Cheryl Foggo

With everything going on in the world today with refugees trying to find a home this book is very timely (even though it was published a few years ago). Maiko has moved from Tanzania to Canada with his aunt and uncle. He has trouble fitting in at school, he is teased about having big ears, he misses his village and especially the Baobab tree. He sits on the porch and watches and listens to the spruce tree planted nearby. He tells the tree all about his feelings and what is happening in his new life. When he finds out that the tree might be cut down because it is too close to the house and might damage the foundation, he is upset, but does not tell anyone. This book is about changes in the life of this immigrant boy to Canada. It talks about how hard it is to fit in and explain your feelings to others. The illustrations are wonderful and help to explain the story. There is quite a bit of text on each page so this is not an early reader book, but one that can be used with older children, especially if they have new Canadians in their classroom.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.… (mere)

A darling book offering not just one but many aspects of diversity and children's issues wrapped up in a neat little package. Gracefully touching on aspects of international adoption, non-traditional families, minority experiences in majority schools, cultural assimilation, bullying and maintaing healthy relational boundaries, "Dear Baobab" also takes on a primary character's gender not as a given but as an opportunity to show that young men do have feelings and that the smallest stoke of those flames goes further to encourage emotional regulation than our current culture of denial in male sadness can hope to stamp out of the coming generation. It offers a simple storyline packing an impressive punch of knowledge and acceptance.

This delightful children's book by Cheryl Foggo was sent to me by Second Story Press as part of MCBD's #ReadYourWorld campaign. Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2018 (1/27/18) is in its 5 th year and was founded by Valarie Budayr from Jump Into A Book and Mia Wenjen from PragmaticMom. Our mission is to raise awareness of the ongoing need to include kids’ books that celebrate diversity in home and school bookshelves while also working diligently to get more of these types of books into the hands of young readers, parents and educators.… (mere)