K-3
K-3 Books, 2021-2022 Click HERE
K-3 Books, 2020-2021 (below, this page)
The books and activities below are for K-3 classrooms. We do not own the rights to these books, but are providing links to publicly available videos. We think you should buy these wonderful books for your school or home library! Each book is categorized by its theme (WHAT IS RACE, MULTICULTURALISM, and TAKING ACTION).
Please feel free to use these links to copy-able letters to PARENTS or TEACHERS.
Click on the book cover or the enlarged title to link to the video reading. Requests to subscribe to the reader's website sometimes are embedded at the end of the story. We have used the Video Link system to present videos taken from You Tube without any other links at the conclusion of the video, so there is no possibility of sending students on to potentially inappropriate content.
WHAT IS RACE?
Written by Angela Joy, illustrated by Ekua Holme
Read by the author (6:12 minutes)
This thoughtful and joyful book is a young black girl’s quest to define the nature of being black. In this video, it is introduced by the author herself who says she wants to explore the wonderful rainbow of black skin colors and culture. Black may not be included in an actual rainbow, but it is found in many other places: from black in nature, the neighborhood and community, to significant historical reminders of black history. Current events are lightly touched upon with a Black Lives Matter sign, and short references to the blackness of anger, to a caged bird, and to black dreams that dried up in the sun. The book can be appreciated at different levels depending upon the age and experience of the reader, or the amount of explanation given by the teacher. It works well, however, as a simple uncomplicated reading, answering the question about what is being black, concluding that being black is good, and that it includes all the richness and specialness of a rainbow.
DISCUSSION/ACTIVITY
Important: Before having a class use this book, consider sharing it ahead of time with any student of color and their parents. Strategize together on where the comfort zone is for that particular student/s in using this book in a largely white group. It is not easy to be alone or in a small group with a lot of attention focused on an issue that is particularly related to yourself! The author’s introduction goes a long way to making the topic more comfortable and accessible for all.
Examine or draw a rainbow. The book begins by suggesting that black does not exist in the rainbow, but in many other places. We all have different colors of skin. Are the skin colors of any of us in a rainbow? What is special about the colors of our own skin? Where can we find our skin color in our surroundings? In history? In the people around us? What are other cultures of which we are a part? (The author mentions classrooms, neighborhoods, and basketball as examples of our many cultures.)
Optional, but more difficult, question: Why would someone of color particularly want to emphasize being proud of her people and culture? Notes: Vermont students may note that being a person of color in their class could be lonely. Perhaps they might also notice that more people in their books at school are white. Some students may know more about the inequities in our society for people of color; for instance, the frequent shooting of black men which has been in the news. All of this is more effective if it comes from the students thinking rather than the teacher “telling”, and will reveal where the children are in their discovery process. Certainly there will a wide diversity of experience in any classroom.
Mural: How can we support
that celebration of being black?
Who are some famous black, Asian, indigenous, or other people of color?
Paint a large rainbow mural and have students add pictures of black
achievement, identity, famous figures, etc., that can be cut out and put on the
mural. Such cutouts could be literally a Xeroxed page from the book cut out, a
hand drawing, or something looked up by a more ambitious student. The mural
could be added to over time.
Written by Derrick Barnes, illustrated by Gordon C. James
Read by Mr. Stephen (6:30 minutes)
This book is a celebration of how wonderful a young black boy is. Its exuberance in words and illustrations will capture the attention of children, and they will identify with the main character. Derrick Barnes dedicates this book to young Black boys Tamir Rice, Trayvon Martin, EJ Bradford, Jordan Edwards, Michael Brown, Jordan Davis, and Julian Mallory. It is easier with this age group not to explain why he chose to do so.
DISCUSSION/ACTIVITY
Initial Activity: Hear the author talk about his book and see a photo of the illustrator. Hear why he wanted to write this book, for his sons. The teacher might also enjoy a clip of an interview with these two men on the Drew Barrymore Show. The class might enjoy the quick clip embedded in this of what other children think of this book.
