This book could be used anytime throughout the year to honor a continued focus on creating a sense of belonging for all. The illustrations show multiple forms of representation, allowing students to see themselves and others not regularly reflected in picture books.

• October: Global Diversity Month; LGBT History Month; National Disability Employment Awareness Month
  • International Pronouns Day (third Wednesday of October)
• December: International Day of Persons with Disabilities (December 3); International Human Rights Day (December 10)
• April: Celebrate Diversity Month

This book flows with a rhythm that will support fluency and accuracy, building a voracious reader. Students often enjoy using this book as a choral read with peers after hearing the text modeled by a fluent reader.

While reading this book, I noticed that I naturally studied the illustrations first, reading the text at a slow rate. To gain a better understanding, I zoomed in on the text and noticed the flow of the rhyming words and the emphasis of the bold words during my second and third read. While reading it aloud, I also inserted a tempo to support my pacing. This is what readers do as they’re adjusting and applying different reading rates to fit their text.

• Ask students to monitor their reading rate and think about the why behind what they applied. Are they reading to gather information and using the illustrations to help tell the story? Or are they skimming through the text quickly because they are looking for something specific?

• make haste, community, diversity, adversity, uncover, discover, anew
• Pictured vocabulary examples: patkas, hijabs, yarmulkes, sajjada

This book includes many examples of implied meaning throughout the text. It is important to consider your audience and the needs of your students when exploring the meaning of the figurative language used.

A group of teens created a public service announcement (PSA), on YouTube, to share their thoughts about why on-screen representation matters. As a class, create a PSA about diverse representation in literacy. Ask students the following questions: 

• Why is it important to see various forms of representation in our classroom library?
• How do you feel when you see yourself, a family member, or a friend represented in a book from your book bin or bag of books?
• Who is often missing from the stories you read? How can we change that?