Research Guides: Topics in the Youth Collection: Building Classroom Culture

Creating Classroom Cultures of Compassion and Connection

This list was created in September 2020 to support LITED 3121 (Children's Literature for Diversity and Social Justice) and their discussion of restorative justice. The books on this list were identified as titles that could promote community values, connection, and compassion.

If you have feedback to share about any of the titles on this list, please get in touch with the Youth Services Librarian! I look forward to hearing from you.

Book descriptions in quotation marks come from our catalog. Book descriptions without quotation marks are original to this list.

Book Suggestions

Who We Are! by Robie H. Harris; Nadine Bernard Westcott (Illustrator)
Call Number: Y 158 H
Publication Date: 2016
When their family visits Funland, Nellie and Gus notice many ways that people are alike and different.
All Kinds of Friends by Shelley Rotner (Photographer); Sheila M. Kelly
Call Number: Y 177 R
Publication Date: 2017
"Photographs and simple text explore the many kinds of friends children have in their lives."
We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga by Traci Sorell; Frané Lessac (Illustrator)
Call Number: Y 975 S
Publication Date: 2018
"Otsaliheliga is a Cherokee word that is used to express gratitude. Journey through the year with a Cherokee family and their tribal nation as they express thanks for celebrations big and small. This book presents a look at modern Native American life as told by a citizen of the Cherokee Nation."
Daniel's Good Day by Micha Archer
Call Number: YE ARC
Publication Date: 2019
"When his neighbors give a variety of answers to the question "What is a good day?" Daniel writes a poem about the everyday activities that give them joy."
Henry and Bea by Jessixa Bagley
Call Number: YE BAG
Publication Date: 2019
"When Bea's best friend, Henry, seems sad and stops talking to her, she gently tries to find out what is wrong." (Spoiler alert/content note: involves the death of a beloved pet.)
A Friend for Henry by Jenn Bailey; Mika Song (Illustrator)
Call Number: YE BAI
Publication Date: 2019
"Henry would like to find a friend at school, but for a boy on the autism spectrum, making friends can be difficult, as his efforts are sometimes misinterpreted, or things just go wrong--but Henry keeps trying, and in the end he finds a friend he can play with."
I Am Enough by Grace Byers; Keturah A. Bobo (Illustrator)
Call Number: YE BYE
Publication Date: 2018
"Shares a story of loving who you are, respecting others and being kind to one another."
Lena's Shoes Are Nervous by Keith Calabrese; Juana Medina (Illustrator)
Call Number: YE CAL
Publication Date: 2018
"Lena is excited about starting kindergarten but her favorite shoes are not until, with the help of her father and a very special headband, she convinces the shoes--and herself--to be brave."
A New Home by Tania de Regil
Call Number: YE DE
Publication Date: 2019
"Moving to a new city can be exciting. But what if your new home isn't anything at all like your old home? Will you make friends? What will you eat? Where will you play?"
The Rabbit Listened by Cori Doerrfeld
Call Number: YE DOE
Publication Date: 2018
"When Taylor's block castle is destroyed, all the animals think they know just what to do, but only the rabbit quietly listens to how Taylor is feeling."
Melena's Jubilee
by Zetta Elliott; Aaron Boyd (Illustrator)
Call Number: YE ELL
Publication Date: 2016
"Forgive and be forgiven. It sounds so appealing -- why doesn't it happen every day? Finding herself forgiven on a rain-scrubbed morning after a difficult day, Melena seizes her fresh start and shares the song in her heart with her family and friends. It's a day of new beginnings. It's Melena's jubilee."
Yasmin the Teacher by Saadia Faruqi; Hatem Aly (Illustrator)
Call Number: YE FAR
Publication Date: 2019
"When Ms. Alex is called away from the classroom, she leaves Yasmin in charge, but the other children just ignore her and start acting silly and noisy--until Yasmin thinks up a way to motivate them to finish the math assignment, quietly."
Music Time by Gwendolyn Hooks; Shirley Ng-Benitez (Illustrator)
Call Number: YE HOO
Publication Date: 2017
"Henry's drum practice at home is too loud so he goes outside and when he sees his friends playing jump rope he figures out a way to play drums and play with his friends."

