Recently, I 'cycled' out
After cleaning out the 2 book shelves and two baskets of books- gratefully- he made his bed time reading choices, 3 that we've read before, but seemed to get hidden by those dang procreating licensed character books.
Prepare yourself- this was a proud Mommy moment.
Love these books. All of them. (Love is a strong word for books- especially the little zebra one it still has a clear and fun message) But, what is that? you ask? Is that a "Father and Son" book? gasp.
Single caucasian mom bought, her son, a Father and Son book depicting black fathers and sons! Huh? Weird choice? Odd choice. Maybe
But I saw this book, in a little bookstore in Andover Mass (Thank you sistah for the gift card). It is beautiful. The illustrations are striking and come alive (my photos do no justice!). I decided, right then and there, that if I was going to show my son how families are made up of all different combinations than I couldn't hide the father thing or the 'oops. Mommy's not black' thing. (He actually calls me orange this time of year, but I digress). More importantly, he sees a black man, as a father. An image of what he may one day be.
For some reason, I still find it an odd choice. But one I'm very glad I made.
5 comments:
I think it's a great choice, for all the reasons you give! Love it!
I know what you mean about the licensed character books... I have six kids... you can do the math for yourself. :) Anyway, those all look like wonderful books. I really like the one we have called "E is for Ethiopia". Sadly, it is now out of print. We have quite a few Africa/Ethiopia themed books, but none of these. I might look for some of these for Thomas.
That looks like a beautiful book. Actually all 3 of those do. Thanks for the tips! We need to cycle out the character books too...
I love books with amazing illustrations too - like all of Kadir Nelson's books.
Have you ever tried books by Ezra Jack Keats? "The Snowy Day" was a favorite of ours when my daughter was little. The illustrations are so lovely....
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