Inauguration week is here, and many of us are trying to find ways to mark this momentous occasion in our homes while still being safe and socially distanced. The perfect answer to this predicament in our house has been, you guessed it! Children's books! As you all know, we are big believers in the power of representation, and this new administration, as imperfect as it may be, has warmed our hearts with its groundbreaking representation. From Vice-president elect Kamala Harris to Deb Haaland as secretary of the interior. These strong and diverse women are showing our children that they too can achieve their dreams. Along these lines, we rounded up some books that are special in our home that highlight some of...
Today we are launching a new series here at Ditto Kids - a series where we highlight community projects and their leaders who inspire us and are doing work which centers anti-racism, marginalized representation, and supporting or uplifting BIPOC communities. To kick off this series we are highlighting a community project which has brought us so much inspiration and joy in the past year -- Little Diverse Free Libraries. Little Diverse Free Libraries (LDFL) was started by Sarah Kamya in June of 2020. It began with an idea that came to Sarah while on a walk through her hometown. She walked past all of these little free libraries and realized that this shared community space could be a vehicle for...
With Martin Luther King Jr. day around the corner we wanted to share a small roundup of our favorite children's books that focus on Dr. King. These books all touch on Dr. Kings transformative and powerful non-violent activism approach but they also touch on the qualities and moments that made Dr. King a full person. There is a book written by his son, a book that focuses solely his powerful "I Have a Dream" speech and yet another that focuses on his role in amplifying community voices in the quest for equal rights. As always we encourage parents to pre-read the books before sharing with your child as every child's preparedness and emotional capacities are different and as a parent...
Here at Ditto Kids we were shaken to our cores last week along side the rest of our nation by the insurrection at the capitol. As the days have passed we've been left with the same question as many parents across the nation -- how and when do we speak to our children about these events. We firmly believe that how/when/if you discuss these events is a deeply personal decision and one which each family should evaluate for themselves. That being said, we also firmly believe that children absorb information from their surroundings at levels that sometimes we as adults are not aware of. So in our home, we chose to have the conversation on our terms in ways that...
Phew, what a week. As we all entered a new year, we were reminded straight away of the reality that racism, injustice, and anti-Semitism are not things that a new year just washes away. Instead, these are parts of our society that are very much alive and well, and on Wednesday of this week marched into the capitol and violated and endangered our nation. As a person of color, this week was particularly difficult. Seeing the confederate flag, the nazi symbols, and the assortment of other hate symbols among the raging mob was emotionally difficult and scary. The other even more difficult part of handling my own emotions was handling how to talk to my child about what had transpired....
