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Original poster

All I want for Xmas are toddler books featuring non white characters

66 replies

lookingatthings · 05/12/2020 07:37

That aren't about being non-white.
Bonus points if the family features white dad, black mum, mixed kid.
Bonus bonus points if the story is about introducing a new baby.

Here's what I don't want: stories about how being different is great!

Anyone come across anything that fits the bill?

OP posts:
JohnLapsleyParlabane · 05/12/2020 08:15

www.waterstones.com/book/baby-loves-aerospace-engineering/ruth-spiro/irene-chan/9781580895415
This might fit the bill

SushiGo · 05/12/2020 08:16

When slightly older, please get Ada Twist scientist! We love that book.

In the meantime, it's depressingly hard but these are some of the best matches I found:
for baby [[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1846432758/ref=as_li_qf_asin_il_tl?linkCode=as2&linkId=832cf9d6eb681f76973a06dbafeb70dd&creativeASIN=1846432758&ref_=d6k_applink_bb_marketplac&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&ie=UTF8&creative=9325e]]
in there? [[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0763636304/ref=as_li_qf_asin_il_tl?linkCode=as2&linkId=b9f85a55d15598735b23f5d8f0d340ee&creativeASIN=0763636304&ref_=d6k_applink_bb_marketplac&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&ie=UTF8&creative=9325e]]
can do it too [[https://www.amazon.co.uk/You-Can-Too-Karen-Baicker/dp/081187561X/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=you+can+do+it+too&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&qid=1607155843&sr=8-1]]
Maybe Lola reads to Leo?

Some of these are showing longer delivery times on amazon. I would recommend calling your local independent bookshop with a list if the books you want, they can normally get books with a few days - much faster than amazon.

Also, if you can go your local independent bookshop or library and browse I would bet money they have a better choice than online as trained librarians and book sellers are often much more conscious about trying to provide a balanced selection of books than online sellers.

Slightly older/not about new babies:
up! [[https://shop.scholastic.co.uk/products/129240]]
Gizmo [[https://shop.scholastic.co.uk/products/129244]]
mummy is a scientist [[https://www.notonlypinkandblue.com/product/my-mummy-is-a-scientist/]]

Babyiskickingmyribs · 05/12/2020 08:18

And I think the writer of this booklist gets lots of bonus points : www.mixedremixed.org/top-ten-childrens-books-with-mixed-race-families/

sohypnotic · 05/12/2020 08:18

The Dinosaur Department Store https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1780555962/ref=cmswwrcppapifabcc_ei0YFb3YDRYN7

Features a mixed race family, shopping for a dinosaur pet. Great illustrations and fun to read. My DD (3) loves it.

MarinaMarinara · 05/12/2020 08:20

I can’t think of one that would get all the bonus points. But do have a few ideas for toddler books that have some of what you’re looking for. How about “Ruby’s baby brother” - all about introducing a new baby brother, it’s a lovely little story. You can see some of the story and illustrations in the link.
www.barefootbooks.com/uk/rubys-baby-brother-paperback?___store=barefoot_uk&___from_store=default

Or “shopping with dad” has a white dad and a mixed daughter and is a really fun one (but no babies)
www.barefootbooks.com/uk/shopping-with-dad-paperback

Jellybearlovescake · 05/12/2020 08:21

The new small person is great and has black characters

www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0723293619/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_fabc_dk0YFbGXFBSDM?tag=mumsnetforu03-21

RubaiyatOfAnyone · 05/12/2020 08:23

I think JoJo and GranGran from Cbeebies have books, and the series are certainly lovely (although focusing on grandaughter/ grandmother rather than parents).

Not really fitting your brief, but i used to enjoy reading out-loud Neil Gaiman’s book-poem “This is a Song for a Blueberry Girl” in which the artist has drawn the titular “girl” differently on each page, different ages and ethnicities.

SushiGo · 05/12/2020 08:24

Sorry, not sure what happened to the links!

Best match I could find baby books, it's really hard, sorry:
Waiting for baby - Rachel fuller
What's in there - Robie Harris
You can do it too - Karen Baicker
Lola reads to Leo - AnnaMcQuinn

Older books/Different Topics:
Look Up! - Nathan Bryon
Izzy Gizmo - Pip Jones
My Mother is a scientist (few different editions of these with different jobs/families)

Thatwentbadly · 05/12/2020 08:25

It might be worth contacting Seven Stories book shop for ideas.

