Books for the Beach

 by the GROGgers

 

The GROG Blog team is taking the summer off - we'll return in late August. But before we pack our towels and sunscreen, we've got a few suggestions for books to read at the beach. Or in the car. Or sitting next to the sandy play area at the local park. In no particular order:

Sue Heavenrich's got her beach tote packed with these fun reads!

 

 

 Build a Sandcastle, by Eileen Rajala Meyer; illus. by Manica Musil (Reycraft, 2025)

Written in rhyme, it begins: Build a castle in the sand – ask a friend to lend a hand. Page by page we watch as two friends determine the ideal construction site, prepare a foundation, gather materials, and build. Each spread includes Five-Star Tips – short sidebars full of useful info about everything from where to find the best castle-building sand to scrounging the shore for suitable decorations.

 

How to Code a Sandcastle, by Josh Funk; illus. by Sara Palacios (Viking, 2018)

It is the last day of summer vacation, and Pearl has been trying to build sandcastles all summer. But things keep happening to them. Today, though, she’s got the perfect plan and the perfect building partner – her trusty, rust-proof robot buddy, Pascal. All she has to do is tell Pascal what to do, and how to do it. There’s just one problem… when Pearl tells Pascal to build a sandcastle, he doesn’t know what to do. The solution? Give Pascal more specific instructions.

 

 

Look What I Found at the Beach, by Moira Butterfield; illus by Jesus Verona (‎Nosy Crow, 2022)

This is the perfect book to tuck in your beach tote. Part field guide and part treasure hunt, we follow three friends as they comb the beach in search of shells, stones, and sea life. Some spreads invite you to look for specific things: a sea star, tiny fish, some shrimp. Other spreads explain how to identify things, such as different kinds of crabs you might find, or types of shells. And there are scavenger-hunt lists that encourage kids to take a closer look at the illustrations. 

 

Seashells: More Than A Home, by Melissa Stewart; illus. by Sarah S. Brannen (Charlesbridge, 2019)

Every day, seashells wash up on beaches all over Earth, like treasures from a secret world beneath the waves. They come in all sizes, colors, and shapes because they have so many different jobs to do. Some shells allow their mollusk inhabitant to dive deeper into the water or tunnel into the seabed to hide from a predator. Some blend in with their background, while others light up.

Kathy Halsey's ready for a slight breeze, some mild surf, and the Beach Boys at the ready. Here's my stack of summer fun!

Hot Dog, by Caldecott winner Doug Salati (Knopf Book for Young Readers, 2022)

Hot Dog and his lady are tired of hot times and summer in the city. What to do? It's all TOO Much for Hot Dog. They escape via taxi to an island "wild, long, and low as Hot Dog himself." Readers can vicariously join this now frolicing dachshund and kick the summer heat metaphorically.  The drawings are so joyous, I can imagine myself, wagging my tail in the wind as my long ears fly free. Fun for all. Four paws up for Scrappy Doo and me.

Maya's Treasure by Laurie Smollett Kutscera (Peter Pauper Press, 2021) 

Maya and he sister Alita collect shells every morning and create jewelry from them, a tradition their grandmother taught them. Alita sifts through shells, discarding the broken ones, but Grandma's words echo in Maya heart. Each shell is unique and and has its own magic. Maya takes Alita's rejected shells and experiments. How will she make them valuable?

At the moment she's ready to pitch them, she makes a discovery. She repurposes them into wind chimes.  Still Alita thinks no one will buy them. Maya hangs the chimes from a branch by her window and dreams of Grandma. Th wildly clanging chimes alert her to the incoming storm and the girls waken the townspeople. Now the sturdy, strong chimes peal throughout the village, a gift to all.  This lyrical thoughtful SEL picture book champions upcycling, recycling, and the power of creativity.

Kathy Halsey's last gift to share is the unique way haiku and photography take seemingly ordinary moments and turn them into art for others to enjoy. Be in the moment this summer. Find creativity.

Tina Cho is on summer break from school, wishing she was at the ocean, but will settle for Lake Michigan by Chicago! Her recent list of summer books is at this post, and you can check out her ocean book below.

God's Little Oceanographer, by Tina Cho; illus. by Marta Álvarez Miguéns (PRH/Waterbrook, 2025)

Follow diverse children as they dive the depths of the sea and learn ocean facts from each zone and accompanying Bible verses that show God's love for them. Activity pages can be printed here. 

