Health, Anti-Racism, Activism, Vote for BookTree /  June 2020


Health, Racial Injustice,
Activism, and Reading
We face dramatic change in a world with new health risks, economic uncertainty, and an uprising against systemic racial injustice. What remains constant is the importance of reading for developing young minds. You can help children understand this world through books such as those below on race, anti-racism, and activism.

Like you and organizations you may work with, we at BookTree are striving to adapt to a new era. Regarding health and safety, we would like to reassure you that BookTree is in full operation with appropriate protocols, including 4-day minimum quarantine time for books and transport bins, machine-washed book totes prior to issue, and product handling according to all CDC guidelines.

We look forward to continuing to support your children's development by safely and conveniently supplying the wide range of concept-rich and artistically-engaging books we are known for!

- Kathy Balch, BookTree Founder
Book Spotlight: Anti-Racism
Shades of People, by Shelley Rotner  and Sheila M. Kelly. Vibrant photos of people of all colors combined with simple text skillfully convey humanity's diversity; for ages 2 and up.

The Colors of Us, by  Karen Katz. In creating a self portrait, young artist Lena discovers that brown comes in many shades, and that people are connected both by differences and similarities; for ages 3 and up.

All Are Welcome, by Alexandra Penfold, illustrated by Suzanne Kaufman. This brightly-illustrated book follows children through their day in a school that whole-heartedly celebrates diversity and inclusion; for ages 4 and up.

The Other Side, by Jacqueline Woodson, illustrated by E. B. Lewis. Poetic prose and striking illustrations tell a story of two girls who build a friendship across a fence in a segregated town, circumventing the adults' norms, for ages 5 and up.
Book Spotlight: Activism
We March, by Shane W. Evans . Bold illustrations accompany a powerful description of the 1963 march on Washington when Martin Luther King delivered his historic "I Have a Dream" speech; for ages 3 and up.

The Youngest Marcher, by  Cynthia Levinson. When thousands of students gathered to protest against segregation laws in 1963 Birmingham Alabama, brave 9-year-old Audrey Faye Hendricks was the youngest to be arrested; for ages 4 and up.

Sit-In: How Four Friends Stood Up by Sitting Down by Andrea Davis Pinkney, illustrated by Brian Pinkney. In this masterfully illustrated and powerfully written story of a defining moment in the civil rights movement, four college students sit down in peaceful protest at the "whites only" Woolworth's lunch counter; for ages 6 and up.

A Place to Land, by Barry Wittenstein, illustrated by Jerry Pinkney. This award-winning non-fiction work provides an inspiring perspective of Martin Luther King and his collaboration with advisors in composing the famous "I Have a Dream" speech, for ages 7 and up.
Please Vote Again for BookTree in the Final Phase of Bay Area Parent's "Best of the Best"!

Thanks to you, BookTree cleared the nomination phase in Bay Area Parent's 2020 "Best of the Best" contest and is now a finalist! We would be thrilled if you could take a minute and vote again for BookTree in  SF/Marin and/or Peninsula in this final phase of voting (scroll to bottom to find BookTree in the "Tutoring or Education Support Program" category). You can vote once per week prior to July 6th. Thank you so much for supporting BookTree's visibility and reputation!
BookTree serves over 200 locations in San Francisco, the peninsula from Sunnyvale north,
Marin County,  and western Los Angeles County.
Like us on Facebook