Reader’s Advisory Assignment

Erynn Taylor

Department of Education, Georgia College and State University

EDIT 6255: Information Sources and Services in the Media Center

Dr. Dianne Gregg

October 31, 2023

Scenario: A young black student is feeling a bit out of place in their school environment. They
are not happy with their hair or their skin color and wish that they looked like their
lighter-skinned peers. The goal of these books and tools in this reader’s advisory is to help the
student feel confident in their skin.

1. Can I Touch Your Hair?: Poems of Race, Mistakes, and Friendship by Irene Latham
& Charles Waters & Illustrated by Sean Qualls & Selina Alko
a. Young black boy and a white girl who are assigned to work together on a poetry
project
b. Made up entirely of poems about how different their lives are and how they still
have similarities even though they are two different races.
c. Discusses topics such as racism, police brutality, touching a black person’s hair
without their permission, etc.
2. Sulwe by Lupita Nyong’o and illustrated by Vashti Harrison
a. A little girl named Sulwe has very dark skin and feels like an outsider.
b. She struggles with self-confidence and throughout the book, she slowly learns to
love her skin rather than wishing she wasn’t a dark-skinned little girl.
c. Promotes loving your skin tone at the end of the book
d. Focuses on colorism, which is a big topic in different POC communities
3. Firebird by Misty Copeland & Illustrated by Christopher Myers
a. young black girl who has a dream of becoming a dancer and is guided through the
process by an older dancer, who is implied to be Misty Copeland herself.
b. The story goes through the hard work it takes to be a dancer but encourages
young children to never give up on their dreams.
c. Focuses on young POC to not give up on their dreams and to see their skin tone as
a strength rather than a weakness

Reflection: I have never done anything like this assignment before. I learned that there are books
for every scenario possible. The amount of children’s books that have been written on various
topics is quite large and amazing. When I was a young student, I did not have access to books
such as these. These types of books could have helped me love my skin or taught me how to
navigate school with those who looked different from me, but I am glad that they are able to help
young POCs today. I am excited to use this tool in the future with real students and different
scenarios.