 

Lindsay H. Metcalf Uses Verse to Write about STEM

by Sue Heavenrich

Today I’m chatting with award-winning author. Lindsay H. Metcalf. I was introduced to her writing through her nonfiction picture books about Beatrix Potter and indoor farming. This spring her newest book, Footeprint: Eunice Newton Foote at the Dawn of Climate Science and Women’s Rights, was released from Charlesbridge. Footeprint is written for teens and, unlike her previous books, is a novel-in-verse! I loved reading it so much that I knew we had to sit down and talk about her book, climate science, and women’s history.

Welcome to the GROG, Lindsay. The first thing I want to know is why you decided to write this book as a novel rather than nonfiction? 

Lindsay: I started writing FOOTEPRINT as nonfiction but ran into roadblocks with few sections I didn’t have answers for. When I began researching Eunice Newton Foote’s life, there were no traditionally published books about her. Here was a woman who had discovered something groundbreaking—that excess carbon dioxide warms the atmosphere—and she had been largely forgotten after her 1856 experiment was published. I became determined to piece together a birth-to-death story of her life, just to get it all on the record. 

The vast majority of the book is factual and documented in the book’s extensive bibliography. In a few places, I hedged to access the emotional core of the moment. Take, for example, the poem where Eunice learns about the upcoming 1848 Women’s Rights Convention in her town of Seneca Falls, NY. The poem says she learned of the convention by reading an article in the Seneca County Courier. It’s true that Eunice attended the convention and got involved, and it’s true that the newspaper ran an announcement. I can’t prove that she read it. There are a few other examples of this kind of “light fiction” throughout the book. Generally, I stuck as closely to the facts as I could. 

Me: That makes sense. Can you tell us how you decided to use verse as the means of telling Eunice's story?

Lindsay: Verse was an extension of my desire to stick closely to the facts while also pulling emotion into the story. With verse, I could use the conventions of poetry (metaphor, simile, white space, etc.) to invite the reader to bring their own emotion to the story, rather than me assigning feelings to Eunice:

Eunice isn’t sure what to expect, 

but she is drawn to this women’s convention

like a magnet, 

or like gravity. 

Another advantage with verse was the nature of the poems themselves. Each one captures a moment, and the breaks between them represent the passage of time. During my research I created a timeline of Eunice’s life, but there were gaps of months or years where I had no idea what Eunice was doing. Instead of making anything up, I could transition with a poem about what was happening around her or a more thematic poem to set tone. These helped place her firmly in the period of industrialization and contextualize why her experiments and women’s rights activism were important.

photo: Lindsay,  standing next to statues of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Frederick Douglass at the Women’s Rights National Historical Park in Seneca Falls, NY where she presented a program about FOOTEPRINT on April 18.

Me: That’s a brilliant reason to use poetry to tell a story! The combination of poetry and Eunice’s story engaged me more than I expected. The story is from the 1800s, but the battles Eunice faced – to be taken seriously as a woman in science and to be acknowledged for her contributions – continue. In one poem, Eunice wonders: how can any group advance while holding back any other? I get the feeling that this book is informed and inspired by our current time.

Lindsay: I was absolutely inspired by current politics. We are living through a time of extreme contradiction. Scientists have proven that climate change is real, and yet so many world powers are failing to heed their calls to action. And not just failing through negligence, but in the case of the United States, actively erasing documentation of human-caused climate change, first by scrubbing federal websites (1) and documents of climate-change references and data, and last winter, by taking steps to shutter the National Center for Atmospheric Research.(2)

Eunice’s story fascinated me because she and her family’s storyline intertwined with many consequential events of the mid-nineteenth century. She and her husband, Elisha, were inventors, and he went on to be the US patent commissioner in the late 1860s during the height of industrialization. His department approved patents for many of the first machines to use fossil fuels—the cradle of human-caused climate change itself.

Me: Can you talk about word choice? I especially like how you describe Eunice’s birth as being born “kicking the glass ceiling" and, later, describing the women’s convention as “the convention to defy convention”. Do you think verse opens up to this sort of word play more than straight nonfiction?

