by Laura Falin posted in Life

The past few weeks have me -- and a lot of other people -- thinking about how we talk to our children about race. I even got a note from our school superintendent, saying that the events in Charlottesville have teachers considering how to talk to their students about what happened, what they think about it, and what they should do about it.
I'll be honest. I feel terribly unqualified to talk about this. But I don't have a choice. I have four younger people looking to me and their dad to figure out how to navigate the world and not talking about it doesn't help anyone.
I think one of the best pieces of advice I saw was from this post on Rage Against the Minivan about how to talk to kids about race and racism. She pointed out that parents often want to figure out how to talk to their kids about specific events when really we should be having ongoing conversations about race with our children from a very young age -- not just when awful news brings it to our attention.
 
In that spirit, here are some books you can read with your kids to start the conversation on race and racism:
-Whoever You Are by Mem Fox -- A beautiful book about how although we're all different, there are also people "just like you, all over the world." The book celebrates diverse cultures, but points out that we all have the same joys...and loves...and pains.
-Amazing Grace by Mary Hoffman -- "Grace was a girl who loved stories..." so it's no wond...