Acting Out!  Combating Homophobia Through Teacher Activism. Mollie Blackburn, Caroline Clark, Lauren Kenney & Jill Smith, $29.95

In this volume, teachers from urban, suburban and rural districts join together in a teacher inquiry group to challenge homophobia and heterosexism in schools and classrooms. To create safe learning environments for all students they address key topics, including seizing teachable moments, organizing faculty, deciding whether to come out in the classroom, using LGBTQ-inclusive texts, running a Gay-Straight Alliance, changing district policy to protect LGBTQ teachers and students, dealing with resistant students, and preparing preservice teachers to do anti-homophobia work.

This graceful compilation brings together a wide range of countries, cultures and faiths. Beautifully and sensitively illustrated, this is a wonderful book for families looking to celebrate and show gratitude.

It's Eid, and at the prayer hall, Aneesa meets two sisters who are refugees. With their father, they have fled from their war-torn country. Aneesa can't stop thinking about the girls and what Eid must be like for them. That's when Aneesa comes up with a plan to help the girls celebrate Eid and make it the best Eid holiday ever.

Children from all over the world introduce themselves and their bicycles in this colourful book. Pupils will see the similarities and differences in the ways we live — some people use bicycles to play with and others to get to work. Beautiful photographs feature children from countries as diverse as Kenya and Vietnam, and a world map will help children discover the world they live in.

The Biracial and Multiracial Student Experience. Bonnie Davis, $33.95

Through compelling student and teacher narratives, author Bonnie Davis gives voice to a frequently mislabeled and misunderstood segment of the population. Filled with research-based instructional strategies and reflective questions, the book supports readers in examining:

• The meaning of race, difference, and ethnicity
• How mixed-identity students develop racial identities
• How to adjust instruction to demonstrate cultural proficiency
• Complex questions to help deepen understanding of bi- and multiracial experiences, white privilege, and the history of race

This sensitively written yet practical guide fills a gap in the professional literature by examining the experiences of biracial/multiracial students in the context of today's classrooms. The author calls upon readers to take a transformational journey toward racial literacy and, ultimately, become empowered by a real understanding of what it means to be biracial or multiracial and enable all students to experience increased self-confidence and success.

Can We Talk about Race and Other Conversations in an Era of School Resegregation. Beverly Daniel Tatum, $16.00

Beverly Daniel Tatum emerged on the scene in 1997 with Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria, a book that spoke to a wide audience about the psychological dynamics of race relations in America. Now, in Can We Talk about Race, Tatum starts with a warning call about the increasing but underreported re-segregation of America. Tatum sees our growing isolation from each other as deeply problematic, and she believes that schools can be key institutions for forging connections across the racial divide.

In this ambitious, accessible book, Tatum examines some of the most resonant issues in American education and race relations:

• The need of African-American students to see themselves reflected in curricula and institutions
• How unexamined racial attitudes can negatively affect minority-student achievement
• The possibilities—and complications—of intimate cross-racial friendships

Tatum approaches all these topics with the blend of analysis and storytelling that make her a most persuasive and engaging commentator on race.

The Challenges of Student Diversity in Canadian Schools: Essays on Building a Better Future for Exceptional Children. Judy Lupart, Editor, $44.95

The specially commissioned essays in this book address the complexity of contemporary schools and classrooms as well as our need as a Canadian society to challenge the beliefs and practices that underpin lack of full access to, and benefit from education. They acknowledge the important influences of social, cultural, linguistic, academic, behavioural, gender and sexuality differences on the lives of students and raise important questions about how this diversity is respected in educational policy and practice.

Taken as a whole the essays are no less than a critical assessment of the theory, practices and policies of inclusive education and the promise of new assessment and empirical approaches, including "best practice", to affect positive change in the education of exceptional children.

This wonderful celebration of feminine power, beauty, and complexity tells the stories of ten goddesses from cultures the world over. The stories are beautifully told in prose and art — a collaboration of the talents of a mother and daughter team.

