By Benay Hicks February 3, 2022
Happy Birthday to the Featured Five! In January 2021, Amy Franks, Book Harvest’s Associate Director of Learning Partnerships, created the Featured Five initiative. Every month, she curates a list of five children’s books that are timely and representative of individuals and stories from different cultures. Among the many monthly themes, Featured Five books have honored National American Indian Heritage Month, the legacy of Nelson Mandela, and the lives and needs of children of incarcerated parents, to name a few.
Book Harvest’s Featured Five falls within our commitment to Mirrors, Windows, and Sliding Glass Doors — a concept created and championed by Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop:
Literature transforms human experience and reflects it back to us, and in that reflection we can see our own lives and experiences as part of the larger human experience. Books are sometimes windows, offering views of worlds that may be real or imagined, familiar or strange. These windows are also sliding glass doors, and readers have only to walk through in imagination to become part of whatever world has been created and recreated by the author. Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop
As a result of the Featured Five, hundreds of beautiful, new, culturally-inclusive children’s books have been purchased and donated to Book Harvest. People from all around the world have contributed! Plus, many of you have purchased these books for your personal home libraries. Thank you for your support of this initiative! We look forward to continuing to bring you timely, culturally-inclusive children’s books each month.
February 2021
Black History MonthLearn More
March 2021
Women's History MonthLearn More
April 2021
National Poetry MonthLearn More
May 2021
Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage MonthLearn More
June 2021
Immigrant Heritage MonthLearn More
July 2021
In honor of Nelson MandelaLearn More
August 2021
Back to School: To celebrate embracing who we are, where we come from, a...Learn More
September 2021
Grandparents Day and Hispanic Heritage MonthLearn More
October 2021
To raise awareness about the lives and needs of children of incarcerated...Learn More
November 2021
National American Indian Heritage MonthLearn More
December 2021
To recognize the many festivals, holidays, and traditions that are obser...Learn More
January 2022
To honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s life, legacy, and big dreamsLearn More
February 2022
Black History MonthLearn More