Books for Belonging 📚

I am so proud to have been working for AmazeWorks for the past 6 years to bring belonging to life for children and adults of all identities and lived experiences! One way AmazeWorks champions equity and belonging for all is through our anti-bias Elementary Curriculum, which uses picture books to guide regular, intentional conversations about identity, difference, and bias with children.

This year, AmazeWorks is hoping to raise $15,000 to bring #BooksForBelonging into the classrooms of students across Minnesota and the US.

Growing up, I wish I'd had access to AmazeWorks curriculum so that I had mirrors of my own identity and windows into those different from mine. 

In particular, I wish I'd had the book, Star of the Week: A Story of Love, Adoption, and Brownies with Sprinkles, by Darlene Friedman, which is in our Kindergarten book box. Star of the Week is about a young Chinese American girl who is adopted by White parents. When it is her turn to be Star of the Week for her Kindergarten class, she must create a poster about herself. While she is excited to share about her family, she is nervous about how to explain her adoption and doesn't know what to say or include about her birth parents.

For me as a Korean adoptee, I would have loved to have had my Asian-ness and my transracial, adoptive family structure reflected in a story or picture book. It would have given me some language to express my own ambivalence about sharing about my adoption and birth family. It would have also helped my friends and classmates have empathy for and understanding of my identities and lived experiences without my having to explain these things to others myself as a child.

As censorship against identity-affirming books persists nationwide, keeping AmazeWorks in classrooms feels even more important. Help me bring belonging to life with AmazeWorks today by donating to our campaign! 

Thank you for your support,
Rebecca ❤️