21st March Harmony Day

My school always makes a big effort for Harmony Week and Harmony Day, whereas I do think it should be every day. That aside, our school library has a very diverse collection of picture books suitable for 3 to 8 year olds and when I am purchasing books or planning wish lists I do have specific things I look for. I want the book to be representative of the school population and the population beyond the school. I ensure that things such as the main characters' gender, ethnicity and values are in line with what we want to espouse. I find the website for Inclusive Children's Books for Children  particularly helpful for this. They have put together age appropriate booklists and then for each book on the list they have listed the criteria that pertains to the book. They use great criteria such as, 'own voice'; 'challenges stereotypes'; 'disabled representation' and 'female lead'. 

Another source I use for decision making is the Empathy Lab booklists. The books they list for the year, together with lists from other years means that you will have a very inclusive  and diverse set of books to choose from on days like these.

I have just been putting a bundle of books together for my Preschool and Kindergarten classes. This is what I put in the pile. They all address diversity, empathy, inclusion and harmony.

• Wide Big World by Maxine Beneba Clarke

• I'm  Australian Too by Mem Fox

• Room on Our Rock by Jol and Kate Temple

• Everybody's Welcome and  Everybody's Equal by Patricia Hegarty

• This Love  by Isabel Otter

• Hello by Tony Flowers

• Same, but a Little Bit Diff'rent  by Kylie Dunstan

• Mixed  by Arree Chung

• Hello! A Counting Book of Kindness by Kurman Hollis

• We Are Together by Britta Teckentrup

• There's Room for Everyone  by Anahita Teymorian 

• All Are Welcome and We Are All Neighbours by Alexandra Penfold

16th May International Day of Living Together in Peace

Unesco instigated this Day which aims to uphold the desire to live and act together, united in differences and diversity, in order to build a sustainable world of peace, solidarity and harmony. The Day invites countries to further promote reconciliation to help to ensure peace and sustainable development. 

Living together in peace is all about accepting differences and having the ability to listen to, recognise, respect and appreciate others, as well as living in a peaceful and united way and how pertinent is this for this time during COVID 19 when we begin to be given less imposed constrictions but continue to be asked to practise self distancing, continue to wash hands and be mindful about hygiene and to be careful when in public spaces. Can we all do that? We will have to wait and see.

As school goes back here, being considerate of others, patient with others, tolerant of others and most importantly accepting of others self-imposed limits is going to matter more. Maybe it is time to look at picture books that look at these values and what constitutes living peacefully together.

The Peace Book  by Todd Parr is a good place to start because it is simple and for a very young audience. It  delivers a timely and timeless message about the importance of friendship, caring, and acceptance. 

Peace is an Offering by Annette Le Box  is a warm comforting poem where a group of neighbourhood children find love in everyday things--in sunlight shining through the leaves and cookies shared with friends--and learn that peace is all around, if you just look for it.


A Little Peace by Barbara Kerley is a  book that juxtaposes photographs from around the world with simple, reflective messages about our responsibilities for finding and keeping peace on the planet. 

And at school on Monday perhaps reading these two books will remind students to be accepting of difference, to stand up for each other and yet encourage peaceful problem solving.

One by Kathryn Otoshi. You may recognize Red, the bully of this story, who picks on Blue for looking different; you may recognize the other colours, who stay quiet as red becomes more and more antagonistic. I hope you also recognize One, who finally stands up for Blue, and Blue itself who shows Red kindness and acceptance despite their past actions.

Red: A Crayon's Story by Michael Hall. Here Red is expected to draw fire trucks and strawberries, but he is a blue crayon in a red wrapper,  and everything he draws comes out blue. At first Red is misunderstood, but he is soon accepted and respected for who he really is. This simple story is so heartwarming; it teaches us not to judge by first impressions and expectations, but to accept and respect however a person wants to define themself.