Equity Walk Books: Tree Pose

What is hard for you? What is easy? Why is practice important? What makes you feel calm?

The Apple Tree, by Sandy Tharp-Thee
A bilingual Cherokee story about a boy who plants an apple seed and cares for it, though the anthropomorphized tree itself is impatient and uncertain that it is a late bloomer. A tale of mutual aid and reciprocity.
Call Me Tree/Llámame Árbol, by Maya Christina Gonzalez
A gender-free and bilingual poem that encourages nature exploration and freedom.
When I Was Eight, by Christy Jordan-Fenton and Margaret Pokiak-Fenton
Nothing will stop a strong-minded young Inuit girl from learning how to read.
The Summer Nick Taught His Cats to Read, by Curtis Manley, illustrated by Kate Berube.
A boy tries to teach his cat to read, ending up teaching himself in the process.
Emmanuel’s Dream: The True Story of Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah, by Laurie Ann Thompson
A young Ghanaian boy becomes a great athlete despite a physical disability.

Zayd Saleem: Chasing the Dream (Power Forward #1), by Hena Khan
A fourth-grade boy, whose parents would rather he practices violin, strives to be the first Pakistani-American in the NBA
I Am Peace, written by Susan Verde and illustrated by Peter Reynolds.
In this book, an anxious child who feels “like a boat with no anchor,” learns how to let her worries go by focusing on the moment.

Maybe He Just Likes You, by Barbara Dee
Mila learns confidence through karate to combat escalating middle school sexual harrassment in this tough and realistic #MeToo read for middle schoolers and the grown ups in their lives.
Ghost, by Jason Reynolds
The first in the “Track” series about four unlikely kids recruited for a middle school track team. Ghost is a gifted runner with a tough life and a mentor who wants to keep him on the right track.
Hello, Universe, written by Erin Entrada Kelly.
Four very different tweens find their paths converge and their lives change when one of them is trapped at the bottom of a well by a bully.
Merci Suarez Changes Gears, written by Meg Medina.
Sixth-grader Merci already is anxious about her run-ins with Edna, the most popular girl in the school who sees Merci as a target. Then things get more complicated at home when Lolo, Merci’s beloved grandfather becomes more and more forgetful.