Activity: - Creating a booklet: How is the boy in this book like you, or like boys you know? What are some of the great words or actions that the author uses to describe him? What kind of book could you put together with pictures (and possibly words) about yourself (whether you are boy or girl, person of color or not) and how wonderful you are? Be sure to include how your parents think you are wonderful, too! Use as many fancy words and images as you would like, the way the author does in this book. On each page, you can write “I am …”
Written and Illustrated by Sharee Miller
Aria loves her hair; everyone loves it, but that’s a problem because people want to touch it without permission. She tries many ways to avoid having it touched, even escaping to the ocean, the jungle, and outer space, but nothing works. She finally comes home and has to set up a rule that everyone must ask permission. They must ask and she can say “No,” or “Not Today.”
DISCUSSION/ACTIVITY
Written and illustrated by Christian Robinson
Many children will have heard the expression “Black Lives Matter”. What does that mean, that something matters? In this wonderful book, read aloud by the author, the affection and interest in people and the living things of the world – and how all living things are connected -- comes through gently and beautifully. After he finishes reading the book, the author talks about why he wrote the book and even shows how he draws a T Rex!
DISCUSSION/ACTIVITY
Ask if children have heard the expression “Black Lives Matter”. It would be good for students to think about what it means to “matter”. If something matters, it’s valuable and important. The author tells us that it’s not about what you’ve achieved, or whether you have trophies, but that everyone is important. The idea is that we all matter because, as he says, we exist. Sometimes if people seem very different from us – if they’re really old or they’re last at something – it’s hard to remember that they’re people just like us, and they are just as important as we are. Try to look around during your day and see people (either at school or even on television or in books) who might not be your close friends or may seem very different from you, so they might be people that you don’t notice or think about very much. Try to notice them and see something that is good or interesting about them and, if you can, give them a compliment and see what their reaction is. Do this every day for a week, and write down what happens with your experiment.
by Michael Tyler
illustrated by David Lee Csicsko, read by the author, Michael Tyler.
DISCUSSION/ACTIVITY
After talking about how people come in many colors and asking whether one is better than another, children can cut out pictures of people from magazines and even advertising circulars, looking for as many different colors of skin as possible, so that they’re actually noticing what colors of people are represented. They can paste them to a paper and write something they noticed. Since the book was in rhyme, it might be fun for the students to try some rhyming couplets. Your skin is tan, my skin is brown. Lots of different colors in our town!
If you don’t already have some sets of “multicultural” skin tone markers (made by Crayola), this might be a good time to order some! Otherwise, you could have students look through the crayons, colored pencils, and markers you have available to find as many different “real” skin tones as they can. Then they can make drawings of at least five people with different shades of skin.
Another way of getting a variety of skin tones is to go to the hardware store and get paint chip strips, which have lots colors, ranging from darker to lighter versions on each chip. If you choose some with dark browns, you can see how it changes as it gets less intense versions of the same color. Each student could have one strip (usually with 4 colors each) and draw a face on each. This can be extended by having them write a few sentences about each of these imaginary faces/people: My name is ______. The people in my family are _____________. My favorite thing to do for fun is ______________. Everybody is different, but everybody also has a name, a family, and likes and dislikes. We are all human.
"This stunning picture book introduces race as just one of many chapters in a person's story" (School Library Journal). Newbery prize winning author Julius Lester talks directly to students about how each of us has many parts to our story, and race is just one part. Why should we judge people by the color of their skin when we don’t know the other parts of their story? Imagine if each person could take off their skin and their hair. Underneath we all have bones, and we could all find many other things in common. We could learn to really know each other with conversation.
DISCUSSION/ACTIVITY
This book leads easily into a discussion about how we assume we know a lot about people just based on what they look like or seem like on the outside. It could be something as simple as if the person is older, younger, has messy clothes, wears expensive clothes, has a buzz haircut, sits in a wheelchair, speaks with an accent, has a high voice, and certainly whether the person has a different color skin. Do we ever think we are better than someone else, and are we right about that? Have other people ever judged us by what we look like on the outside? What would it be like if we just tried to get to know each person as if their outside self didn’t matter, as if we were just all skeletons talking to each other?
After the discussion, have children draw stick figures (or create skeleton characters with Q-tips or toothpicks glued on a background paper or laid on pieces of tape, or just drawn). The figures or skeletons should be prepared to have a conversation with each other in order to get acquainted. Children can pair up for the conversations, or draw speech bubbles next to their figures. Sum up the activity by asking how each child would like someone to get to know him or her in the future. How will they make friends with someone else no matter how that person looks?