Come Out and Play: Count Around the World in 5 Languages. Diane Law, $11.50

Count along in English, Spanish, German, French and Chinese while enjoying the bright, playful illustrations of author and illustrator Diane Law.

The Day I Became a Canadian: a Citizenship Scrapbook. Jo Bannatyne Gugnet, illustrated by Song Nan Zhang, $12.99

“On a snowy morning, little Xiao Ling Li and her parents are about to take part in a ceremony — one that will make them Canadian citizens. To record the day for her new brother or sister, she decides to keep a scrapbook to treasure the day.”

The Diary of Laura’s Twin: a Holocaust Remembrance Book for Young Readers. Kathy Kacer, $14.95

Laura has just three weeks to go before her Jewish “coming of age” ceremony, called a Bat Mitzvah, when she is assigned a special project. She is to read the diary of Sara Gittler, a young girl her own age who was imprisoned by the Nazis in the Warsaw Ghetto during the Holocaust. Sara never had the chance to celebrate her coming of age, so Laura is to learn about Sara’s life and then share her Bat Mitzvah with her “twin” by speaking of her at the ceremony.

Reluctant to undertake the project at first, Laura quickly becomes caught up by Sara’s struggle to survive. Sara’s diary unfolds with the details of her daily life in the Ghetto, a world full of fear, confusion, tragedy and above all, courage. From Sara’s brave story in the past, Laura learns how to find the courage to confront the possibility of a friend’s current involvement in the desecration of a Jewish cemetery.

Echoes of the Holocaust. Carol Ann Reed & Harold Lass, $18.95 (Grades 10 and up)

This powerful collection of readings will engage readers in an exploration of modern human rights issues: racism, sexism, homophobia and discrimination against people with disabilities. These issues are linked together and examined against the ultimate violation of human rights, the Holocaust. The anti-racist approach of this book is intended to lead students and other readers to a broader vision of equity for all people in our increasingly diverse society … As students read and participate in the discussions, they will not only come to recognize the signs and dangers of racism in their own experience, but they will also come to understand the importance of what links us together as human beings.

Everyday Anti-Racism: Getting Real about Race in School. Edited by Mica Pollock, $27.50

In Everyday Anti-Racism leading educators deal with the most challenging questions about race in school, offering invaluable and effective advice. Topics range from using racial incidents as teachable moments to valuing students’ home worlds, dealing daily with achievement gaps, and helping parents fight ethnic and racial misconceptions about their children. Questions following each essay prompt readers to examine and discuss everyday issues of race and opportunity in their own classrooms and schools.

Four Special Questions: a Passover Story. Jonny Zucker & Jan Barger Cohen, $8.50

Here is a simple and delightful introduction to the Jewish festival of Passover, suitable for even the youngest children. Follow a family as they prepare for and celebrate their festival of freedom.

Also available in this series: Apples and Honey: a Rosh Hashanah Story; Eight Candles to Light: a Chanukah Story and It’s Party Time! A Purim Story.

Grandmothers’ Stories. Burliegh Mutén, illustrated by Siân Bailey, $18.99

These beautifully illustrated and retold wise woman tales from many cultures will make your imagination soar. Includes 2 story time CDs read by Olympia Dukakis.

I Am Canada. Heather Patterson, $6.99 (ages 4 to 8)

Bright photographs and simple text celebrate the many faces of Canada’s children, through the seasons and across the land.

“I Am Latino: the Beauty in Me is a celebration of Latino children in all of their various shades, cultures, and customs. A poetic, affirmative text accompanies the bright and striking photographs of children and uses the five senses to take the reader on a tour of Latino foods, music, language, and more.”

Lacey and the African Grandmothers. Sue Farrell Holler, $14.95 (ages 10-14)

Can a sewing project make a difference half-way across the world?