**Find this book on top of the picture book shelves with other early readers
We Are Not Friends by Anna Kang; Christopher Weyant (Illustrator)
Call Number: YE KAN
Publication Date: 2019
"Being friends is so much fun. But when a new pal shows up, everything changes...Suddenly three's a crowd..."
The Many Colors of Harpreet Singh by Supriya Kelkar; Alea Marley (Illustrator); Simran Jeet Singh (Afterword by)
Call Number: YE KEL
ISBN: 9781454931843
Publication Date: 2019
"Harpreet Singh has a different color for every occasion, from pink for dancing to bhangra beats to red for courage. He especially takes care with his patkas, his turbans, smoothing each one out gently before putting it on. But when Harpreet's mom finds a new job in a snowy town and the family has to move, he finds himself choosing white over and over--all he wants is to be invisible. Will he ever feel a happy sunny yellow again?"
Saffron Ice Cream by Rashin Kheiriyeh
Call Number: YE KHE
Publication Date: 2018
"Rashin is an Iranian immigrant girl living in New York, excited by her first trip to Coney Island, and fascinated by the differences in the beach customs between her native Iran and her new home--but she misses the saffron flavored ice cream that she used to eat."
Don't Touch My Hair! by Sharee Miller
Call Number: YE MIL
Publication Date: 2018
"Aria loves her soft and bouncy hair, but must go to extremes to avoid people who touch it without permission until, finally, she speaks up."
The Proudest Blue by Ibtihaj Muhammad; Hatem Aly (Illustrator); S. K. Ali (As told to)
Call Number: YE MUH
Publication Date: 2019
"Faizah relates how she feels on the first day her sister, sixth-grader Asiya, wears a hijab to school."
If You Plant a Seed by Kadir Nelson
Call Number: YE NEL
Publication Date: 2015
"While planting seeds in their garden, two animals learn the value of kindness."
Bradford Street Buddies by Jerdine Nolen; Michelle Henninger (Illustrator)
Call Number: YE NOL
Publication Date: 2015
"Mr. Perkins has a big surprise for the annual block party, but when the truck carrying it there breaks down, twins Jada and Jamal and their best friends, Josh and Carlita, propose a different form of transportation."

**Find this book on top of the picture book shelves with other early readers
A Family Is a Family Is a Family
by Sara O'Leary; Qin Leng (Illustrator)
Call Number: YE OLE
Publication Date: 2016
What is a family? When a teacher asks the children in her class to think about what makes their families special, the answers are all different in many ways -- but the same in the one way that matters most of all.
The Field by Baptiste Paul; Jacqueline Alcántara (Illustrator)
Call Number: YE PAU
Publication Date: 2018
"Children form teams, build a pitch, and play a joyous game of soccer, in a book with English and Creole (as spoken in Saint Lucia) vocabulary words."
Bilal Cooks Daal by Aisha Saeed; Anoosha Syed (Illustrator)
Call Number: YE SAE
Publication Date: 2019
"Bilal and his father invite his friends to help make his favorite dish, daal, then all must wait patiently for it to be done."
Just Ask! by Sonia Sotomayor; Rafael López (Illustrator); Rafael López (Illustrator)
Call Number: YE SOT
Publication Date: 2019
"In this creative non-fiction story, Sonia and her friends plant a garden, and each one contributes in his or her own special way, in a book that celebrates the many differences among humans. In this warm and inclusive story by U.S. Supreme Justice Sonia Sotomayor, inspired by her own childhood diagnosis of diabetes, readers join along as differently abled kids use their strengths to work together and learn about each other."
The Me I Choose to Be by Natasha Anastasia Tarpley, Regis Bethencourt (Artist), & Kahran Bethencourt (Artist)
Call Number: YE TAR
Publication Date: 2021
"What will you choose to be? A free spirit? A weaver of words? A star dancing across the night sky? A limitless galaxy? The possibilities are endless in this uplifting ode to the power of potential."
Accident! by Andrea Tsurumi
Call Number: YE TSU
Publication Date: 2017
"When Lola the armadillo accidentally knocks over a jug of juice all over her parent's favorite chair, her panic sets off a chain reaction that sends the whole town into chaos. While "sorry" still might be the hardest word, this silly and sincere book will help readers realize that making a mistake isn't a disaster."
The Day You Begin by Jacqueline Woodson; Rafael López (Illustrator); Rafael López (Illustrator)
Call Number: YE WOO
Publication Date: 2018
Students in a class build connections even though they feel alone at first.
Each Kindness by Jacqueline Woodson; E. B. Lewis (Illustrator)
Call Number: YE WOO
Publication Date: 2012
"When Ms. Albert teaches a lesson on kindness, Chloe realizes that she and her friends have been wrong in making fun of new student Maya's shabby clothes and refusing to play with her."