Written by Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow, illustrated by Luisa Uribe
This book is full of art and music. In an interview, the author says this book is important for classrooms because “it can empower and create empathy.” Readers who have had the experience of the main character find this book healing. She says to them, “Your name is a song. Who you are is a song.”
DISCUSSION/ACTIVITY
Students share a time their own name was not appreciated, and how it felt.
Circle Game: Students each sing their own name and the rest of the class sings it back. Illustration: Students show the beauty of their own names with a drawing or painting. The watercolors in the book are an invitation to get out a paintbrush.
Video Clip: Watch part of an interactive VIDEO CLIP - the author initiates a call and response for singing back names. As the author is dressed in a hijab, students may make the extension that differences in either name or dress should not block us from reaching out to each other.
Read by the author, with an interview about the book after the reading. The teacher should choose which parts will be meaningful for his/her class. In its entirety, the interview is very long and sometimes has technical problems.
This book breaks down stereotypes. A boy begins life in India, unable to even walk because of weak legs, and ends up winning marathons after he turns 80, including one when he was over 100 years old! Fauja Singh models persistence not only in the physical sense, but also in adapting to new situations; for instance, farming when he has trouble walking and later moving to England to be with his family although he does not read or write, nor does he speak English. The reader gently absorbs pieces of the Sikh culture throughout the book.
DISCUSSION/ACTIVITY
Discussion: “What did you learn in this story?” (This allows students to process cultural and geographical differences, age stereotypes, while at the same time likely identifying in some way with the central character. The actual copy of the book has background information that may answer student questions.) “What is a hero? Does Fauja Singh qualify?” (For the author, Fauja Singh is an inspiration. He began running marathons himself just as Fauja Singh was running his Toronto race. The author hopes that readers will see Fauja Singh as a hero even though he is elderly, disabled, an immigrant, and wears a turban.)
Letter to Author: As a boy, the author had always wanted a book on the library shelf about a family like his own, and when there still weren’t any books about Sikhs when he grew up, he decided to write one. Publishers and other people told him no-one would want to read a book about someone who was seemingly so different from them. “Do you agree with those first publishers who said most people would not be interested in this book? Why or why not?” The class could work together to write a letter to the author with opinions and examples, and perhaps send it to the author. This question allows students to work through the issue of whether people are essentially different from each other, or whether all of us are essentially alike underneath the surface, even though we are different. (F.Y.I. This is the first book by a major publisher in the United States about Sikhs, and actually has been on the best seller list.)
Fry Bread:A Native American Family Story
by Kevin Noble Maillard, illustrated by Juana Martinez-Neal (About 9.5 minutes)
Winner of the 2020 Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal, and A 2020 American Indian Youth Literature Picture Book Honor Winner
In case you haven’t ever eaten it, Fry Bread is just what it sounds like, and is more or less the same as the yummy fried dough people in New England are familiar with from fairs and festivals.
This book is read by the author, who takes some time at the beginning to tell a little bit about himself – he’s a member of the Seminole Nation, Mekusukey band, and also African American. What do Native Americans look like? Well, this book presents a huge variety of children and grownups, all part of the family, waiting for a taste of that delicious treat, fry bread. There’s a second reading of the book HERE that lets you see the pictures better.
DISCUSSION/ACTIVITY
There are lots of different kinds of people – and lots of different kinds of foods! How many things made from flour can students think of? Pancakes, rye bread, crackers, scones, pita… make a big list!
You could also have them watch this reading of Bread, Bread, Bread by Ann Morris, with photographs of people all over the world and their many interesting kinds of bread.
The Proudest Blue
by Ibtihaj Muhammad with S. K. Ali, illustrated by Hatem Aly, read by Mrs. Ghazali of the Curiosity Channel, in a very interactive way, just as you might as a teacher, asking the audience (the students) to answer her questions, and stopping to talk about the themes of the story.
A young Muslim girl wears a hijab for the first time and her younger sister responds with pride. The author, the sister in this story, is actually an Olympic medalist in fencing and the first to wear a hijab and compete.
The reader, Mrs. Ghazali, poses the questions: who do you look up to
and why? Is being different a good reason not to like someone? When is a time
you have had to be strong and not let someone’s words hurt you? After the
discussion, show a picture of the subject of this book as a grown-up, wearing
the hijab.
