Mr. Lincoln's Way -Children's Book about Accepting Differences

I’d like to share a children’s book about accepting differences that we have come to love. It is Martin Luther King’s Day on 15th January- a perfect time to talk about rights and diversity. If you have child in grade 1 or higher, then I highly recommend this book about accepting others. It is a great conversation starter about bullying too.

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Mr. Lincoln is the coolest principal in town. He is friendly and has a way with everyone. The kids love him because… come on, how many principals do you know who can do anything … even jump ropes?!

But there is a student, ‘Mean Gene’, who dislikes him. In fact, Eugene hates everyone who is different than him. He is always angry and by himself because as you know, nobody likes hanging around mean people… right?

Mr Lincoln’s Way written by Patricia Polacco is about learning to accept differences. Although it addresses bullying and discrimination – two very ugly words but still it is a very positive book that shows how to build trust and respect with difficult children. At the end of the story, Eugene- the bully, is transformed by his principal. He learns to be tolerable and more accommodating of the different people.

Why I am recommending this Children’s Book about Accepting Differences.

We live in a very multicultural environment here. Our children, irrespective of whether they go to a multicultural school or not, meet people from different countries every day. Of course they will notice the different colors, languages and the diversity around them. It is easy to teach children about our culture but how do you teach them to accept others around them too? How do you teach them to be comfortable in being themselves? How do you teach them to embrace their multicultural environment?

I love picking out book that talk about diversity and how others live. In my experience with my three children, introducing cultures through books and media have taught my children to accept that it is okay to be different. It has helped them in appreciating others too.

Sadly, there are bullies in this world… Discrimination in some sort will happen even if we ourselves are not the discriminating type. Even growing up, as children notice different colors and languages around them, they may at some point tell you that they don’t like someone just because…

I’ve had a child who thinks her brother is brown… she thinks her sister is too yellow… and that I have dark circles that make me look like a panda. She also thinks her dad is too fat and… too tall. She hates her hair and wishes they were longer. But, she loves languages and if you speak to her in a language she doesn’t speak, you are her new best friend.

Can you understand what I am saying? No child is bad. They are just growing up looking and learning from people around them. Little children are like sponges. They will soak up everything they are seeing and hearing. This is why we need to fill their world up with positivity.

It is how we parent that will teach them to be accepting of the diversity around them or it will teach them to hate.

Mr. Lincoln’s Way is one such children’s book about accepting differences. It gently addresses good parenting and how to deal with a difficult child.

You can find Mr. Lincoln’s Way on Amazon. If you are in Jeddah and looking for a library to borrow this, then please see this post about Libraries inJeddah. This book is available at My Library at Rawdah.

Welcome to our fourth annual blog hop on Martin Luther King Day for Kids! Find great ideas for commemorating MLK Day with kids and don’t miss our series from last year as well as 2016 and 2015! For even more, be sure to follow our Black History Pinterest board!

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