WOW Dozen: Children's Books for Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage
Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Heritage Month occurs every May. The U.S. Congress officially acknowledged the history and contributions of Asian American communities in the United States in 1977. Representative Frank Horton of New York and Senator Daniel Inouye of Hawaii spearheaded the commemoration to be observed for the first ten days of May. The celebration was initially marked for one week but was later extended to a full month-long tribute, starting in May 1990. May also commemorates the arrival of the first Japanese immigrants to the United States in 1843. Additionally, May marks the transcontinental railroad's completion on May 10, 1869, which Chinese immigrants primarily built. This WOW dozen contains an assortment of 12 picturebooks and middle grade books to honor and celebrate the cultures of Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander people.
Dayeon overcomes her fear of the sea to become a haenyeo, a female freediver harvesting seafood in the South Korean province of Jeju, like her grandmother.
Hau, feeling inferior to her talented sisters, discovers her unique abilities with the help of her kupuna (grandparent).
Raaga dreams of singing at Diwali, practices with her grandpa, gains an audience & proves the judges wrong despite their taunts about her singing ability.
Sam learns Filipino Sign Language from her new neighbor Mai, & they become the best of friends.
In this humorous middle grade anthology, kids gather at their community center where they learn about their heritage stemming from the Indian subcontinent.
Learning that Zia is self-conscious about her homemade lunches, her parents suggest a special menu with cultural significance, & something wonderful happens each day because of it.
Nina experiences diverse cultures while visiting her two grandmothers in England & Malaysia but is always showered with equal love & warmth.
Jalal's dream of owning the clouds leads to polluting the lake his village depends on.
A novel-in-verse follows a tween girl who moves from the Philippines to San Francisco, where she adapts by finding comfort in her school's garden & connections between old & new.
A true story of how author Maggie Tokuda-Hall's maternal grandparents found love & hope while unjustly incarcerated & inhumanely treated in a Japanese internment camp.
Lei, her talking bat Ilikea & friends Kaipo & Kaukahi embark on a perilous journey to an invisible island to find Kaipo's missing ancestral ʻaumakua pendant, only to discover they are not alone, & evil spirits threaten their survival.
This novel-in-verse follows Anoop, an Indian American Sikh boy navigating a new school while also reflecting on his faith & identity as his grandfather nears death & attacks on Sikhs rise in the U.S.
References AANHPI Resource Center. Federal Asian Pacific American Council. (n.d.). https://fapac.org/AAPI-Resources
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.
