(NOTE: I was given a copy of these books to review but all opinions are my own.)
Reading expands the mind, inspires creativity, broadens your perspective, increases your vocabulary, and is just downright fun and entertaining. I’m always reading — and reading to my grandchildren.
That’s one of the reasons I agreed to review books from Jambo Books. (I’ll tell you the second reason in a minute.)
I Really Want to See You Grandma is a wonderful picture book about a little girl who wants to visit her grandmother. (Wahoo! I totally support grandchildren visiting their grandma!)
Yuri took a bus to go to Grandma’s house. Grandma took a train to Yuri’s home. Alas! They didn’t notice it but they passed each other along the way.
Oh no!
So Grandma immediately left Yuri’s home and hurried back to her own home in hopes to get there before Yuri left.
And Yuri hurried home in hopes to get there before Grandma left.
They passed each other again without noticing.
When they got to their homes, they realized that they missed each other. AGAIN! So back they went. Yuri rode her scooter. Grandma rode her motorcycle. (Go Granny!)
And they finally met in the middle. Phew!
This book is absolutely delightful! I love it. It’s fun for a grandparent to read to her grandkids. That’s important because if (for some reason) grandma doesn’t like reading a particular book to a grandchild, she won’t do it. And the child misses out.
It’s also fun for a grandchild to listen to — and to look at the pictures. I especially loved the looks on Yuri’s and Grandma’s face. Kudos to Taro Gomi, the author/illustrator of the book (and who is one of Japan’s most prolific children’s book author/illustrator).
I received book another book — Jabari Tries.
Jabari announced he was going to make a flying machine. One that would fly clear across the yard. His little sister, Nika, offered to help.
But what does Jabari do? He refused it. (Isn’t that what big brothers do to little sisters?)
Jabari made anther one — by himself. Alas, Jabari’s flying machine crashed instead of flying.
Jabari tried again. Nika offered again. Jabari refused again.
His flying machine crashed. Again.
Jabari’s father told Jabari that Nika would love to help. Jabari thinks he doesn’t need help. Jabari’s father suggested that Nika could be a partner since many great inventors had partners.
Jabari relented.
Together, they tried to make a flying machine. It crashed. Jabari felt like crying but his father comforted him.
Jabari and Nika tried again. Success! It flew clear across the yard.
This book has several great messages. Keep trying. Sometime’s it takes hard work to succeed. It’s okay if you feel bad when things don’t work out like you want them to. Little sisters make great partners.
These are both excellent books!
Now, let’s take a moment to look at the Jambo Book Club. Their goal is to provide children with high-quality books that feature children of color.
In the past, children’s books rarely had children of color in them. In fact, less than 15 percent of childrenās books that were published over the past two decades had multicultural characters or story lines. Less than 15 percent! How pathetic.
Children’s literature has often been referred to as ‘windows and mirrors.’ Hold that thought for a moment as I digress.
A Research from Harvard University found that children as young as three years old, when exposed to racism and prejudice, tend to embrace and accept it. It also found that by the age of five that white children are strongly biased towards whiteness.
That means to combat racism, parents (and grandparents) need to start working with their TODDLERS to respect all people and to embrace diversity!
Now back to books being windows and mirrors.
A book can serve as a window to an unfamiliar or different culture. A book that respectfully depicts diverse characters, helps to break down stereotypes and to build empathy. Those types of books also help break down racism and prejudice.
That type of book can also be a window to new possibilities that a child of color might not have considered before — that she could be a scientist, an astronaut, or a justice on the Supreme Court. It provides a wide range of human experiences.
A book can also be a window into a make-believe or fantasy world. This stretches a child’s imagination and creativity. This helps them to think outside the box and be creative problem solvers as they grow.
A book can be a mirror for a child of color. It can be self-affirming to read about children who look just like her — and have similar strengths, weaknesses, feelings, experiences. It can affirm that if a child of color in a book can overcome her trials, the reader can, too. She can also see her life as part of the larger human experience.
Those are positive ‘reflections’ that a book can provide to and for children of color.
There’s also a dark side of reflections from a book. When children of color do not find characters like themselves in the books that they read, they learn a powerful lesson of how society devalues them.
On the flip side of color, Caucasian children can learn about and understand children of color when they read about them in books. They can learn about different cultures and the experiences those kids have. This helps Caucasian children to develop empathy and understanding for children of color.
So it’s a win-win when children’s literature feature children of color.
I love that the word Jambo means ‘hello’ in Swahili. This is the perfect word to start a connection to others, to learn something new, to grow in our understanding of what it’s like to be human.
The founders of this book club want all children to view the world as diverse, vibrant, and kind. And books are a great way to help children develop that point of view.
One of Jambo Books’ core belief is: we are all in this together so let’s be kind to each other.
If kids learned that, I believe there would be more peace, kindness, and civility in the world.
One way grandparents (and parents, too) can help children develop that kindness for others is to participate in the Jambo Book Club.
When you sign up, your grandchild will receive 2-3 age-appropriate childrenās books each month. These high-quality books feature a child of color in an engaging story. The stories emphasize that all people are equal even though we look different on the outside.
Another fun part of the book club is that the books come packaged in a box decorated in art featuring children of color. I love the box! I love the colors. I love the artwork. I’m saving the box so I can store wonderful things in it. (I bet kids will, too!)
Remember when I said earlier that my love of reading was one of the reasons I wanted to review some of Jambo’s books? I had another reason.
There isn’t much cultural diversity where my grandchildren and I live. I take every chance I can get to help them learn about and accept others who don’t look like them. I encourage them to be kind and civil toward all people. And I believe that providing them with books whose main characters are children of color is a fabulous way to teach those attributes.
If there isn’t diversity your grandchildren’s world, this book club is good for them, too.
I give Jambo Books two thumbs up!
So hurry over to Jambo Books. Sign up so that your grandchildren can start receiving these beautiful books now!