What is a tradition special to people in your family: something you believe in which maybe not everybody else does? … a certain holiday, a food, a language, something you wear, something you say, a place, a person, even a sport or a pet? Try drawing what your family believes in. Around it put words about how you would explain it, just as the girl in the story tries to explain what is important about the hijab. She said the hijab was as strong as the ocean…..
written and illustrated by Yangsook Choi
Read by Mr. Conlin (about 17 minutes).
The book Always Anjali has a similar theme (about 8 minutes).
A little girl, Unhei (pronounced oon-hay), who has recently moved from Korea to the United States, comes to her first day of school. Kids on the bus have a hard time pronouncing her name and begin to make fun of her and say her name in silly ways. She feels bad and when she gets to her classroom she decides not to tell the class her name. Her classmates, wanting to be helpful, put suggested (American) names in a jar so that she can choose a name she likes. In the end, she decides to use her real, Korean name, and the other students practice and learn how to say it.
DISCUSSION/ACTIVITY
Why do you think the kids on the bus made fun of Unhei? An open-ended discussion of teasing and what might make people do it, and how it makes people feel, can be very interesting.
Unhei’s mother said that she and Unhei’s grandmother went to a “name master” in Korea to get her name. What do you think that means? How did you get your name? Were you named for some other member of your family, or did your parents just choose a name that they liked the sound of? Students could draw or write about themselves and some other member of their family that their name (first or last) is related to.
Unhei’s name means “grace”. What does that mean? It can mean being elegant and charming in the way you move, and also being polite and courteous. Who in the class knows if their name has a meaning, and what that meaning is?
A name is something very personal and important to each of us. Bring in a jar and have each person in the class write their name on a slip of paper. Mix them all up, and have everybody draw out a name from the jar. Have them think about what it would be like to change their name to the name they drew.
TAKING ACTION
Written by Kamala Harris, illustrated by Mechal Renee Roe
Read by the author (about 10 minutes).
A non-fiction, autobiographically-based book beginning with Kamala Harris’s quest as a child to find superheroes everywhere, this book lists the qualities she decides make a superhero such as kindness and bravery. The young Kamala Harris finds them in the real people around her. The book ends with a mirror, and Kamala Harris saying the real hero is you! Everyone has a little bit of a hero inside him or her. The video reading is by Vice President Kamala Harris herself, who engages with the students watching. As a follow-up, perhaps another day, students might enjoy watching her reading an EXCERPT OF THIS BOOK aloud to a class of children like them.
DISCUSSION/ACTIVITY
Before reading the book,
come into the classroom wearing a cape, and discuss what a superhero is. What qualities do the children think their
favorite superheroes have? The book is valuable because of its discussion of
our capacities to be superheroes and because it gives a glimpse into the life
of Kamala Harris as a child, who today is the first woman, the first black person, and
the first Asian-American to become the vice-president of the United States. Does your class know who she is? Will they
recognize a photo of her?
After reading the book, it
would be good to ask the class who the superheroes in their own real lives are
and why? What superhero attributes do
they themselves have? For instance, are
they kind or brave? Is being a famous woman, or achieving goals as Kamala
Harris has, being a superhero? What
super powers might she have had to use to become a vice-president?
Written by Thrity Umrigar, illustrated by Khoa Le
Read by Mr. Franklin, a first-second grade teacher (about 7 minutes).
An ALSC Notable Children's Book of 2021
A Kirkus Best Books of 2020
A School Library Journal Best Books of 2020
A young girl is sad and misses her home when she moves to America, until her aunt tells her an ancient story and transforms her attitude about being in a new place. In the ancient tale, Persian refugees ask an Indian king permission to land, but the kind refuses using the symbol of a full glass of milk, demonstrating that his land is so crowded that no more people can be added. The leader of the refugees, however, demonstrates how sugar can be added to the milk without taking up any more room, and even sweetens the milk at the same time, symbolizing how the refugees could fit into the new country. The Indian king laughs, embraces the leader of the refugees, and the refugees find a new home in this country. Hearing this story inspires the young girl in the story to reach out to those around her, and they reach back to her now in a friendly fashion.
DISCUSSION/ACTIVITY
Check understanding: What does this story mean? How do the characters communicate even though they don’t speak the same language? Are we less likely to help people who seem different from us? What will happen to the refugees? How could the refugees bring new “sweetness” to their new country?