Lindsay: For me it does! I love to play with language—the way it sounds, feels on the tongue, and looks on the page. This applies when I write picture books, but verse especially opens up the latter, with line breaks emphasizing certain words visually. I wrote most of FOOTEPRINT in free verse, but I often toyed with tabs and white space to echo a poem’s theme, sometimes veering into concrete poetry. All of that brings a distant story more into the visceral present.

photo: Lindsay points to a tiny portrait of a woman who she believes is Eunice Newton Foote. The painting is "Dudley Observatory Dedication, August 28, 1856,” by Tompkins Harrison Matteson, 1857. It’s held at the Albany Institute of History & Art, where Lindsay talked about FOOTEPRINT and her suspected presence in the painting on April 19.

Me: What are some of the challenges you faced writing about climate science, and the experiments Eunice undertook? Did the complexity of the science sway you toward YA?

Lindsay: The science was one of the easiest parts for me to write, because it was fully documented. Eunice’s experiment, “Circumstances affecting the Heat of the Sun’s Rays,” was published, so I could write in detail about how she conducted her experiment by placing test tubes filled with different gases in the sun and measuring their temperatures over time. I could quote Eunice’s words and conclusions. The understandings of the scientific community of the mid-1800s were also well documented, so I could readily understand that she sought to understand why the world was warmer when dinosaurs lived.

I wrote and the story poured out without me giving much thought to where it would appear on the shelf. I had a half-formed belief that the book might be middle-grade, but I wasn’t sure. It didn’t feature a child protagonist because I didn’t know much about Eunice’s childhood. My editor at Charlesbridge wisely read what I had written, considered the language level, and placed it in the YA category. 

Me: Before writing for children, you worked as a journalist. How did that experience inform your approach to writing for kids and the topics you choose?

Lindsay: I started out covering education in a suburban bureau of The Kansas City Star newspaper, so I was always in the space of thinking about what kids learn, and how decisions made by adults affect that learning. My favorite assignments were both investigative and narrative, layered with emotion. Those stories departed from the daily churn I had to produce after attending school board or municipal meetings. 

With writing for children, I get to cherry-pick my favorite parts of journalism—the heavy, archival research and the reveal of the universal human experience through empowering narratives. There was a learning curve to go from writing for a daily newspaper to working on a project alone, on spec, for months or years at a time. But I am still having fun as I attempt to reveal stories that help people think about the world in a new way. 

Me: What do you hope readers take away from your book?

Lindsay: On a personal level, I hope readers see Eunice’s resilience and feel inspired to chase their dreams, no matter what obstacles they face. Eunice lived during a time when women could not vote or own property, intellectual or real. She wanted to practice science and share her inventions with the world. To achieve that, she had to join a movement to fight for her right to do so. 

Zooming out, I hope readers think about the what-ifs of today. When I talk to young people about Eunice, I ask them to consider the butterfly effect. How would our present time have been different if the world had listened to Eunice? What about the future and the paths before us? What if we don’t listen to the scientists of today? 

Thank you, Lindsay! You can find out more about Lindsay at her website, lindsayhmetcalf.com.

Read more about Eunice Foote, the scientist that history forgot at 

https://www.charlesbridge.com/blogs/news/the-brilliant-climate-scientist-history-forgot

The Sixth Annual GROG Arthropod Roundtable

hosted by Sue Heavenrich

Welcome to the Sixth Annual Arthropod Roundtable! Grab your cuppa, pull up a chair, and please help me welcome our guests. 

Laura Gehl is a former science teacher and scientist who is now a full-time children’s book author. So it almost makes sense that most of her books center around science and nature themes. Her newest board book is Odd Bugs , the third in a series that includes Odd Beasts and Odd Birds. 

“When I was doing research for Odd Beasts, I came across a lot of fascinating bugs and couldn’t wait to give them their own book,” says Laura.

Melissa Stewart is a science writer, children’s book author, and avid nature lover. Her new picture book is Monarch and Mourning Cloak: A Butterfly Journal. While visiting schools to take about her earlier butterfly book, A Place for Butterflies (published in 2006) she noticed that many students raise monarchs. She also noticed that they thought all butterfly species have similar lives and habitats. 

“Butterflies are an incredibly diverse group of insects,” Melissa points out. “So, in 2008 I began writing a book called Two Butterflies, Two Lives to help kids understand the variety of foods butterflies eat, the different habitats they call home, and the many ways they survive winter weather.” Over the years, that book evolved into Monarch and Mourning Cloak!

