Belonging
Sometimes it is hard to feel like you belong. No one person is the same as their neighbor. The books below are written to help children learn about where they belong and accepting others.
Where Oliver Fits
By Cale Atkinson
Oliver has always dreamed about where he will fit. Will he be in the mane of a unicorn? The tentacle of a pirate squid? The helmet of an astronaut? When he finally goes in search of his perfect place, he finds that trying to fit in is a lot harder than he thought. But like any puzzle, a little trial and error leads to a solution, and Oliver figures out exactly where he belongs.
Where Oliver Fits is a sweet and funny story that explores all the highs and lows of learning to be yourself and shows that fitting in isn't always the best fit.
The Day You Begin
By Jacqueline Woodson
There will be times when you walk into a room
and no one there is quite like you.
There are many reasons to feel different. Maybe it's how you look or talk, or where you're from; maybe it's what you eat, or something just as random. It's not easy to take those first steps into a place where nobody really knows you yet, but somehow you do it.
Jacqueline Woodson's lyrical text and Rafael Lopez's dazzling art reminds us that we all feel like outsiders sometimes-and how brave it is that we go forth anyway. And that sometimes, when we reach out and begin to share our stories, others will be happy to meet us halfway.
Tacky The Penguin
By Helen Lester
Tacky’s the odd bird out among all his friends. Will this nonconformist teach old penguins some new tricks and help save the day? This hilarious series following the adventures of one superlative penguin is a modern classic.
Tacky likes to do splashy cannonballs and greet his friends with a loud, “What’s happening?” His fellow penguins find his odd behavior somewhat bothersome.
But when fearsome poachers come to the iceberg hunting for penguins, Tacky’s odd ways may be just the thing that saves the day.
Big Al
By Andrew Clements and Yuu Yoshii
Poor Big Al! He just wants to make friends. And in the whole wide blue sea you can't find a nicer fish. But because Big Al is large and scary-looking, the little fish are afraid to get to know him.
What can he do? He tries everything he can think of -- from disguising himself with seaweed to burrowing under the ocean floor so he'll look smaller. But something always goes wrong, and lonely Big Al wonders if he'll ever have a single friend. Then one frightening day, when a fishing net captures the other fish, Big Al gets the chance to prove what a wonderful friend he can be!
If There Never Was A You
By Amanda Rowe
If There Never Was A You read Aloud
If there never was a you, how empty life would be! Who would make me smile and laugh and keep me company?
Filled with heartwarming messages of love, belonging, and togetherness, If There Never Was a You gently reassures children that the place they hold in their parents' hearts can never be filled with anything else.