Role play: Have one small group of volunteers imagine themselves the Persian refugees. What might the refugees be feeling at different stages of this journey (as they say goodbye to their old land, as they travel across the sea without enough food and water, when they arrive on the shore quite desperate, but hoping?) Have another set be the king and his attendants. How are they feeling? What are their expressions like? Have a third group of students who will be the inhabitants of India welcoming in the refugees, perhaps teaching them how to speak Hindi, be friends with their children, showing them where they can sleep, or coming to buy food at their shop.
(Role Play Variation: if a class is trying to do this activity virtually, a simplified version is to have only one person in each role – refugee leader/king/inhabitant - with the rest of the class watching. The roles could be acted out, or even just the feelings of each verbalized. Pairing students in groups of 2 or 3, in person or in Zoom break-out rooms would allow all to have a chance experiencing these roles.)
Concluding Discussion: How did it feel to be in one of these roles? What did you learn? Do you know about any people wanting to come to the United States now? How would you welcome the young girl in the story if she were coming to your neighborhood or school? Even if someone is not an immigrant or a refugee, are there times when you could welcome someone into your group of friends?
By Dave Eggers, illustrated by Shawn Harris
Read by Ms Caudle (About 5.5 minutes)
This book uses rhymes to talk about what children/citizens can do to make the world better, with a narrative about children building a tree structure, compromising, working together, and excluding some children (who play trumpets!) and then changing their minds and including them all – including the little boy alone in his house that we see on the first page, who’s brought in with his string lights to light up the amazing tree house they built.
DISCUSSION/ACTIVITY
Notice how the children talk, have meetings, and work together and alone to make things right. What do you think it means, “We’re part of a society.” What is a society? Why do you think the book says that none of us are the same? Think of three things YOU could do to help other people.
Written by Mary Hoffman and illustrated by Caroline Binch
DISCUSSION/ACTIVITY
Ask the class if there is anything only a boy or man usually does, with a follow-up question about why can’t a girl or woman do it? Ask the class if there is anything only a white person usually does, with a follow-up question about why can’t a black person do it? If possible show pictures of Obama (a black president), Kamala Harris (a black woman and vice-president), a picture of a codetalker (Navajo specialized service people in WWII), Charles Curtis (a Native American vice-president, Misty Copeland (an African American ballet dancer), perhaps a Rosie the Riveter photo, a woman astronaut, etc. Test their preconceptions by asking if a man can do daycare, or be the one who stays at home to take care of the children or other variations on the theme. Close with students drawing a picture of themselves showing what they would like to be when they grow up, and write underneath it, “I can be anything I want to be.”
Written by Jacqueline Woodson, illustrated by E. B. Lewis
NOTE: There are two links here, one to the author reading the book, but not showing the illustrations, and a second one to a reading along with the illustrations. We have suggested below (in the DISCUSSION section) that students watch them in this order.
AWARD(S): Winner of a Coretta Scott King Honor and The Jane Addams Peace Award; Also the author is the recipient of a 2020 MacArthur Fellowship and was the 2018–2019 National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature.
Maya is new to the class. She wears old, torn clothes. One of her shoes has a broken strap. Chloe and her two best friends don't want any other kids to play, especially not that new girl Maya. Maya does all she can to be a friend - but Chloe, Kendra and Sophie whisper and tease and ignore her. And one day, she is gone. And even when Chloe begins to realize what a little kindness could have done - it is too late. A powerful, story about judging others, bullying and meanness - and about bravery.
DISCUSSION/ACTIVITY
In school, children learn how to be a good friend, and how to include others. Sometimes children don’t make the right choices, and it is not always possible to change where they went wrong. This book leads directly into examining how much we each include others. There are links to two different readings of this book. Try using both, in sequence.
The first is by the author, and is read very powerfully, but has no visuals from the book. Have the children listen to the book as she reads it. Ask the class which scene in the book was the most powerful for them and why. Have they ever had something like the situation in the book happen to them, either being the person left out or leaving others out? Why do they think this girl was left out? Was this right? To build in some self-reflection time after the discussion, give them a few minutes to sketch one scene, or even one object, as they imagine it from the book, or for those who would rather not draw, have them write or dictate a few comments about why a particular scene was powerful. Give those who want the opportunity to hold up their sketches or share their comments.
Then begin the 2nd link that includes the actual illustrations and text of the book. Ask how this experience differs from that of the author reading her own book. Which version has more impact, and why? Was the picture they made in their minds during the first reading the same as the illustrator chose? Could they imagine being the author of a book like this? Could they imagine being the illustrator? Do they think that a book like this will change the way anyone might behave? The author’s motto is “Reading equals hope equals change.” Would they agree?
