Raising Readers and Leaders

Raising Readers and Leaders 📚 Diverse & inclusive books
🧠 Neurodivergent bibliophile mama
✊🏼Humanity • belonging • advocacy
🍄 Spreading ☮️ & 💛
🌎 Raising readers who ask "why?"

👧🏽 I have two daughters.One is bold enough to question everything. The other is determined enough to never give up.I’ve ...
06/06/2026

👧🏽 I have two daughters.

One is bold enough to question everything. The other is determined enough to never give up.

I’ve watched adults call girls “bossy,” “dramatic,” “too much,” or “too sensitive” when they’re often showing the very qualities we celebrate in leaders: confidence, passion, persistence, and conviction.

I don’t want girls to become smaller to make others comfortable. I want them to learn kindness, empathy, and respect while holding onto the voices that make them who they are.

The world needs girls who know their worth. 💛

One of the things I love most about children’s books is that they give girls permission to be fully themselves.

✨ Curious.
✨ Determined.
✨ Loud with joy.
✨ Passionate about what they believe.
✨ Unapologetically confident.

Because the traits that get girls labeled “too much” are often the same traits that help them change the world. 🌎📚☮️💛

📚☀️ Los Angeles friends, it’s summer reading season! ☀️📚Looking for a fun (and free!) way to keep kids reading this summ...
06/02/2026

📚☀️ Los Angeles friends, it’s summer reading season! ☀️📚

Looking for a fun (and free!) way to keep kids reading this summer? The LA County Library Summer Discovery Program is back! From June through August, readers of all ages can log books, complete activities, earn badges, and enter prize drawings—all while building a lifelong love of reading.

Whether your child is devouring chapter books, listening to audiobooks, flipping through graphic novels, or enjoying picture books together, every page counts. Summer reading helps prevent the “summer slide” and keeps young minds growing all season long.

📖 Register online or visit your local LA County Library branch to join the fun. Libraries truly are one of the greatest gifts our communities offer—books, programs, learning opportunities, and adventures for every age.

☀️ 🫐🌸🐛🌼🍓💦 June always feels a little magical.It’s the season of muddy feet, backyard picnics, library adventures, popsic...
06/02/2026

☀️ 🫐🌸🐛🌼🍓💦

June always feels a little magical.

It’s the season of muddy feet, backyard picnics, library adventures, popsicle-sticky fingers, and slowing down long enough to notice butterflies, clouds, and tiny wonders hiding in plain sight.

As a teacher (and a mama), I know children don’t always need elaborate plans or expensive activities. Some of the most meaningful memories are made while reading a book under a tree, drawing with sidewalk chalk, building blanket forts, collecting treasures on a nature walk, or simply spending time together.

This month, I’m leaning into joy. More books. More sunshine. More curiosity. More kindness. More unhurried moments that remind us childhood isn’t something to rush through.

Thank you, , for these beautiful reminders that sometimes the best summer days are the simplest ones. 🌿📚🦋🫧✨

What’s one small thing that brings your family joy in the summer?

☀️📚 Are you spending the summer in the Los Angeles area?The Los Angeles Public Library Summer With the Library program i...
06/02/2026

☀️📚 Are you spending the summer in the Los Angeles area?

The Los Angeles Public Library Summer With the Library program is back! From June 6–August 9, 2026, readers of all ages can participate in summer reading, discover new books, attend library events, and keep the joy of learning going all season long.

Summer reading helps children build vocabulary, strengthen literacy skills, spark curiosity, and develop a lifelong love of books. Best of all, it’s a fun way for families to learn and explore together.

Whether you’re raising a new reader, a reluctant reader, or a book-loving kid who always has their nose in a story, your local library is a wonderful place to spend part of your summer. 🌞📖

🌈📚 Stories with LGBTQIA+ Family Representation 📚🌈Part of creating inclusive bookshelves is making sure all children have...
06/02/2026

🌈📚 Stories with LGBTQIA+ Family Representation 📚🌈

Part of creating inclusive bookshelves is making sure all children have the opportunity to see themselves—and each other—in the stories they read.

Representation doesn’t have to be the entire plot of a book. Children from LGBTQIA+ families go on adventures, make mistakes, solve problems, dream big, and discover who they are—just like every other child. Their family structure is simply one part of their story.

