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Five Faves: When Cultures Combine

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None of us are just "one thing." All of us have several qualities that make us who we are and we have all had several people, and sometimes several cultures, influence who we've become. For some people, these differences are so significant that it can feel like they come from two different worlds. These books are all about celebrating what it's like to come from multiple cultures and claiming the many facets of what makes you "you!"

Two New Years
Written by Richard Ho
Illustrated by Lynn Scurfield
San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 2023. Picture Book.

This multicultural family gets to celebrate the New Year multiple times. They celebrate Rosh Hashana in the fall and the Lunar New Year in the spring. The similarities and differences are explored in this picture book by showing Rosh Hashana and Lunar New Year's traditions on separate pages sometimes and at other times showing customs from both holidays nestled together. Reflecting the author's cultural and religious heritage, this book shows that you can celebrate all of who you are.

I Can Be All Three
Written by Salima Alikhan
Illustrated by Noor Sofi
New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2023. Picture Book.

When a young girl is given the assignment of bringing something for multicultural day that celebrates her culture, she is stuck. Dad is from India, Mom is from Germany, and our main character also feels ties to America, where she lives now. It takes a culturally mixed-up dessert to help her sort out her mixed-up feelings and ultimately, she's not the only one who comes to multicultural day with a less than straightforward heritage.

The Truth about Dragons
Written by Julie Leung
Illustrated by Hanna Cha
New York: Henry Holt and Company, 2023. Picture Book.

A mother enchants her child with a bedtime story about two forests that the child travels through, guided through each one by one of his grandmothers. In each of these forests lies a dragon, one firey and fierce, the other majestic and in control of the rain. The mother teachers her child that both of these worlds reside within him in celebration of both of his cultures.

Written by Christina Matula and Erica Lyons
Illustrated by Tracy Subisak
New York: Quill Tree Books, 2024. Picture Book.

Ruby is getting ready to help her family celebrate two fall holidays: the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival and the Jewish Holiday of Sukkot. This means going to market, decorating, and making food. But Ruby realizes that something's missing: something to bridge the two holidays she loves. Stories from Ruby's family explain the stories and histories behind the two festivals.

Eyes the Weave the World's Wonders
Written by Joanna Ho with Liz Kleinrock
Illustrated by Dung Ho
New York: Harper Collins, 2024. Picture Book.

A young girl reflects on how her family matches for their family portrait: everyone wears the same colors and shoes, but no one's eyes match hers. She compares her eyes to her adoptive parents' blue and hazel ones. While studying keepsakes from her homeland, she speculates on why she was separated from her birth country. She claims both of her homes through her longing for connection with her culture of birth and love for her adoptive family.




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