Lacey Little Bird loves spending time with Kahasi, an elder on her reserve who is like a grandmother to her. Then Lacey hears about a project to help grandmothers in Africa who are raising their grandchildren because their parents have died from AIDS. Even though Africa is far, far away, Lacey wants to help and emails the grandmothers with a plan to raise money by selling beaded purses.

What difference can a young Blackfoot girl from North America make in the lives of grandmothers in Africa? A lot, as Lacey discovers. Her decision to help will bring about amazing changes in her life and her community.

Lacey and the African Grandmothers is based on true events, real people, and the Stephen Lewis Foundation’s Grandmothers to Grandmothers campaign.

Let’s Talk About Race. Julius Lester, illustrated by Karen Barbour, $7.50

Dramatic, vibrant illustrations help tell the unique stories that make each of us special.

Mama's Saris captures an elegant snapshot of every girl's wish to play dress up.

MIXED: Portraits of Multicultural Kids. Kip Fulbeck, $23.95

This joyful collection reflects the voices and faces of mixed race children, and celebrates family, individuality and identity.

My Buddhist Year. Cath Senker, $11.95

My Christian Year. Cath Senker, $11.95

My Jewish Year. Cath Senker, $11.95

My MuslimYear. Cath Senker, $11.95

My Sikh Year. Cath Senker, $11.95

These beautiful books move chronologically through the calendar year and look at the typical events, customs, and celebrations enjoyed by children and their families. Festivals and personal customs are experienced through the use of religious articles, books, buildings, symbols, and food. Illustrated with colourful photographs, the books in this series open up the world to young readers. Ages 8 and up.

My Mother’s Sari. Sandhya Rao, illustrated by Nina Sabnani, $7.95

A young child’s connection to her mother is observed through the colors and textures of her mother’s saris.

Nasreen’s Secret School: a True Story from Afghanistan. Jeanette Winter,  $21.99

Young Nasreen has not spoken a word to anyone since her parents disappeared.

In despair, her grandmother risks everything to enroll Nasreen in a secret school for girls. Will a devoted teacher, a new friend, and the worlds she discovers in books be enough to draw Nasreen out of her shell of sadness?

Based on a true story from Afghanistan, this inspiring book will touch readers deeply as it affirms both the life-changing power of education and the healing power of love.

The Night Walker is a wonderful tale of mythical beasts and First Nation folklore. The beautiful illustrations by Martin Springett bring this story of a boy and his imagination to life.

No Girls Allowed. Susan Hughes, illustrated by Willow Dawson, $8.95

Tales of daring women, dressed as men — for love, freedom and adventure!

With beautiful, full-colour photographs and simple text these books introduce young children to the global community. (K to Grade 3)

Schools. Lisa Easterling, $6.95
Games. Lisa Easterling, $6.95
Clothing. Lisa Easterling, $6.95
Markets. Cassie Mayer, $6.95
Families. Lisa Easterling, $6.95

“In Sub-Saharan Africa, there are more than 11.5 million orphans. The AIDS pandemic has claimed their parents, their aunts, and their uncles. What is life like for these children? Who do they care for, and who cares for them? Come and meet them. They might surprise you.”

What is it like to leave home and arrive in a place where everything is new – language, weather, customs and people?

Every year families from around the world leave their homes to start a new life in a new place and they each have a story. In Our New Home, children use their writing and artwork to share these stories with us. Their words and pictures tell of the fear and sadness, the excitement and challenge of moving to a new country and starting a new life.

Piece by Piece: Stories About Fitting Into Canada. Teresa Toten, $20.00

This new anthology features stories by some of Canada's finest authors who were born in another country and who went through the experience of trying to "fit in." From the shock of first impressions to the first stirrings of "becoming Canadian" and what that meant to them, this collection speaks of a powerful desire to be accepted, to feel at home.

Historian Marc Aronson traces the history of racial prejudice in Western culture back to ancient Sumer and beyond. He shows us Greeks dividing the world into the civilized and the barbarian; medieval men writing about the traits of monstrous men and Enlightenment scientists scrapping all those mythologies and to come up with a new one: charts that spell out the traits of human races.

