For The Child
December 01, 2004
The Annual "BEST OF THE BEST" in 2004
We are pleased to announce the winners of the As Simple As That™ Kaleidoscope "BEST OF THE BEST" Award for 2004.
Each year we select five children's books and five books for adults that foster respect and celebration of culture choices and “abilities”. This year we added a third category to recognize people and organizations that embody similar values. Winning entries were culled from hundreds of entries and chosen by the As Simple As That™ Parent's Panel.
Kaleidoscope comes from the Greek words kalos (beautiful) and eidos (form) and has also come to represent shifting values, information, fashions, etc. There is no better way for us to foster the values of respect and celebration of all cultures, choices and “abilities” than by giving our children (and ourselves) characters and stories that model the behavior that we to embody.
It is with this spirit that the As Simple As That™ Kaleidoscope “BEST OF THE BEST” winners were selected. We hope you enjoy them as much as we do.
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Kaleidoscope "BEST OF THE BEST" Award Winners
Children's Books
Giraffes Can't Dance
by Giles Andreae, Guy Parker-Rees
Show children that everyone is talented, even those that march to the beat of a different cricket.
The Family Book
by Todd Parr
Complex issues like diversity and family structure/formation are made manageable for young children, allowing them to feel good about who ever they are.
No Matter What
by Debi Gliori
"I'll always love you, no matter what." For any child who feels 'different' for any reason the reassuring consistency of "Large's" love is truly heart-warming.
I Love My Hair!
by Natasha Anastasia Tarpley, E.B. Lewis
This book links cultural and racial traits—in this case African-American hair—to issues of self-esteem and acceptance. The portrayal of a universal mother-daughter bonding ritual and its recognition and celebration racial and cultural heritage are inspiring.
The Little Green Goose
by Adele Sansone, Alan Marks, J. Alison James
A single dad and his quest to parent is at the heart of this story that endearing and challenges the single-parent family stereotypes. Best of all is how the little green goose discovers for himself who and what a 'real' parent is.
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Kaleidoscope "BEST OF THE BEST" Award Winners
Books for Adults
My Sister's Keeper
by Jodi Picoult
This book prods us to consider what it means to be a good parent to all of our children by forcing us to consider how to support all our children's uniqueness while maintaining a loving family environment.
China Wakes: The struggle for the soul of a rising power
by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl Wudun
In this honest portrayal-no demonizing or idolizing China and its people— of life in China, Cheryl WuDunn experience as a Chinese-American is poignant.
The Color of Water: A black man's tribute to his white mother
by James McBride
This book addresses racial identity with compassion, insight and realism. It does give us the faith that with education and perseverance we just may be able to break the cycle of bias in America.
Black Baby White Hands: A View from the Crib
by Jaiya John
John celebrates his parents and family while facing, with brutal honesty, the real challenges of growing up in a trans-racial family in the 60's and 70's. Glimpse the mind and heart of that child as he struggles with racial and cultural identity.
The Accidental Asian
by Eric Liu
Encouraged by his parents to 'fit in' Eric Liu's candid recollection of his adolescent discomfort and subsequent identity exploration gives us some insight into being 'different' and the role of race and ethnicity in America.
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Kaleidoscope "BEST OF THE BEST" Award Winners
People and Organizations
Cathy Danowski
Cathy Danowski is currently the Director of Social Services at New Beginnings Family and Children's Services. Cathy works tirelessly to unify the adoption community and promote acceptance and respect of culture, choices and 'abilities'.
Judith Ashton, Executive Director of the NYS Citizen's Coalition for Children, Patricia Irwin Johnston, MS Adoption Educator and author, Adoptive Mom and wife of an adopted person, and Susan Caughman of Adoptive Families Magazine for rallying forces against offensive products that hit the streets this fall.
Nancy Geoghegan
Nancy Geoghegan is the founder of www.attachmentdisorder.net. Her selfless giving has help hundreds of children and families dealing with attachment sensitivity issues
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CHI Waiting kids Yahoo Group.
The Waiting Child page of Children's House International's China Program houses the information about specific, precious little children who wait in Chinese Social Welfare Institutions for their families. This extremely active and collegial group has about 1000 members.
Once an email was posted about a young girl fast approaching her 14th birthday (the cut off for adoption) and fact that the grant to unite her with her forever family was suddenly $3,000 short. In less than 24 hours, this incredible group had raised $10,000-enough to bring this family together and help two other waiting children. This young girl's family left for China on November 30th to bring her home!
This is a truly marvelous and heartwarming story-and demonstrates what we can do individually and in a group to make a difference.
Teaching Tolerance.org
Tolerance.org is a principal online destination for people interested in dismantling bigotry and creating, in hate's stead, communities that value diversity.
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