"We All Belong" by Nathalie Goss, Alex Goss, and Castle Goss


    This text selection is an amazing option for including multicultural literature into an early childhood classroom. This book promotes empathy, understanding, and diversity. For young learners, this would be a great book to use for a class read aloud and incorporate multicultural topics with social / emotional learning! 

    Through the illustrations and the text, there is representation of multiple cultures. When children are able to see a character in a story that looks like them, it makes it relatable and they are able to connect with it on a personal level. This would be a good read for children from preschool up to fifth grade. It is a high quality book that gives students a chance to see differences between themselves and their peers, and acknowledge those differences so they aren't (to quote the author) "living in a color-blind world". 

    There is actually an activity already included into this book! The activity is to have students draw a picture of themselves and a friend, and then write some things that are the same between the two of them, and then write some things that are different. I like this activity because it is a hands on approach to having students see differences that are between them and someone else, and realize that it is okay! 

Some potential discussion questions could be:

1. What are some differences between me and you?

2. *when referring to one of the illustrations in the book* "What are some differences between the children in this picture?" 

3. Why is it important for us to recognize differences in ourselves compared to our friends?

4. "This is a book about diversity, what does diversity mean to you?" 


    Overall, I think this is a very moving story to share with students. It does a terrific job including multiple cultures and explaining diversity and kindness in a way students will be able to understand. This story has won numerous awards in the UK, U.S., and Canada. Nathalie Goss is a French black Caribbean author and illustrator who lives in the UK. Her words are an inspiration to teach love and encourage kindness to grow among the children in our classrooms. The message in this book is beautiful, and I cannot wait to share it with my students! 


References:

Goss, N., Goss, A., & Castle, G. (2020). We All Belong: A Children’s Book About Diversity, Race and Empathy. Independently published.    

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