Aronson's journey of discovery yields many surprising discoveries. Illustrated with over one hundred images, this is a dynamic, thought-provoking work.

Raising the Peaceable Kingdom: What Animals Can Teach Us about the Social Origins of Tolerance and Friendship. Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson, $32.95

The challenge that bestselling author Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson set for himself was formidable: to create a true interspecies peaceable kingdom within his own household. He hoped to learn if several different species — some, natural enemies — raised together from an early age could live peacefully side by side. So he took into his home seven young animals — a kitten, a rabbit, two rats, two chickens, and a puppy — and set about observing the whole process of socialization (or non-socialization) from the very beginning. Raising the Peaceable Kingdom poses universal questions we've all had about relationships, social strife, and peaceful coexistence. In its intimations of the potential for planetary harmony, this elegantly written book is a work of major significance. As a unique account of life in an interspecies community, it offers unmitigated enchantment, joy, and delight.

Readings for Diversity and Social Justice, 2nd Edition. Maurianne Adams, et al, $51.95

For over ten years, Readings for Diversity and Social Justice has been the go-to anthology for the broadest possible coverage of issues related to identity and oppression from a social justice perspective. This highly-anticipated second edition breaks even further ground, boasting over 40 more readings than previously available, updated and original section introductions, and three entirely new chapter sections on Religious Oppression, Transgender Oppression, and Ageism/Adultism. As with the first edition, each chapter section is divided into Contexts, Personal Voices, and Next Steps. The first two parts provide vivid portraits of the meaning of diversity and the realities of oppression. The third part challenges the reader to take action to end oppressive behavior and affirm diversity and social justice.

Say Hello!  Rachel Isadora, $21.00

It’s fun to say “Hello” in so many different ways.

In 1935, an eight-year-old boy slipped from his bed late at night and watched as his family defied the government. Masked figures danced by firelight to the beat of the drum as young Watl’kina saw his elders dancing in a ceremony older than time.

Kwakwa’ka’wakw Elder Alfred Scow and award-winning author Andrea Spalding tell the story of a traditional — and once forbidden — ceremony that lies at the very heart of Aboriginal culture.

The Skin That We Speak: Thoughts on Language and Culture in the Classroom. Edited by Lisa Delpit, $19.95

“The Skin That We Speak takes the discussion of language in the classroom beyond the highly charged war of idioms and presents today’s teachers with a thoughtful exploration of the varieties of English that we speak. At a time when children are written off in our schools because they do not speak formal English, and when the class- and race-biased language used to describe those children determines their fate, The Skin That We Speak offers a cutting-edge look at crucial educational issues.”

This practical handbook shows teachers how to use collaboration, assessment, and strategic teaching to meet the needs of all students — from ESL learners and children with disabilities to students with different learning styles. From relationship-building activities to ways to meet specific curriculum expectations, the book offers practical strategies and organizational frameworks that help teachers reach all students. This updated edition has been expanded to include major sections on narrative and personal writing as well as specific strategies that tie assessment to lesson planning. New approaches to novel study, math, and social studies instruction are also included.

The Teacher’s Guide to Inclusive Education: 750 Strategies for Success! Peggy Hammeken, $50.95

This is a practical, comprehensive resource to help educators establish or enrich an inclusive education program to meet the needs of today’s diverse classroom environment. It includes strategies for working with students with English as a second language; students with special needs, at-risk and low achievers and students who simply need more support in order to be successful in the classroom.

Teaching Fairly In an Unfair World. Kathleen Gould Lundy, $24.95

“This powerful book helps teachers redefine an inclusive curriculum by questioning what is taught, how it is taught, to whom, and under what conditions. The book explores opportunities for students to connect with social justice issues in the real world through imagined experiences found in short stories, novels, plays, picture books, graphic novels, and primary source documents, such as letters.”

