by Judi Moreillon, Tucson, AZ, and Mary Margaret Mercado, Pima County Public Libraries, AZ

For economic, political and personal reasons, families today are spread across countries and continents. They must navigate language and cultural differences and geography to hold their familial ties together. Some children and families are able to travel to visit their relatives in their heritage countries; others are unable to cross borders to maintain their family connections. Some families have only photographs or memories to share of their extended families and ancestors.

In this WOW Dozen, children navigate the challenges that can separate them from their loved ones and their heritage cultures. Some learn the language of their parents, grandparents or other relatives. Some learn about culture through traditional artifacts, food, celebrations and family stories. Some have only hopes and dreams of reuniting with their relatives or maintaining connections to a “home” they may never visit and relatives they may never meet face to face.

The picturebooks in this collection can help build empathy among readers and book listeners. Recent immigrant children may connect with the value and meaning of their cultural heritage; these books may encourage them to share their own identity stories with classmates. Children whose parents are first or second generation immigrants may have a better understanding of the sacrifices and difficult decisions made by their parents or grandparents. Still others whose ancestors came from another place several generations ago may connect with the emotions and experiences of today’s immigrants and refugees as well as to those of their own relatives.

Through story and art, the authors and illustrators of this WOW Dozen share the importance of family connections and heritage cultures. Reading and reflecting on the positive identity-affirming messages in these books can help build community in classrooms. This Dozen can be a springboard for students and families sharing their heritage cultures with classmates thereby expanding young people’s understanding of their own place in our global family.

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.

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• Themes: Judi Moreillon, Mary Margaret Mercado
• Descriptors: WOW Dozen