Growing up as a voracious reader, I never saw books about Filipino children or about the Philippines and rarely saw books about Asian people and their countries. Now, working as a children’s librarian, I notice that there has been an influx of children’s books that celebrate Asians and Pacific Islanders. America is a melting pot of people coming from different countries around the world, and a lot of them are from Asian countries, which is a HUGE continent. Pacific Islanders are also included in this due to America’s annexation of Hawaii in the 1898. Reading books with Asian and Pacific Islander characters validate the importance of their joys, experiences, contributions, and accomplishments. For this week’s Read Woke challenge, we are highlighting these books, because children who are of Asian or Pacific Islander heritage can see that they are seen, heard, and just as influential as anyone else in this country.

-Miss Cristina