Find out all about the faiths of young people around the world. Each book in the This is My Faith Series explores a different world faith through the eyes of a child. In his or her own words, each child speaks about their beliefs, their families, everyday life and the rituals and traditions that are important to them and the festivals and special days they celebrate.

This is My Faith: Buddhism

This is My Faith: Christianity

This is My Faith: Hinduism

This is My Faith: Islam

This is My Faith: Judaism

This is My Faith: Sikhism

Three Wishes: Palestinian and Israeli Children Speak. Deborah Ellis, $12.95

“This book is about the children of the war-torn Middle East. Deborah Ellis, author of the enormously popular Breadwinner trilogy, turns her attention from the children of Afghanistan to the children of Israel and Palestine, presenting their stories based on interviews done in the winter of 2002 while in Israel and Palestine. This simple and telling book allows children everywhere to see those caught in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as children just like themselves, but who are living far more difficult, dangerous lives. The book does not take sides, but it does present an unblinking portrait of how victimized these children are by the endless struggle that the adults around them seem unable or unwilling to resolve. The text includes brief background information, black-and-white photographs taken by the author, a map, a glossary and suggestions for further reading.”

Victoria Goes to Brazil. Maria de Fatima Campos, $22.95 (ages 6-10)

Victoria travels with her Mum form their home in England to Brazil where Victoria gets to meet her cousins, aunts and uncles, and make many new friends on a visit that is far too short!

Violet. Tania Duprey Stehlik, illustrated by Vanja Vuleta Jovaniovic, $14.95 (ages 4-8)

Violet goes to a new school where none of the other children look like her. When one of her new classmates asks why Violet is purple, not blue like her Dad or red like her Mom, she wonders how she came to be so unique.

We Are All Born Free: the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Pictures. $22.95

This unique picture book is published in association with Amnesty International to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Human Rights, with introductions by David Tennant and John Boyne. Each of the thirty articles has been illustrated by a major children’s artist. All royalties from the sale of this book are donated to Amnesty International.

What If All the Kids Are White? Anti-Bias Multicultural Education with Young Children and Families. Louise Derman-Sparks & Patricia Ramsey, $32.95

“In this compelling volume, distinguished educators tackle a frequently asked question about multicultural education: How do I teach about racial and cultural diversity if all my students are white? The authors propose seven learning themes to help young white children resist messages of racism and build identity and skills for thriving in a multicultural country and world. The text includes strategies, resources, and classroom examples for implementing the learning themes in early childhood settings.”

Whispers from the Ghettos. Kathy Kacer & Sharon McKay, $13.99 (Ages 9+)

“The stories in this book come from behind the walls and barbed wire of Europe's ghettos during the Nazi regime. We hear the voices of young boys and girls as they live with the fear that they might be deported to the death camps at any moment. Theirs are stories of courage and determination, of struggle and resistance. They speak for those who, like them, managed to survive the war. And they speak for those who did not.”

Who Is In Your Family? A Celebration in Diversity. Susan Bowman, illustrated by Poppy Moon, $18.95 (ages 4-8)

In this full-color, illustrated book, children describe their families including what they like to do together. The wonderfully illustrated drawings bring out the uniqueness of each family. Children are encouraged to describe their own families and create some fun activities they can do together. Some of the families described include:

Parent in the military • Single parent • Incarcerated parent •Adoptive parents •Foster parents • Multicultural parents •Same-sex parents •Terminally ill parents • and others …

A Winter for Leo. Nicole Leroux, translated by Sheila Fischman, $9.99

Winner of the Governor General’s Award in Children’s Literature (French Language), this is the endearing tale of young flying squirrel who runs away from home because he is different. Forced to spend the winter far from home, he is taken in by a kindly mole family where he learns to see the strengths in his differences and make choices about his future before re-connecting with his past.

You and Me Together: Moms, Dads and Kids Around the World. Barbara Kerley, $9.95