ABC7 Unite: New children's book series tackles hard-to-discuss topics

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Friday, March 26, 2021

ABC7 Unite: New book series for kids tackles hard-to-discuss topics

A brand new picture book is helping parents talk to children about subjects that might otherwise be uncomfortable or overlooked.

NEW YORK (WABC) -- A brand new picture book is helping parents talk to children about subjects that might otherwise be uncomfortable or overlooked.

"Our Skin: A First Conversation About Race" was co-authored by Megan Madison and Jessica Ralli, and illustrated by Isabel Roxas.

"When we don't talk about it, children often come to their own conclusions," Ralli said.

The book is the first in a series on diversity and is in libraries and book stores now.

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"We really created the tool that I had been looking for as a parent," Ralli said. "To have supportive, intentional, and honest conversations early and often about race and racism with my own kids."

She has young children and a background in childhood education, and she was looking for way to talk to them about the civil unrest they were seeing.

"Children are ready to have these conversations," she said. "By not having them, we are doing them a disservice. Because it's already something they are thinking about and noticing."

The books are based on an anti bias education.

According to the authors, there are four core goals for kids and grownups: Identity, diversity, justice and activism.

The book depicts a protest and a child holding a Black Lives Matter sign, encouraging kids to act.

"There are things they can do to make the world more, just, to make the world more fair," Ralli said.

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The authors are working on the next three books in this series, which address gender, consent, and body image. The next book will be available July 13.

For more on the book series, visit FirstConversations.com.

Additional resources from the Brooklyn Public Library:

--Diverse books for babies

--Diverse books for toddlers

--Diverse books for preschoolers and pre-K

--Diverse books for children in kindergarten and first grade