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Are you wondering how to have conversations with your youngest learners about essential topics for today’s classrooms? In Rebellious Read Alouds, Vera will support you every step of the way beginning with her accessible three-part framework—start small, be consistent, be constant. In each lesson, she skillfully weaves together literacy and social justice standards, without losing sight of your primary focus—learners. Every rebellious read aloud includes key questions to spark conversation and action.
I have spent decades promoting the art and function of read aloud experiences and have been a staunch advocate for revisiting books with a different lens to provide students opportunities to unearth nuance, shift perspective, build empathy, and take action. As I was reading Rebellious Read Alouds I found myself nodding and saying, “amen,” a lot. If you believe that small children cannot be part of big conversations, this book is for you. If you find “hushed” topics uncomfortable, this book is for you.
I will be sharing Vera's book with all my preservice and early career teachers, who understand the importance of filling their classroom libraries with books that serve as windows, mirrors, and sliding glass doors. Vera empowers us with manageable and engaging ways to use books as the springboard for the essential - though often tricky to start - conversations about race, ability, and so many other areas of identity. She encourages rebellion in the best possible way - to ensure that all children are seen and valued in classrooms.
Vera Ahiyya has created something amazing for every stage of the rebellious reader's heart! The power of a great story is that it can be the catalyst to so much change. In Rebellious Read Alouds, Ahiyya beautifully breaks down stories, lessons, and ideas about books that inspire the most important conversations, the conversations about who we are. The framework of Rebellious Read Alouds effortlessly empowers educators and parents to start using literacy to better understand their world and themselves. A must read for all.
As I read the manuscript, I kept thinking to myself, this a book teachers need in their hands. So many teachers don’t know how to read and talk about these topics and this is the guide to help them. The breadth of diversity is overflowing, and teachers can follow along with a sample scope and sequence OR pick and choose topics/books as they see fit. Vera’s passion for the subject rings through and her voice is loud and clear.
One of the most important aspects of professional learning is that the experience not only explains why it’s important to make an instructional shift, but how. Rebellious Read Alouds: Lessons to Invite Conversations About Diversity With Children’s Books is one of those precious gifts for teachers that is both inspirational and practical in a way that is empathetic and responsive to and supportive of the needs of teachers and students.
Ready to break free from the confines of what may sometimes seem like stale literature not representative of the world around us, but more importantly the world of our children? The Rebellious Read Aloud is a must-read for anyone and everyone lucky enough to stare into young eyes full of wonderment and a thirst to learn about their peers around them. Ahiyya Vera provides an invitation to venture into what many naively still view as uncharted territory in children’s literature.
Rebellious Read Alouds is a book that is needed right now and it’s presented in a way that is simple, easy to use and yet, has a strong call to action for the urgency of this work in our world today. Children deserve to have teachers who honor the identity of all children in their classrooms and beyond and the author shows us how this is possible with read aloud books and powerful conversations.. This book is an excellent entry point for brave teachers to do the work.
This beautiful and impactful guide will change the pedagogical approach of educators worldwide.Vera's overall theme is to create a true safe space for students and all involved to come face to face with their deepest emotions, fears, and ultimately reflections in the mirror via Read Alouds. By doing this educators, parents, and community members will be challenged to do the same as they learn the importance of taking time to connect with your students, embracing diverse perspectives to inspire change beyond the classroom through creative critical reflection, thanks to this text.
Vera is the QUEEN of books for a reason! This book is for any teacher that wants to center inclusiveness and diversity, but isn't always sure where to start. She has taken the time to carefully cultivate a list of books that you should be reading and walks you through how to tackle the lessons and topics that some might find controversial or intimidating.
