May Reading Roundup: Books on AAPI Heritage, Mental Health Awareness, and more!
There's so much to celebrate this month! From Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month to Mental Health Awareness Month, this May is full of important initiatives — and learning opportunities for our little ones. To help facilitate these conversations, we've rounded up some book recommendations for each, such as books featuring Asian stories and characters to books about identifying our complex emotions.
Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month
AAPI Heritage Month is dedicated to, "recognizing the contributions and influence of Asian Americans and Pacific Islander Americans to the history, culture, and achievements of the United States." The AAPI umbrella encompasses a large variety of ethnicities and cultures, so this list is by no means exhaustive, but simply a starting place to open up your little one's world to the rich cultures and experiences of our AAPI friends!
Jewish American Heritage Month
May also represents Jewish Heritage Month, "paying tribute to the generations of Jewish Americans who have helped form the fabric of American history, culture and society." A melting pot of different faiths and religions, America is home to over 7.6 million Jewish Americans. We recommend these books to share more about Jewish American culture with your children because celebrating different cultures is a great way to understand each other!
Mental Health Awareness Month
Another important initiative this May is Mental Health Awareness Month, a movement to raise awareness and advocacy around mental health, and it's a great opportunity to talk about what that means with our little ones. Kids – just like adults – have complex emotions, but being able to identify them and cope with them is no easy feat at a young age. These books tackle big conversations in easy, digestible ways that kids can understand and relate to!
The Way I Feelby Janan Cain