For Pride Month, here are a few wonderful picture books featuring children from LGBTQIA+ families:

📕 Love Makes a Family by Sophie Beer
📙 Julián at the Wedding by Jessica Love
📗 Aaron Slater, Illustrator by Andrea Beaty
📘 Bathe the Cat by Alice B. McGinty
📕 Harriet Gets Carried Away by Jessie Sima

These books celebrate creativity, imagination, family, friendship, and belonging while helping children understand that families come in many forms. When kids see diverse families represented in books, they learn an important lesson: everyone deserves to be seen, valued, and loved.

🌈 Because every child deserves books that reflect the world around them—and remind them that there is more than one way to be a family.

☀️📚 June Bucket List for Readers & Explorers! 📚☀️Summer is finally here, and June is the perfect time to slow down, get ...
06/02/2026

☀️📚 June Bucket List for Readers & Explorers! 📚☀️

Summer is finally here, and June is the perfect time to slow down, get outside, make memories, and discover new books along the way.

Whether you’re visiting the library, splashing at a pool, exploring a museum, flying kites, planting a garden, or enjoying a picnic with family, every adventure is an opportunity to learn something new. Some of the best childhood memories aren’t expensive vacations or elaborate plans—they’re simple moments spent together reading, creating, exploring, and playing.

As a teacher, my favorite item on this list is the summer reading challenge. Research consistently shows that children who continue reading over the summer are better prepared when school starts again in the fall. Even 15–20 minutes a day can make a big difference! Let kids choose books they love, read together, listen to audiobooks, visit your local library, and make reading part of the adventure.

🌞 What’s on your family’s June bucket list? Which activity are your kids most excited about?

🌴 June Is Caribbean Heritage Month 🌴Did you know the Caribbean is made up of more than a dozen independent nations and s...
06/02/2026

🌴 June Is Caribbean Heritage Month 🌴

Did you know the Caribbean is made up of more than a dozen independent nations and several territories, each with its own unique history, language, traditions, and stories? Caribbean Heritage Month is a time to celebrate the people, cultures, and contributions of this vibrant region while learning about the rich diversity that exists across the islands.

One of my favorite ways to explore the world with children is through books. Stories help us experience new places, celebrate different traditions, and discover the many ways families, communities, and cultures connect us. These beautiful picture books introduce young readers to Caribbean food, music, language, folklore, celebrations, family traditions, and everyday life.

📚 Featured Books:
📕 Counting St. Croix by Brin Goldman-Ray
📙 Caribbean Dream by Rachel Isadora
📗 Plátanos Go with Everything by Lissette Norman
📘 Islandborn by Junot Díaz
📕 Julie and the Mango Tree by Sadé Smith
📙 Our Roof Is Blue by Sara E. Echenique
📗 Is This Love? by Bob Marley & Cedella Marley
📘 A New Kind of Wild by Zara González Hoang
📕 Malaika, Carnival Queen by Nadia Hohn
📙 Freedom Soup by Tami Charles
📗 Big Tune: Rise of the Dancehall Prince by Alliah L. Agostini
📘 Empanadas for Everyone by Jackie Azúa Kramer

Whether you’re learning about Carnival in Trinidad and Tobago, making freedom soup in Haiti, listening to Jamaican dancehall music, or enjoying plátanos with family, these books offer wonderful windows into the many cultures of the Caribbean.

Today is Memorial Day. 🇺🇸Do you know what it means?Memorial Day is a day to remember and honor soldiers who died serving...
05/25/2026

Today is Memorial Day. 🇺🇸
Do you know what it means?

Memorial Day is a day to remember and honor soldiers who died serving our country. Families visit memorials, wave flags, and take time to remember the people who helped protect others and fight for freedom.

One beautiful book about the history behind Memorial Day is A Day for Rememberin’ by Leah Henderson and illustrated by Floyd Cooper. The story is inspired by real events from 1865, when people in Charleston, South Carolina gathered with flowers, songs, and parades to honor soldiers after the Civil War.

It’s a gentle reminder that remembering people’s bravery, sacrifice, and hope matters. 💚📚

🌵 💛 It may be Mental Health Awareness Month, but caring for people’s mental health matters all year long.Sometimes peopl...
05/21/2026

🌵 💛 It may be Mental Health Awareness Month, but caring for people’s mental health matters all year long.

Sometimes people can be having a hard time on the inside, even when everything looks “fine” on the outside. A person might smile, laugh, have friends, make plans, and still be struggling. 🌈

That’s why kindness, patience, and checking in on others matter so much. We never fully know what someone else is carrying. A kind word, a listening ear, or simply making someone feel included can make a BIG difference. 🫶📚

Let’s keep watching out for one another — not just this month, but every day of the year. 💛

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