Spanning almost 120 years, Together We March details how marginalized populations organized protest marches to bring attention to their struggle. The book celebrates this long history – reminding us that protests are not a new phenomenon. The majority of the examples are from the United States, but protest marches in India, Bulgaria, South Africa, Kenya as well as worldwide protests are included. While some physical opposition is outlined, the focus of the narratives is on peaceful, non-violent movements.

Each two page illustrated spread provides background information about the situation and the people involved, a description of the event, and an analysis of the impact of the protest.

In Together We March the multiple examples of organized protest remind students that their peaceful actions in defense of issues that matter to them can make an impact on the world. Pair it with Equity’s Call or Rise Up!: The Art of Protest for a unit on grassroots movements that lead to change.

Interesting and ambitious investigation of different aspects of the night. The book is divided into four sections; human sleep, nocturnal animals, plants at night, and the night sky. Each section contains solid detailed information supported by illustrations and graphics. While all topics involve the night, there is little connection between the different topics. It makes more sense to view each chapter in isolation as each addresses a unique concept (human health, animal senses, plants, and astronomical features visible at night).

Curious young scientists will enjoy the diverse investigations found In the Dark.

With vivid colorful illustrations and rhythmic rhyming text, McGinty and Harris explore the majesty of the sea. The rich descriptive language helps form a picture of the ocean for young learners.

The sea knows stars in shallow pools
Below, it knows alluring jewels
The sea knows worlds of red and gold
The sea knows bright / The sea knows bold.

Use to start a study of the sea or to practice descriptive language. The appendix contains an explanation of each phrase and offers a starting point for further investigation.

Whether good or bad, “things” go away. A bird, sleep, lice, a bad thought The big and small aspects of our everyday life do not stay the same.  Yet one thing will always remain. The hug that concludes the book shows the “thing” that will never pass, move on, or change is love. This is a comforting book that will bring a smile to your heart.

Beatrice Alemagna cleverly uses a see-through page with a black drawing to illustrate change as the image moves, fades, or is transformed with the flip of the page. A close look at the illustrations can guide a closer look at what changes in our lives.

As Christian Robinson portrays a circular path of interconnection, he reminds us that we all matter. Starting and ending with little stuff too small to see, Robinson’s text and illustrations remind us that our place in the world, how we are perceived by others, or our successes or failures cannot change the fact that at the most basic level, each part of our world matters. Even compared the magnitude of space and the breadth of time we matter. The powerful words interspersed with the refrain “you matter’ circles back to the small stuff.

A must have for all libraries and an excellent tool to support Social Emotional Learning lessons.

Lubaya is a quiet child who appears to sit on the sideline whether it’s at school, with friends or home with family.  Yet, while not engaged as you would expect from a child, she takes the world around her and merges it with her imagination.  This imagination finds an outlet on the back of old protest posters. Upsetting news on the TV has her family reclaiming the protest posters for another march.  In this way, Lubaya’s truth and dreams in artistic form become part of the message of the protest. The beauty of this message is Lubaya’s quiet roar.

In a time when protests are regularly on the news, Lubaya’s Quiet Roar reminds us that the loudest voices don’t necessarily have the most to say. We all have the potential to listen, look, dream and illustrate a different, better world.

Carlitos lives with his mother and his abuela in a town across the harbor from Old San Juan, Puerto Rico. His cozy, happy, and comfortable life is colored by the lack of a father. His family looks different than those he sees around him. This lack has him crossing the bay to look for his father in Old San Juan – by himself.

The story leads Carlitos to interact with many interesting people in many interesting and beautiful places throughout the city. Carlitos spirits eventually plummets when he loses his only picture of his father. With the help of a park ranger, he realizes sad things are like dark clouds and that the sun always returns. With a lighter heart, he returns home.

Across the Bay is a sweet story with lovely illustrations. While I enjoyed the story and appreciate the portrayal of Puerto Rico, I found the fact that a young child leaves home to explore a large city alone rather disconcerting.

Many in the United States take the right to vote for granted. The struggle for equality in voting rights, however, has been a struggle for all the many year of our nation’s history. Equality’s Call is a wonderful introduction the story of voting rights in America.

The book begins with the establishment of our system of government and the inclusion of consent and representation in our foundational national documents. But this same inclusion excluded most of the new nation’s population due to gender, race, or wealth. The story steps through history, explaining some of the milestones in expanding voting rights.

The refrain, equality’s call is repeated with each milestone, “A right isn’t a right / Till it’s granted to all.” The book closes with a reminder that the journey isn’t over and voter suppression is another form of disenfranchisement. Each vote we make is possible because of the struggles of others in the past and it is our responsibility to ensure the right to vote to all.

Ren lived on the edge of a National Forest in Puerto Rico. “His days were filled with green and dirt and rocks and mud.” His days were also filled with rich imaginative play and his nightly dreams filled with endless possibilities. When Ren and his mother move to the city, Ren can no longer feel the magic or the wild. Even surrounded by people, Ren is lonely.

Ren’s upstairs neighbor Ava loves the city and shares with Ren all the things that bring her joy. But it is a bit overwhelming for Ren and he cannot feel the magic. When they next meet up, Ren explains what he misses about his wild. This helps Ava understand and she takes him to the basement and the roof to share with him a new different kind of wild.

A New Kind of Wild is a perfect read for youngsters experiencing a move to a new environment or loneliness due to change.

With persistence and dedication to her field, Emmy Noether was a pioneer in mathematics during a time in history when gender norms excluded women from such studies.

The book delves into a number of very intense topics including stereotypical woman’s behavior, discrimination, the Nazi rise in Europe and and anti-semitism. It also tries to explain extremely complex mathematical concepts in a way that elementary school students can understand. The scope of the book is so broad that none of significant ideas are addressed too deeply. The big takeaway is that Emmy Noether was a remarkable, yet unrecognized woman who overcame a lot of challenges. Her amazing mind and unique thinking in the area of mathematics forever impacted how our greatest minds think about cutting edge science and math concepts.

STEM biography collections that tend to be heterogeneous and this title about Emmy Noether will provide enrichment and diversity.