As we work to build a better, more inclusive future, I am hyper-focused on my toddler’s bookshelf. And while I recognize that story-time is only the beginning of the important journey in raising an actively antiracist child, it’s definitely a start.

We often use books to impart important lessons around love, understanding, and cultural identity. So as a Jewish parent with an admitted #kaufMOMcrush on PJ Library, I’m focused on finding stories that impart a sense of inclusivity and recognition for POCs.

These are a few of our latest favorites.

Mrs. Katz and Tush

This is an Oprah Winfrey Recommended Kids’ Book and PJ Library staple.

It introduces two unlikely best friends who teach each other so much about the parallels between POCs and Jewish people.

Widowed and arguably abandoned by the rest of her family, a lonely Mrs. Katz finds an unexpected companion in her young neighbor, Larnel. While this is a longer book for younger toddlers to sit through, it offers an important, heartwarming lesson. Warning: it’s a tearjerker.

Ezra’s Big Shabbat Question

My son loves Friday nights and he just learned how to say his own name, Ezra. So this beautiful new addition to our bookshelf is bound to be a favorite.

I also love that this book asks multiple questions too, because it hits on what the broader study of Judaism is really all about.

The book’s author, Aviva Brown, converted to Judaism in 2017 but noticed a lack of diversity in Jewish children’s literature.

Jewish children of Color deserve to see themselves reflected in the pages of picture books and fair-skinned Jewish children deserve to see them, too. Children are taught that Jews come in all colors; Aviva shows them it’s true.

About – Aviva Brown