Karen Jameson is a retired elementary school teacher and author of lyrical, rhyming picture books. Insects have found their way into several of her books (including the beetles and dragonflies in It's Time to Shine). There’s even more bugs in her newest book, Who Nests Here?

“Insects have such unique ways of nesting,” says Karen. “I spotlight gall wasps, mole crabs, scorpions, and devil crayfish in my new book. And who wouldn’t thrill to see a termitarium – a giant termite nest?!

Katherine Hocker is a science illustrator, naturalist, and educator with an inordinate fondness for aquatic insects. Her new book, When You See Us, takes us on a field trip into the mysterious and fascinating world of aquatic insects. 

"They are some of the most watchable wildlife I know,” says Katherine. “They live pretty much everywhere on Earth, and are easy to find and observe. When you consider that they live double lives as some of our most familiar winged insects, such as dragonflies and mosquitoes, everyone should know about them!”

Jenni Walsh writes novels for kids and adults. She confesses that she didn’t know how cool bugs were until she was researching their defense mechanisms for her middle-grade tale of mystery and thievery, The Bug Bandits. 

“My book is inspired by a real heist that occurred at the Philadelphia Insectarium," says Jenni. "Over $40,000 worth of rare insects were stolen – and I found this utterly fascinating. In the book, we call it a buglery.”

I’m joining in this year because 13 Ways to Eat a Fly is celebrating its fifth birthday! Before writing books for kids, I taught science and also worked as a newspaper reporter. One afternoon I was covering the opening of a nature preserve. People were standing because there were “small bees” perching on the sun-warmed metal chairs. Those “bees” were actually flower flies – awesome little pollinators! That’s when I realized that too many folks have no idea about the diversity of flies buzzing around them. 

Initially I wrote 13 Ways to Eat a Fly as a backyard field guide. Bo-oring! It took a few years (and many revisions) before I came to the idea of making it a backwards counting book. You know: starting with a bunch of flies that disappear one by one as each hungry critter (or plant) grabs a snack. I added a brain-eating fungus, because who can resist zombies! I got to wondering... 

... why did other folks chose the format they did?

Melissa Stewart

Melissa: Because butterflies are so beautiful and graceful, I thought free-verse poetry would be the best way to share information. Initially, I wrote a series of poems in two voices, but the first-person point of view wasn’t working. Over the years, I continued to revise, writing draft after draft and receiving rejection after rejection. The book’s design pays homage to this process by showing each poem atop a stack of papers. Finally, in 2023, I decided that perhaps the book needed an additional conceptual layer that tied into the art and design. So I sent the manuscript to my friend, illustrator, and past collaborator Sarah S. Brannen. I let her know what I was thinking and invited her to go on a hike to brainstorm. A few hours later, we had a vision for what the book could be—a nature journal bursting with art, poems, and informational notes.

Jenni: I wrote The Bug Bandits for my 10-year-old so middle grade was the perfect age group for him. He’s a reluctant reader but I’m pleased to say he couldn’t resist a heist book that is Night at the Museum meets Home Alone.

Laura Gehl

Laura: I love writing board books because they can serve as a child’s first introduction to a topic—in this case, really weird and amazing bugs!

Karen: Lyrical, rhyming picture books are my jam. It feels natural to write this way in the main text - a style which is brief and accessible to younger readers. Science concepts in the back matter are written in prose for those who wish to explore the topic in more depth.

Katherine: I wanted the story to be told in the voices of the insects themselves—a kind of song they sing to reveal their secrets. That called for a more lyrical approach.

Me: As a kid, I was fascinated by ants. They lived in sidewalk cracks and in our garden, often working together to carry bits of dead beetles to their homes. Plus they have queens! Being a fairy tale-reading second-grader, how could I resist? I wondered ...

... what was the gateway arthropod for other authors?

Katherine Hocker

Katherine: Caddisflies! I remember discovering them as a child—these tiny crawling underwater beasties that built themselves homes out of grains of sand or tiny twigs. We used to call them “stick bugs.” It was many years before I learned that they have a winged adult form.

Laura: I read about a poop-shooting caterpillar when I was in grad school, and one of my first-ever published pieces of writing was about that caterpillar. I’ve been hooked on bugs ever since!

Karen: I am obsessed with dragonflies! Not only are they beautiful, but they’re symbolic of joy, good omens, and transformation.

