight-blue Singer sewing machine in the apartment downstairs to help with their costumes, and Papa agrees to take them out trick-or-treating. But Papa comes home sick that evening, and it looks as though the children will be watching the trick or treating from the upstairs window. Mama, who is frightened by so much in this new country, especially the thought of ghosts and goblins on the streets, surprises them all when she rises to the occasion and takes her young princess, witch, devil, and clown down the stairs and out into the night. As they go from house to house, they find that everyone along the street is friendly. No one seems to care that their "Thank yous" are said with an accent, or that Mama, in her babushka, can speak only a few words of English. For Anya, Dasha, Irina, and Dimitrii, it is their first sense of belonging in their new country, of savoring the fun and magic of Halloween and the generosity of strangers. For Mama, it is a much greater step out into a new world, led by her children.
Sign Up Here: A Story about Friendship

Kathryn Cole

When nobody will let her join their club, Dee-Dee decides to start a club of her own that welcomes everybody.
Silent Movie

Avi .

In the early years of the twentieth century, a Swedish family encounters separation and other hardships upon immigrating to New York City until the son is cast in a silent movie, in a picture book that evokes an actual silent movie.
Silver Shoes

Caroline Binch

Molly loves to dance, and she desperately wants some silver shoes for her first dance class. But her mum says she has to wait!
Since We're Friends: An Autism Picture Book

Celeste Shally

A boy describes his friendship with Matt, whose autism spectrum disorder causes him to behave strangely at times, and how he make things easier for Matt at school and in their neighborhood.
Single-Parent Families

Sarah L. Schuette

Simple text and photographs present single-parent families, including how family members interact with one another.
Sing to the Stars

Mary Brigid Barrett and Sandra Speidel

When Ephram becomes friends with a blind man in his neighborhood and finds out that Mr. Washington was a famous pianist who hasn't touched a piano for a long time, he resolves to get the man back on stage.
Sisters

Judith Caseley

Kika has just been adopted -- and she's worried. There's so much that's new to her: a different language, new friends to make, and something she's never had before -- a family. Melissa has a new sister -- and she's excited. There's so much to share with Kika: trips to the playground, afternoons at the library, and birthday parties. Through each new experience, Kika and Melissa discover that sisterhood can be fun, challenging, and sometimes unpredictable, but always rewarding. Best of all, a sister is a friend for life.
Sky

Pamela Paige Porter

Eleven-year-old Georgia lives with her grandparents, Paw Paw and Gramma, on the edge of the Blackfeet Reservation in Montana. Spring comes, and it rains and rains until one afternoon the creek behind their house suddenly becomes a wall of water, washing away everything the family owns: their house, their barn, and even Daisy, the only stuffed animal Georgia has ever had. Through sheer determination, Georgia and her grandparents gradually rebuild their lives, but it's not until Georgia finds Sky, a foal that somehow survived the flood, that the family begins to heal and find meaning again despite their losses. Based on the true story of Georgia Salois and written in the haunting voice of a young child, Sky vividly describes the historic flood of 1964 and its effect on Georgia and her people. Their courage in overcoming disaster, poverty, and discrimination provides young readers with a compelling portrayal of endurance.
Some Kids Just Can't Sit Still

Sam Goldstein

Rhyming text describes how difficult life can be for a child with Attention deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and how parents, teachers, and doctors can help.
Some People Have Two Dads

Luca Panzini and Fabri Kramer

This first book from the Some Families series is about Daisy, a happy little girl with two dads. We follow her through the story of her birthday and learn how fathers were helped by a surrogate to bring Daisy into their lives. An increasing number of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) couples are having children through surrogacy, co-parenting, donor, and adoption.
Some People Have Two Mums

Fabri Framer and Luca Panzini

This second book from the Some Families series is about Milo, a happy little boy with two mums. We follow him through his bedtime routine and learn how his mothers were helped by a donor to bring Milo into their lives. An increasing number of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) couples are having children through surrogacy, co-parenting, donor, and adoption.
Sometimes it's Grandmas and Grandpas, Not Mommies and Daddies

Gayle Byrne

A young girl who lives with her grandparents experiences warmth, love, and closeness, even when she wonders why her parents are not raising her.
Sometimes My Mommy Gets Angry

Bebe Moore Campbell

A little girl learns coping skills with the help of her grandmother, neighbors and school friends, when her mother's mental illness disrupts her daily routine.
Sometimes Noise is Big: Life with Autism

Angela Coelho

Sometimes noise is too big for my ears. Sometimes the light is too loud for my eyes. I have autism and this means that sometimes the world around me is just too much! This book will help you to see the world through my eyes and to understand why I react to things the way I do. Flipping the perspective for neurotypicals, this book explains in simple terms some of the sensory issues experienced by children with autism. It shows situations which can be overwhelming and the ways that somebody with autism might react when there is too much going on. This picture book raises awareness of autism and helps young children of all abilities to better understand these issues.
Sometimes the Spoon Runs Away with Another Spoon: Coloring Book

Jacinta Bunnell

Re-creating nursery rhymes and fairy tales, this radical activity book takes anecodotes from the lives of real kids and mixes them with classic tales to create true-to-life characters, situations, and resolutions.
Sometimes We Were Brave

Pat Brisson

Jerome's mother is a sailor in the United States Navy, and when she is away at sea he tries to be brave even though misses her and has some bad days.
Somos como las nubes / We Are Like the Clouds

Jorge Argueta

Poems describe the experiences of young Central Americans as they leave the dangers of their own countries to undertake the risky journey north to seek relative safety in the United States.
Sonya's Family (All Kinds of Families)

Elliot Riley

There are many types of families. Meet Sonya's family. Her parents are divorced so she spends time with each of them separately.
Sosu's Call

Meshack Asare

When a great storm threatens, Sosu, an African boy who is unable to walk, joins his dog Fusa in helping save their village.
Sourpuss and Sweetie Pie

Norton Juster

A little girl spends time with her Poppy and Nana and answers to two very different nicknames.
Special People, Special Ways

Arlene H. Maguire

A poem about the ways in which people with many differences in physical and mental ability share the same human needs for love and understanding.
Speranza's Sweater

Marcy Pusey

Speranza wears her sweater everywhere, hanging onto the last memories of her birth home, until it's threadbare. Like her unraveled sweater, Speranza must weave together a new story, brining threads from her past and strands from her present, into a future of love, family and the true meaning of home.
Splash, Anna Hibiscus

Atinuke .

Anna Hibiscus goes to the beach with her family and has trouble finding someone to splash in the water with her.
Splish, Splat!

Alexis Domney

When Colin asks to have his bedroom painted, his mother hires two deaf professionals to do the job, but when the two painters Betty and Molly get too chatty on the job, they produce an unintended effect on the walls.