These Hands
by Margaret H. Mason, illustrated by Floyd Cooper (less than 3 minutes)
This is a story of the relationship between a grandfather and a grandson. Grandfather tells his grandson that his hands can tie fancy knots, throw a curve ball, shuffle cards, or play the piano but his hands weren’t allowed to touch the bread dough in the bakery because white people would not like to eat bread the black hands had touched. Grandfather tells about how he joined hands with others to change this issue, and now he bakes bread in the factory. At the end of the book, the grandson proudly announces he himself has learned how to tie his shoe, hit a ball, play the piano, shuffle cards, and bake bread from his grandpa.
DISCUSSION/ACTIVITY
This book can lead to many discussions: the relationship between a grandfather and a grandson, how we learn from others, the role of storytelling, how much we are missing in our knowledge of history, the extent of racism that believed food could be contaminated by black hands, and ways of working to make change peacefully with others. One might also ask whether the United States is getting to be a better place for African American people.
Students sketch around their own hand, multiple times, and color it in with different shades of skin colors. In the middle of the poster, the student can write down all the things a hand can do (including baking bread), no matter the color of the person’s skin. Put a title on the poster such as What All These Hands Can Do. A more extended activity for the third graders or older children would be to make a timeline around the room about black history, beginning with slavery and adding in changes for the better, such as this grandfather’s inability to bake in the bread factory in the 1950’s and 1960’s and its change, gradually adding other facts as the class learns more through different books or discussions. While the decades alone might not mean much to young ones, linking the decades to the time their grandparents were born might!
by Deborah Wiles, illustrated by Jerome Lagarrigue
The book is also read by a young boy named Nayshawn McCrae here.
Winner of the Ezra Jack Keats Book Award and the Coretta Scott King Award.
From the Publisher’s Summary: “Joe and John Henry are a lot alike. They both like shooting marbles, they both want to be firemen, and they both love to swim. But there’s one important way they’re different: Joe is white and John Henry is black, and in the South in 1964, that means John Henry isn’t allow to do everything his best friend is. Then a law is passed that forbids segregation and opens the town pool to everyone. Joe and John Henry are so excited they race each other there…only to discover that it takes more than a new law to change people’s hearts.”
The author says, “I was born a white child in Mobile, Alabama, and spent summers visiting my beloved Mississippi relatives. When the Civil Rights Act was passed, the town pool closed. So did the roller rink and the ice cream parlor. Rather than lawfully giving blacks the same rights and freedoms as whites, many southern businesses chose to shut their doors in protest. Some of them closed forever. Also in the summer of 1964, civil rights workers in Mississippi organized “Freedom Summer, “a movement to register black Americans to vote. It was a time of great racial violence and change. That was the summer I began to pay attention: I noticed that black Americans used back doors, were waited on only after every white had been helped, and were treated poorly, all because of the color of their skin… and no mater what any law said. I realized that a white person openly having a black friend, and vice versa, could be a dangerous thing. I couldn’t get these thoughts and images out of my mind, and I wondered what it must be like to be a black child my age. I dreamed about changing things, and yet I wondered what any child – black or white – could do. This story grew out of my feelings surrounding that time. It is fiction, but based on real events.”
DISCUSSION/ACTIVITY
This story takes place in the 1960’s, a time when your grandparents were kids, when many places in the south were living with a social system of “segregation” (or separation) that did not allow African-Americans to have the same rights and opportunities as white people. These places and people were struggling with the new reality brought about by the Civil Rights movement, which demanded that everyone be treated equally.
The story is told from the point of view of Joe. How can you tell that the boys were good friends? Stop reading when the boys are on the way to the pool and ask the class what they think is going to happen when they get to the pool. How did the students in your class feel when they found out what actually happened?
How did the boys get their ice pops at Mr. Mason’s General Store the first time? Why? How did they get them the second time, at the end of the book? They couldn’t get into the pool because it was filled with asphalt, but they did try to walk through the door together at the store. The story stops at that point. What do you think happened in the store? Was it a brave thing they did?
There are sometimes opportunities for us to do something that makes things easier for someone else. Write or draw something you have done to try to make things more fair, or something you wish you had done, or something you wish you could do.
