Top 5 Baby Books for Bedtime: How To Encourage Diversity To Infants
Babies can see race from 3 months old! So…what does that mean?
Aspects of racial bias later in life may arise from our lack of exposure to other-race individuals in infancy
https://phys.org/news/2017-04-infants-racial-bias-members.html
So what can you do if you aren’t a mixed-race family or have many friends of other races around you?
BOOKS BOOKS BOOKS are your answer!
Any new parent is aware that babies love to look at the world around them, and just as much as that, they enjoy colorful books!
A good bedtime routine in our home always consists of at least 3 books (sometimes 5 if our baby isn’t drowsy). So we wanted to share with you the books we feel are best to show your baby diversity and representation with you.
1. My Santa, Your Santa
Yeah, our book. The WHOLE REASON we published it was to showcase more diversity at Christmas. So, of course my husband and I will read this to our son at bedtime…even when it’s not Christmas!
Our book is about how Santa is made of magic, so when he enters your home he automatically looks like you or someone in your family (a wink to any parent dressing up as Santa). We illustrated children and traditional Santa’s all around the world with a mixture of languages, races, genders, and disabilities. There’s even a page at the end for older children to draw their own Santa.
2. My Face Book
Our son Zander LOVES this book. It was probably the first book he ever really took notice of. I used to set it up on his playmat while he did tummy time so he could look at the faces.
Even now, as a one-year-old he still pulls it out and flicks through each page. Each one shows a baby with a different emotion. It is a simple and durable board book for sure.
3. Ten Tiny Babies
This is seriously one of the cutest rhyming counting books EVER!
We were recommended this book by a friend when we made a Facebook post asking for diverse book recommendations when our baby was born. And man did this become a nightly favorite. Lots of different babies doing activities and ending with them falling asleep (exactly what we wanted our son to do…he always has other plans though).
4. Global Babies (any from the series)
If you have ever read any Montessori blogs then you would have seen this book pop up. It is a classic favorite because of the gorgeous baby pictures in traditional outfits for each country, but also it includes languages from other countries. (Bonus points for having both a white American baby and a Native American baby represented).
5. Babies Around the World
A cute and simple Board book for babies! Ten babies in ten countries, all saying Hi in different languages (with an English translation so you can practice too!). A nice quick and easy read for your bubba at night while still showing different races to your little one.
It is never too early, or too late, to start showing your child that the world is made up of many different looking people. It is something to celebrate and learn about together.
If you’re interested in making your own children’s book like us, check out some of our other blog posts about Self-Publishing!
