Own Voices

Nellie Zabel Willhite's story dips and soars like an airplane in flight. After losing her hearing at four and following a tumultuous education, Nellie Zabel was introduced to the world of flight while working at the Sioux Falls airport. The planes and...

An award-winning, authentic perspective on neurodiversity. One boy tries his hardest to do what is expected of him, but his brain just refuses to cooperate. Today it's a DINOSAUR! And tomorrow a raging bull. Who knows what might come next? He tries to...

A sweet story about accepting the different ways we all worship. Omar loves going to church every Sunday with his mother. He loves putting on his best clothes, and meeting up with neighbors and his best friend, Imani, as they walk together to services...

This tender story of friendship deals with the hardships of war in a age-appropriate, relatable way. Yasi and her best friend Mina love playing under the pomegranate tree in the courtyard of their apartment building in Tehran. When the air sirens start...

On the eastern plains of Taiwan, a young girl and her mother pick wild greens before a rainstorm drenches them and their garden. When she goes to pull at the roots of a spiky, stalky weed, she learns that the plant is not what it seems. A lyrical story...

Tomorrow is moving day and one little girl worries about moving so far, far away from her Aaji and Ajoba. But Aaji gifts her with a handmade kurta. A kurta with two big pockets for holding all the small things that will remind the girl of her...

"Who am I?" a young girl asks her mom as she snuggles close. "You are the fire that burns and the eagle that soars. You are the oak tree and the wild rose," says momma. Written from an Indigenous perspective, Who Am I? tells the story of how we are all...

Tuchi longs to join in and play with the school's mariachi band, but it's the 1970s and in her community, mariachi is only for the boys. Still she hopes--and wishes on Seńora Luna. When Tuchi stumbles across her nana's guitarrón, Nana teaches her...

Everyone's hair is different and good, and one girl shares all the things that delight her about her nappy curls. It stretches! It's springy! It twirls and loops and hoops! But that's nothing compared to all the amazing things she can do with it to...

"Jojo, come dance!" Lola calls, inviting him to leap between the clapping and slapping bamboo poles and dance the tinikling with her. Whirling, twirling, and singing in Tagalog, Jojo tries but trips. Lola dances between the two poles easily, the same way...

Everyone in the neighborhood knows Allen is the fastest kid around. As soon as school lets out, he's racing through the park, past the library, and down the sidewalks. They call him A-Train because he's practically faster than the subway. ZOOM! But where...

Amaya was born on a winter night--and every experience and memory helps to build her identity. She is a little bit of Mama, whose family is far away in India, and a little bit of Papa, whose mother immigrated from China for a new life. She is a little...