Immigrant Heritage Month celebrates the resilience, contributions, and diverse backgrounds that make up the unique patchwork of America. Enjoy these children's books featuring immigrants and children of immigrants this June and every month of the year.
See all titles in this list in our catalog using this link.
Early Childhood | Early Elementary | Late Elementary and Middle School
Early Childhood
When Aurora came to America, she learned to speak English. But not her spaniel, Nena. As Aurora explains to her friends she meets along the way, her dog just knows Spanish. Nena doesn't know "sit," but she knows "sientate." And she doesn't know "wait," but she know "espera." And a "treat" might not mean anything to Nena, but she sure can sniff out a "postre!"
While her parents attend a community ESL class, Luli connects with other immigrant children by sharing a love of tea.
How did Alma Sofia Esperanza José Pura Candela end up with such a long name? As Daddy tells the story of her many names, Alma can almost feel herself grow into them.
A young Korean boy discovers his mother comes across as reserved and quiet in public, but in the comfort of their home she is warm and outgoing.
A girl reframes the dangerous border crossing between Mexico and the United States as a game to help her brother through the journey.
When Joe came to America from Africa, he worked hard in school, made friends, and embraced his new home, but many did not believe he would succeed.
Early Elementary
A day in the life of an Afghan refugee child and their family, where every moment revolves around love, family, and the carpet that connects them to home.
Follow a young Filipina on her first day of school as she discovers the true and layered meaning of 'new'.
In this photographic picture book, the authors record and transcribe the words of displaced children, raising up their voices-who they are, where they came from, and the many different reasons that they had to leave their home country.
Chinese American Zia helps her mom tell her classmates about her job as a seamstress through translation.
Playing the güira reminds Angélica of the people she loves and misses, especially her grandfather in the Dominican Republic.
Because his grandmother is arriving from India, Rishi wants to cook curry alongside his dad using the flavors from his family's special spice box, but when he drops the box that holds the family's heart and history, he draws courage and meaning from their treasured past to set things right.
Jihun recently moved to the United States. In his new classroom, he receives an assignment to write a letter to his best friend but he's not sure how it will turn out. First off, he's still learning English. Second, he doesn't have any friends at school yet. What's more, his best friend back in Korea can't read. Fueled by wonderful memories of his former home, Jihun uses his creativity to craft a letter for his best friend, Oto. The result is nothing short of extraordinary and opens a door for Jihun to make new friends.
Immigrating to America, a young girl navigates between her family's Bengali traditions and her new country's culture.
Equal parts emotional and informative, here is a worthy picture book about citizenship and naturalization. This thoughtfully crafted text precisely breaks down the process by which new residents apply for and acquire US citizenship.
A Palestinian family celebrates the stories of their homeland in this moving autobiographical picture book debut by Hannah Moushabeck. With heartfelt illustrations by Reem Madooh, Homeland: My Father Dreams of Palestine is a love letter to home, to family, and to the persisting hope of people, which transcends borders.
After moving from Syria to Indiana, third-grade science enthusiast Amina tries to find the perfect formula to make friends at her new school.
Ayana struggles to find a talent for the school variety show and worries that her dad will embarrass her in his role as a variety show volunteer.
Late Elementary and Middle School
In the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, thirteen-year-old Matthew discovers a shocking secret about his great-grandmother's past as he learns about her life during the Holodomor famine in Soviet Ukraine.
Set in 1910s Colorado, Stanislava, a first-generation American from a Slovene immigrant family, struggles between her traditional Slovene community and her desire to pursue a new life as she navigates self-determination, family duty, and the search for belonging.
Ten-year-old Poupeh, an Iranian girl living in the U.S., must overcome selective mutism to advocate for her parents during an embassy interview after a travel ban prevents them from entering the country.
In 1961 Cuba, with the threat of military service for children looming, twelve-year-old Cumba's parents send him to Miami, where he lives with a new family and misses his homeland.
Ave must adjust to a new country, a new school, and a new family dynamic when their mom and younger brother move to Kansas while their father and older sister stay in Mexico during the parents' divorce.
Esperanza and her mother are forced to leave their life of wealth and privilege in Mexico to go work in the labor camps of Southern California, where they must adapt to the harsh circumstances facing Mexican farm workers on the eve of the Great Depression.
Thirteen-year-old aspiring designer Imani must create a virtual avatar to compete for a spot at a prestigious arts school after she discovers that a viral influencer has stolen her designs, all while finding her voice and her true self.
First-generation Filipino siblings, JJ and Althea, struggle to belong at school. JJ wants to fit in with the crowd, while Althea wants to be accepted as she is. But between the leftover Filipino food their mom packs for their lunches to having a last name that nobody can pronounce, any sense of belonging seems like a long shot. To make matters worse, they have to help their parents run the family food truck, dressing up as a dancing pig and passing out samples. Ugh! And their parents are always drawing parallels between their poor work ethic and lazy characters from Filipino folklore. But when witches, ogres, and other creatures from those same stories appear in their town and threaten their family, JJ and Althea realize that the myths their parents have always told them may be more real than they'd suspected.
Feng-Li can't wait to discover America with her family! But after an action-packed vacation, her parents deliver shocking news: They are returning to Taiwan and leaving Feng-Li and her older siblings in California on their own. Suddenly, the three kids must fend for themselves in a strange new world--and get along. Starting a new school, learning a new language, and trying to make new friends while managing a household is hard enough, but Bro and Sis's constant bickering makes everything worse. Thankfully, there are some hilarious moments to balance the stress and loneliness. But as tensions escalate--and all three kids get tangled in a web of bad choices--can Feng-Li keep her family together?
Here is the dramatic coming-of-age memoir -- told in the form of a graphic novel -- of 12-year-old Carlos (who would grow up to become the author's father), his life during the Cuban Revolution, and his family's harrowing escape to America.
Recent immigrants from China and desperate for work and money, ten-year-old Mia Tang's parents take a job managing a rundown motel in Southern California, even though the owner, Mr. Yao is a nasty skinflint who exploits them; while her mother (who was an engineer in China) does the cleaning, Mia works the front desk and tries to cope with demanding customers and other recent immigrants--not to mention being only one of two Chinese in her fifth grade class, the other being Mr. Yao's son, Jason.