Melissa: I’ve been a lover of all creatures big and small since childhood. I was fortunate that my parents owned 10 acres of woods, and we had a national forest across the street from our house. My brother and I spent most of our time outdoors—immersed in the natural world. Some of my long-time favorite insects include walking sticks, lightning bugs, and of course, butterflies.

Jenni Walsh

Jenni: I’ve always loved butterflies. When we visited the insectarium the book is based on, my family and I loved walking through the butterfly pavilion. We also hatched them at home and had a release party. It inspired my main character, Liberty, to have a butterfly releasing business in The Bug Bandits!

Me: Today is Earth Day. What can we – and the kids we write for – do to help make our backyards and neighborhoods better places for bugs?

Jenni: There are certain native plants that encourage bug-life, such as butterflies. I encourage everyone to find out what plants/flowers are bug friendly for your area!

Karen Jameson

Karen: I include a Nesting Site Conservation section in the back matter of Who Nests Here? Here’s a few tips: 1) Pick up trash and keep waterways clean. 2) Leave rocks, shells, pine cones and other natural elements where they are, as they may be someone’s home. 3) Don’t poke sticks into nests or move them to another site.

Laura: This is pretty easy for me, because my husband and I don’t have the time or energy to keep our back yard neat or tidy! Having a messy yard with leaf litter, brush/wood piles, clover and dandelions, and sections of longer grass is great for bugs!

Katherine: Aquatic insects need water to survive. Many, such as caddisflies, stoneflies, and mayflies, need water that’s very clean and cold. We can help them thrive by protecting our ponds, lakes, streams, and rivers.

Melissa: Grow native plants is the most obvious answer. But Earth, our precious planet, is one big interconnected system. Anything we can do to lessen pollution and climate change, and to preserve natural areas is going to help every living thing—including us.

your host, Sue Heavenrich
looking for spiders

Me: To these great suggestions I’ll add that using natural mulches, such as dried leaves, grass, and straw creates the perfect habitat for spiders. Also, my lazy gardening provides other benefits. All those dried, hollow flower stems that I never remove turn out to be great homes for native bees. 

We could talk bugs all day long… but I’m out of coffee. Check out our author websites, drop by our blogs, and remember to head outside and watch some bugs!

Laura Gehl at https://lauragehl.com/

Sue Heavenrich at https://www.sueheavenrich.com/

Katherine Hocker at  https://katherinehocker.art/

Karen Jameson at https://karenljameson.com/

Melissa Stewart at   https://melissa-stewart.com/

Jenni Walsh at https://www.jennilwalsh.com/

Brianne Farley Answers Questions About Worms, Sandwiches, and Art for STEM

 by Sue Heavenrich

The first time I read Worm Makes a Sandwich, I laughed out loud – because, seriously, how can a worm even make a sandwich? Author/illustrator, Brianne Farley points this out:

Worms don’t have hands!

They cannot make sandwiches!

And yet. Worm is SO earnest. He so much wants to make a sandwich. He just needs one thing…

And then he’s all ready… nope. He needs one more thing… or three.

Some of the things he needs (garbage, dirt) are not for your sandwich. But that tomato is. All worm needs is for you to slice that tomato. And maybe do just a couple more things.

Other than that, he’s got this covered. He is definitely making you a sandwich!

The second time I read Worm Makes a Sandwich, I slowed down. I didn’t want to get indigestion! 

Spending more time on the page allowed me to savor the words and enjoy the mouthfeel of reading them aloud. Spending more time on the page gave me the chance to dive into the illustrations. And that’s when I knew I just had to talk to Brianne! I caught up to her last month just before lunchtime. She and Hank (her dog) were hanging out in her creative space in her home. I am so grateful that Brianne was open to answering a few questions about sandwiches and making art.

Me: I love that Worm Makes a Sandwich is all about the process of composting! Do you have a science background?

Brianne (pronounced BREE-in): I thought about going into medical illustration and have a strong interest in biology. I even took ecology classes in college. I ended up with a degree in English and art, and then went on to get my MFA in illustration. But my science brain is curious. I like knowing how things work, and I like doing research. That’s a good thing, because every book takes me in a new research direction. And that’s because illustrations tell half the story, so I need to know all that stuff!

