By Deanna Day-Wiff, Washington State University, Vancouver, WA
Children and adolescents are taking action and making a difference in their communities and across the globe each day. This WOW Dozen highlights titles around the theme of activism. Each picturebook or novel shows how young people are working for change on causes that matter to them such as: saving a lending library, turning a vacant lot into a natural space for butterflies or creating light for a community in the dark. Other titles may inspire readers to speak up for climate change, demonstrate peacefully or sing for transformation. Reading aloud these titles could encourage K-8 readers to think about the needs or changes in their own communities to change our world.
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A is for Activist by Innosanto Nagara, 9781609805395, Seven Stories Press, 2013.
In simple rhyme each letter of the alphabet stresses equality, diversity, justice, love and freedom.
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Book Uncle and Me by Uma Krishnaswami & Julianna Swaney (il), 9781554988099, Groundwood, 2016.
Yasmin visits a lending library every day after school, but when it is shut down she rallies her friends and neighbors to vote for a different mayoral candidate in hopes of bringing it back.
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Peaceful Fights for Equal Rights by Rob Sanders & Jared Andrew Schorr (il), 9781534429437, Simon & Schuster, 2018.
This ABC book encourages readers to stand up, speak out, sit down, sing loud or be silent to effect change.
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I am One: A Book of Action by Susan Verde & Peter H. Reynolds (il),
9781419742385, Abrams, 2020.
One person can complete a small action that can lead to a chain reaction.
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A Wish in the Dark by Christina Soontornvat, 9781536222975, Candlewick, 2020.
Pong and Somkit find their hidden lights and work with a community to change a city’s unfair laws and provide bright light for everyone despite their backgrounds or economic status.
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Rise Up and Write It by Nandini Ahuja & Anoosha Syed (il), 9780063029590, HarperCollins, 2021.
Farah wonders why there are no butterflies in her neighborhood and writes letters, makes signs and gains petition signatures to make her community greener.
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Love Is Powerful by Heather Dean Brewer & LeUyen Pham (il), Candlewick, 2020.
Mari uses her crayons to make a sign to hold and share when she marches with her mother and thousands of other people.
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My Voice is a Trumpet by Jimmie Allen & Cathy Ann Johnson (il), 9780593352182, Penguin Random House, 2021.
Standing up for what we believe isn’t always easy, but our voices are powerful even when they are as “small as a bee” or “as tall as a tree.”
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No Voice Too Small: Fourteen Young Americans Making History by Lindsay H. Metcalf, Keila V. Dawson, Jeanette Bradley (au/il), 9781623541316, Charlesbridge, 2020.
Lyrical poems introduce fourteen young activists who advocate for solutions to problems, rights and struggles in our world.
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Change Sings: A Children’s Anthem by Amanda Gorman & Loren Long (il), 9780593203224, Penguin Random House, Viking, 2021.
Change sings inside everyone through lending a hand, taking a knee, bringing light, building a bridge and being part of a movement where freedom rings.
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Linked by Gordon Korman, 9781338629118, Scholastic , 2021.
Racist vandalism in a middle school prompts a group of students, their town and students from across the country to make a paper chain of six million links representing the six million lives lost in the Holocaust.
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Kamala and Maya’s Big Idea, by Meena Harris & Ana Ramírez González (il), 9780062937407, HarperCollins, Balzer + Bray, 2020.
Based on a true story, two sisters demonstrate persistence by helping transform a community courtyard into a playground.
WOW Dozen features a list of 12 global books for children and adolescents around a theme, topic, issue or personal favorites. Each Dozen consists of ten newly-published titles with two older “must have” books. Please share or recommend additional books that fit the theme in the comments section or on social media using #WOWDozen. Use the printer icon in the upper left corner of this post to print or save this list as a PDF.
- Themes: A is for Activist, A Wish in the Dark, Amanda Gorman, Ana Ramírez González, Anoosha Syed, Book Uncle and Me, Cathy Ann Johnson, Change Sings: A Children’s Anthem, Christina Soontornvat, Deanna Day-Wiff, Gordon Korman, Heather Dean Brewer, I am One: A Book of Action, Innosanto Nagara, Jared Andrew Schorr, Jeanette Bradley, Jimmie Allen, Julianna Swaney, Kamala and Maya's Big Idea, Keila V. Dawson, LeUyen Pham, Lindsay H. Metcalf, Linked, Loren Long, Love is Powerful, Meena Harris, My Voice is a Trumpet, Nandini Ahuja, No Voice Too Small, Peaceful Fights for Equal Rights, Peter H. Reynolds, Rise Up and Write It, Rob Sanders, Susan Verde, Uma Krishnaswami
- Descriptors: WOW Dozen