Multicultural book recommendations to start reading with your child before bed
One of the best and earliest things you can do to help promote healthy sleep for your child is to have a bedtime routine. Studies show “a nightly bedtime routine as a key factor in the promotion of not only healthy sleep, but also of broad development and wellbeing in early childhood.” When we work one-on-one with families to help their children get better sleep, one of the foundations we look for first is to make sure they have a bedtime routine! There are so many things you can incorporate in your bedtime routine, from a bath and teeth-brushing to swaddling and praying, but one thing that we encourage, no matter how young or old your child, is bedtime reading!
We reached out to Carol Gordon Ekster, a retired educator and author of children’s bedtime books You Know What? and Before I Sleep: I Thank You, to find out why it’s so important to incorporate reading into your child’s bedtime routine. She explained it like this: “Because a bedtime picture book is usually shared on a lap or cuddling close, forever memories are created. A love of books begins now…from the youngest age. It provides a safe space to explore every possible topic and introduces children to art. Reading aloud stimulates imagination and helps children understand their world, exposes them to new language, and teaches them the value of books. This all leads to giving those who were read to, early and often, a definite advantage once they get to school.”
Although any children’s book can be beneficial, it’s definitely worth putting effort into picking exactly what books you want to expose your child to. We live in a world where we can order virtually any book from Amazon or browse shelf after shelf at a thrift store, and the options seem endless. Books with flaps and touch-and-feel books are fun, books that rhyme help with language development and literacy, and books with solid storylines help teach cause/effect or beginning/middle/end.
But when choosing books to read to your children, you should also think about the content and pictures you are exposing them to. Are you teaching them about the world around them? Are you showing them things they are familiar with yet also exposing them to things that they may not know about otherwise? Are you teaching them about the world around them, or reading books where the characters are of a different race and culture?
With recent events reminding us all about “unconscious bias,” it makes sense that exposing our children to books about people of different races or cultures will help them to become more unbiased citizens as they grow. To explain this further, we reached out to Black children’s author Irene Smalls (@TheGrandMaDiva1), author of the bedtime book My Nana and Me, the humorous story of how Irene’s Nana got little Irene to bed and to sleep.
Irene explained it this way:
“We are living in a global society. Your children are likely to grow up going to school with and working with people from many different cultures and backgrounds. Exposure to people of different backgrounds at an early age through books prepares your child for the real world. Books about diverse children and cultures highlight that all children feel the same emotions, no matter where they live in the world, what language they speak, or how they look. Diverse books show that although people have many differences and may look different, there are common traits that unite all people.”
Irene continued: “Scientists say babies see colors at around 5 months. Dr. Rebecca Bigler, Ph.D., an associate professor of psychology at the University of Texas at Austin, who has studied children's racial attitudes, says that ‘studies show babies recognize differences in skin color and hair textures.’ Babies see skin color and hair texture, but it has no meaning as neither good nor bad. It is only when children see and hear certain types of behaviors from the people around them that negative racial attitudes develop. Having multicultural books as part of your bedtime reading list fosters the development of respect, empathy, and acceptance of people who look differently. Multicultural books show children examples of how to navigate in an increasingly complex and diverse world. Parents, teach through your actions. Add to your list of bedtime stories books about children from different races and backgrounds.”
As we searched the Internet for great bedtime books, we came across the website Colours of Us. It’s a great resource where you can search for children’s books (and toys) based on ethnicity and age group. We also found the 2020 Global Children's Book Club, where you can find a list of books about different countries (one for each letter of the alphabet).
However, thanks to some wonderful authors and publishers, we also had the opportunity to “try out” some multicultural bedtime books ourselves, and we’re happy to present this list of our recommendations to you!
For babies:
For ages 2-3+:
Picture books by Atinuke:
(These are not exactly “bedtime books,” but they are adorable stories about babies and kids in a colorful and busy African village)
For ages 3-5+:
If you have any recommendations of multicultural bedtime books, please let us know!