Me: I love that you are telling the story of composting through the point-of-view of an expert composter: a worm. What made you decide to write from the POV of the worm? And how did you land on their voice? 

photo by Michael Poehlman

Brianne: At one point in my life I lived in a small house with a small yard and a small garden. I had gotten a tumbler composter, but the winters were cold and the tumbler froze solid. I wondered how I could compost through frigid weather. I decided to try my hand at vermicomposting, so I ordered a worm bin and a thousand wiggly worms. It was fun and super-engaging. I found that I loved talking about my worms and also about composting.

When I decided to write about compost, I took videos of my compost so I could get a closer look at the critters helping to decompose my kitchen scraps. I also took photos of tomatoes growing in my garden, so I could capture the various stages over the season.

The process of composting provides the structure for my story, but I didn’t want it to be straight nonfiction. I got thinking about how I could make it narrative and landed on the concept of making a sandwich. Worms journey (from making compost to growing the tomato for the sandwich) is like any creative journey we have. We start with a Great Idea! And then we realize all the work that has to happen for that idea to take shape. And we face that moment when, like Worm, we ask: How can I even do this? 

Me: Yes, there is a great spread where Worm faces his “dark night of the soul.” He sees himself as a failure and says, “Maybe I can’t make a sandwich. Maybe I should try again when I’m bigger.”

Brianne: When I visit schools, I hear and see how early on in the process kids get frustrated in making art. They can see what the final product should look like, but it’s not coming out the way they envisioned it. Or it’s not happening fast enough. I try to let them know that frustration is a part of what we (artists) all go through – it’s part of the creative process.

Me:  One of the things I remember teaching my students in science class was how to glean information from various sources in their book: text, illustrations, captions, charts and graphs. So I love how you integrate science information in your illustrations. My favorite was the page with the list of foods that worm prefers: apple cores, mushy grapes… a great list on its own. But YOU add to that list by labeling additional items in the illustration: grass clippings, dry leaves, etc. You do this on a couple other spreads, too. 

Brianne: The gorgeous thing about picture books is that the text and illustrations combine to work as a whole. With this story, I started with way too much information and spent a lot of time cutting text. I wanted it to be easy and fun to read aloud. But I also love picture books with detailed illustrations you can come back to again and again, so I snuck a lot of that information back into the art for kids to discover on second and third readings. I had to keep telling myself that I didn’t have to write everything there is to know about compost – just enough to get readers interested. I also want kids to see where their food comes from.

Me: I love back matter in picture books! In yours, you explain what compost is, how to do it, and why people should compost.

Brianne: Yes, I really wanted to address some misconceptions about compost. The biggest misconception is that compost smells. It doesn’t! Another thing I wanted to make sure kids come away with is the understanding that we don’t have to send all that wonderful organic matter to the landfill. The bacteria in landfills create gases that contribute to global warming – we shouldn’t feed them. Also, if you make compost, you could grow a delicious tomato. Or you could give your compost to a neighbor who will share their yummy tomatoes with you.

Me: Thank you Brianne. This has been absolutely delightful, and all this talking about sandwiches has made me hungry! 

Brianne: Me, too. I’m having a bagel with cream cheese and cucumbers and shredded carrots on top.

Me: How funny! Mine is hummus with sliced cucumbers!

Note: No worms were harmed in the making of our sandwiches. You can find out more about Brianne and her wonderful books and art at her website, www.briannefarley.com

Read Your World Day ~Christy Mihaly

(Early) Read Your World Day Greetings!

Read Your World Day (formerly Multicultural Children's Book Day) is coming Jan. 30. Now in its thirteenth year, this children's literacy initiative was founded by Valarie Budayr and Mia Wenjen, two diverse book-loving moms who saw a need to shine the spotlight on kids' multicultural books and authors while working to get those books into the hands of young readers and educators.

Read Your World’s mission is to raise awareness of the importance of including books celebrating diversity in homes and school bookshelves. Read about the Read Your World Mission and history HERE.

In celebration, GROG is joining bajillions of bloggers to post reviews of new and notable diverse books during January. I'm sharing three books here, all published in 2024. (I received complimentary copies and/or pdfs for review through the Read Your World program.) I love the wealth of different creative voices out there, and the vast range of book offerings for adults wanting to share the big wide world with their kiddos.

First up is There's a Robot in my Classroom, by Dr. Carlotta A. Berry, illustrated by Anak Bulu. Dr. Berry, a professor in electrical and computer engineering, is doing important work to diversify the engineering profession, and she is both a textbook author and the writer of a series of children's picture books about robots, of which this is one.

