In response to the overwhelming number of requests for recommendations of anti-bias children’s books, we are launching the Freedom Reads: Anti-Bias Book Talk series. Beyond just sharing booklists, we want to share how we select high-quality, anti-bias books so that parents and teachers can do the same.

Teaching for Change associate director Allyson Criner Brown is producing the series for parents, teachers, and librarians. She explains,

Freedom Reads: Anti-Bias Book Talk is part anti-bias training, part book review. Each short segment explores anti-bias books for home and the classroom with the goal to strengthen parents’ and teachers’ anti-bias, anti-racism lens and their ability to critically analyze children’s media.

Follow these links to view the episodes of the series and find related resources:

• Introduction: Freedom Reads: Introduction to the Series
• Episode 1: Mumbet’s Declaration of Independence
• Episode 2: We March
• Episode 3: Missing Daddy
• Episode 4: B is for Baby
• Episode 5: Just a Minute: A Trickster Tale and Counting Book
• Episode 6: Rainbow Weaver / Tejedora del arcoíris

The series is inspired by our Roving Readers program (parents read aloud in classrooms), anti-bias education resources and training, and reviews from our Social Justice Books website.

Designed with parents in mind, episodes run under ten minutes and each one walks viewers through a synopsis of the book, relevant resources, and four to five key points from an anti-bias, critical literacy lens. Freedom Reads is appropriate for parents, caregivers, and educators who may be early in their anti-bias, anti-racist journey (i.e. those wondering why Criner Brown shares her pronouns in her introduction) and those who are already avid learners.

Visit the Social Justice Books website here: https://socialjusticebooks.org/freedom-reads/