Maine K-5 Educators & School Librarians! An Invitation to Apply Picture books, featuring Immigrant and New Generation families are essential tools to create a classroom environment that promotes welcoming and belonging The idea of teaching stories about Immigration and New Generation families can feel overwhelming. Many of us think we don’t have enough experience to… Read more »
For Welcoming Week 2023, Maine Public Radio invited I’m Your Neighbor Books and partner nonprofits and projects — Catholic Charities Refugee and Immigrant Services, In Her Presence, Beautiful Blackbird Children’s Book Festival, Diverse BookFinder, and Mano En Mano — into a conversation on “Books for Children in Maine’s Immigrant Community.” Listen Panelists: Kirsten Cappy, Executive… Read more »
I’m Your Neighbor Books was honored to be featured in Amjambo Africa’s September 2023 edition. The extended education section of the monthly publication, sponsored by the University of Southern Maine, features an interview with Executive Director Kirsten Cappy and profiles of the our core projects—the Welcoming Library, the New Arrival Book Project, Rapid Response Book… Read more »
From the minute she stepped around the corner of an East Boston street, I started to cry. It is no secret that I believe that the direct narratives and captivating visuals in children’s books can change our perceptions of immigration and ourselves. I’m Your Neighbor Books was founded to bring Immigrant and New Generation… Read more »
Sunday, 9/24/23 1:00 – 2:00 PM Mayo Street Arts 10 Mayo Street Portland, ME 04101 OD Bonny returns to Maine! Children and adults are welcome for a performance of traditional Acholi music and dancehall/Afrobeat by our own South Sudanese singer, songwriter, and producer! Dance to OD’s traditional hits like Lodongo Acholi, Apoka Poka, Be Mine,… Read more »
In violation of federal law, Texas Governor Greg Abbott has installed a set of interlocking buoys on the Rio Grande to block migrants from swimming across the border. This follows the installation of razor wire along the shore (some of it hidden underneath the water) in the governor’s “hold the line” operation. In this New… Read more »
“You are very real to us.” —ELL Student, Portland Adult Education On World Refugee Day, I’m Your Neighbor Books helped to bring award-winning author Omar Mohamed, co-creator of When Stars Are Scattered, remotely to a small class of Adult ELL at Portland Adult Education (PAE). Like many of the PAE students, Omar was a refugee… Read more »
New Picture Book Schools, libraries, and communities have long needed an overview picture book on America’s many identities and how the mosaic of this country is deepened by immigration. Author Darshana Khiani and illustrator Laura Freeman have delivered one beyond our dreams. The textured profiles allow us to explore American cultural differences while showing how… Read more »
Today, debut Afghan author Dezh Azaad was supposed to be landing in New York from Germany to celebrate the launch of his picture book The Carpet: An Afghan Family Story (Abrams). The often harsh bureaucracy of migration kept that from happening. Dezh Azaad’s beautiful book shows the reader how the carpet is the center… Read more »
Happy Valentine’s Day from I’m Your Neighbor Books and Author Saadia Faruqi! Here at I’m Your Neighbor Books, we LOVE when book characters, and thus readers, are inspired to ACT in their communities for JUSTICE and CHANGE. That is why we awarded Saadia Faruqi and HarperCollins the 2022 Social Action Book Award for Yusuf Azeem… Read more »