Peeeas · 05/12/2020 08:28

Maybe for a bit older than toddler, but Ellie's magic wellies is good.

Jellybearlovescake · 05/12/2020 08:29

And this book is lovely for talking about mum-child relationships in general. It's all about the different way mums love their children but there is a different family featured on each page, lots of which the mum and child are different colours although the difference isnt mentioned

www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0692045635/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_fabc_mo0YFbXV0KK7W?psc=1&_encoding=UTF8&tag=mumsnetforu03-21

binkyblinky · 05/12/2020 08:30

White family here, but also becoming exasperated about the lack of diversity in children's' book! I am buying my son Baroness Floella Benjamin's book for Christmas! This is a great thread, lots of ideas for things I can buy my boys. Hope you find some lovely stories OP x

FenellaMaxwell · 05/12/2020 08:31

Another vote for the dinosaur department store - DS (3) loves it. Also, Ruby’s Worry, and Look Up!

SavoyCabbage · 05/12/2020 08:32

Oh this was what I was doing a decade ago. Stupid Handa's bloody hen.

My DD's favourite book was about a grandma who got lost in a shop and nothing else happens. No mention of how she was a different colour to the child. I'll look for it on Amazon.

Jump at the Sun do fairy tale books. The words are not brilliant but I just make them up.
Nick Sharratt's Goldilocks is brown. Obviously her hair is blonde but it's dreadlocks.
Grace Lin has lots of pictures books. Her families are Chinese

Floella Benjamin wrote some books but they were after my time. We have her chapter book.

MindyStClaire · 05/12/2020 08:33

Saw this in active and came in to suggest The Girl The Bear And The Magic Shoes. It's a big favourite with our two year old.

Also, the babies in Ten Little Fingers are diverse, DD loves that one too.

rubymaster · 05/12/2020 08:33

If I had a Dinosaur
If i had a Unicorn
If I had a Sleepy Sloth
Billy and the Beast
Billy and the Dragon

SavoyCabbage · 05/12/2020 08:41

There is the Amazing Grace series too.

missrabbitismyhero · 05/12/2020 08:48

My daughter loves Please Baby Please too

ByGrabtharsHammerWhatASavings · 05/12/2020 08:49

Ds is 4 and really likes the Anna Hibiscus books, and the Lulu books by Anna McQuinn. There's also a book called "look up" about a little girl who wants to be an astronaut which is nice. My dd is 2 and loves the Rosa series by Jessica Spanyol which is primarily about gender stereotyping but has lots of black and mixed race characters and is also disability inclusive.

Can't think of any about new babies off the top of my head though I'm afraid.

ByGrabtharsHammerWhatASavings · 05/12/2020 08:55

Oh, we also read a book last night called "we are family" by Patricia Hegarty which was nice. It does have an "it's OK to be different message" but that's about different family types and the message is only in the pictures not the text. It's a little rhyming story about how families are always there for each other etc. The pictures show lots of different family types, lots of different skin colours, children living with a single parent/ grandparents/mum and dad/two mums/two dads/lots of siblings or only child etc. It's also disability inclusive. Sweet little book.

Monkey1111 · 05/12/2020 09:15

This might be useful.

All I want for Xmas are toddler books featuring non white characters
Disfordarkchocolate · 05/12/2020 09:18

www.waterstones.com/book/so-much/trish-cooke/9781406390728

The family isn't mixed but this is a great book. It's full of love and warmth.

PersicariaBistortaSuperba · 05/12/2020 11:19

Octopus Shocktopus has a mixed race family with three children, one of whom is a baby. The story, however, is about a giant octopus on top of their house so might not fit the bill! Also The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats is magical, although no babies at all in that one from what I can remember. Just a boy in a snow suit exploring the world after first snow fall.

PerditaNitt · 05/12/2020 11:26

Ready Steady Rescue has a non white lead character (although to be fair, the real heroes are all of the vehicles in the book, rather than the kid). This whole series of books is great and the vehicles all have a mix of names from different heritages. It felt like a naturally inclusive book, rather than one where difference races and ethnicities have been shoe horned in to score PC points (I’m a bit cynical, I know). Great for 2.5 years upwards.

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