We're talking about real little robots that kids create and program. In There's a Robot in My Classroom, Miguel starts with a shoebox, adds sensors, lights, wheels, motors, and other parts, then writes the code to control his robot creation. This is a fun and empowering STEM story for robot fans and the robot-curious. 

The picture book Together is Better, written by Diane Costa and illustrated by Grace Tan, is a cheery romp through a diverse neighborhood. It centers on  the various neighbors that make up the community and describes how they help one another and enjoy shared activities. This book is a celebration of community and will make a great conversation starter.

The publisher, Language Lizard, specializes in multi-lingual books and translations and offers books in more than 60 languages. Together is Better is available in Dari, Haitian Creole, Pashto, Russian, Spanish and Ukrainian. Wow!

My Dreidel, written and illustrated by the talented Ann Diament Koffsky, is an adorable board book that introduces both dreidels and the process of trying and failing and trying again. It was published by Apples & Honey Press, an imprint of Berhman House. 

The puppy protagonist in this story wants to spin her dreidel. After initial failures, she succeeds with some help. The book includes a simple explanation of the Hebrew letters on each side of the dreidel and their meanings. This is a great choice for the littlest book lovers, at Hanukkah or any time.

So, why not read some new books this month? You might like to start with these three diverse choices. Leave a comment about your own favorites. 

And read on for more information about Read Your World Day 2025 sponsors, educational resources, and activities -- including the cool virtual party -- with prizes!

Read Your World is honored to be supported by these generous donors:

FOUNDER’S CIRCLE: Mia Wenjen (Pragmaticmom) and Valarie Budayr (Audreypress.com)

🏅 Super Platinum Sponsor: Author Deedee Cummings and Make A Way Media

🏅 Platinum Sponsors: Publisher Spotlight and  Language Lizard Bilingual Books in 60 Languages 

🏅 Gold Sponsors:  Third State Books 

🏅 Silver Sponsors: Red Comet Press and Lerner Books 

🏅 Silver Corporate Sponsor:  Scholastic Books 

🏅 Bronze Sponsors:  Lee and Low 

🏅 Corporate Sponsor: Crayola Education

Read Your World is honored to be supported by these Author Sponsors!

Authors: Stephanie M. Wildman, Martha Seif Simpson, Anna Jennings, Gwen Jackson, Afsaneh Moradian, Josh Funk, Nancy Tupper Ling, Kathleen Burkinshaw, Gea Meijering, Eugenia Chu, Dorktales Story Time, Amanda Hsiung-Blodgett, Authors J.C. Kato and J.C.², Cynthia Levinson, Diana Huang, Rochelle Melander,  Lisa Chong, Lisa Stringfellow,  Brunella Costaglioga, Lindsey Rowe Parker, Rachel C. Katz, Tonya Duncan Ellis, Shifa Safadi, Lisa Rogers, Sylvia Liu, Eva Clarke

Read Your World is honored to be supported by our CoHosts and Global CoHosts and by our Partner Organizations! 

Check out RYW’s Multicultural Books for Kids Pinterest Board!

📌 FREE RESOURCES from Read Your World Day

• RYW2025 Poster

• Mental Health Support for Stressful Times Classroom Kit

• Diversity Book Lists & Activities for Teachers and Parents

• Homeschool Diverse Kidlit Booklist & Activity Kit

• FREE Teacher Classroom Activism and Activists Kit

• FREE Teacher Classroom Empathy Kit

• FREE Teacher Classroom Kindness Kit

• FREE Teacher Classroom Physical and Developmental Challenges Kit

• FREE Teacher Classroom Poverty Kit

• Gallery of Our Free Posters

• FREE Diversity Book for Classrooms Program

The Read Your World folks invite you to join the virtual party on Thursday, January 30, 2025, at 9 pm EST celebrating 13 years of  Read Your World Day! This epically fun and fast-paced hour includes multicultural book discussions, addressing timely issues, diverse book recommendations, & reading ideas. Plus, a 10-Book Bundle GIVE-AWAY during the virtual party plus Bonus Prizes as well! *** US and Global participants are welcome. ***

Follow the hashtag #ReadYourWorld to join the conversation, and connect with like-minded parts, authors, publishers, educators, organizations, and librarians.