Description: This book explores racial injustice through the eyes of two families, providing a starting point for meaningful conversations.
Age Group: 4-8 years

Racism. Sadly we need books about it still. This is an excellent text that tackles the topic in a sensitive way, yet also does not sugarcoat it either.

It is set up in a great way--a white child and a black child ask questions pertaining to their race. How they see the world through their eyes. There is a character who is more understanding, a character that has animosity. I feel it was an excellent depiction of how conversations might go.

But there is also a story. Of how both the white character and the black character have an opportunity to rise up and make a difference with their Asian classmate. The book reminds that systemic racism isn't just about black/white; it has reaches all over. BUT it ends hopeful. If only children ran the world.

Additionally, there are excellent questions and resources in the back of the book for parents to use with their children. ( )

Necessary read for young readers and their parents and caregivers. Something Happened in Our Town explores racial biases and injustices through the eyes of two children, Josh and Emma, and their family members. The story and the guided reading resources provided are beneficial to facilitating and encouraging parent-child conversations surrounding these difficult topics that are usually ignored to maintain children’s “innocence.”

A full review will be published at https://readingbeyondthebookcover.com in a November Reading Wrap-Up post. ( )

Wow! I hate that this book must exist, but it must. A black man was shot. Exactly why or what happened is not known. It doesn’t need to be known because this book is about how it impacts the town's kids. They see and hear things just like adults, but they need more context, more explanation on why things happen. They also want to know how to keep it from happening again. Everything about this book is spot on. Even the information in the back is expansive, important, and necessary. For those out there trying to ban this book because it might make white children feel inferior or sad for history and current society, too bad. Because the black, brown, and other children feel worse as it is their people, they see these bad things happening to. This book is a very important resource that should be in all libraries and schools. We need to learn from history to make a better society, for if we don’t we will repeat it. ( )

A black family and a white family discuss a police shooting in their town. Story is followed by a "Note To Parents and Caregivers" including suggestions on "how to address racial bias with children" and "vocabulary words and child-friendly definitions", and special/unique issues/questions for African-American families. Also a link to a website for additional resources : www.apa.org/pubs/magination/441B228.aspx