3 Tips For Building A Diverse Library For Your Kids

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #Back2SchoolStockUp #CollectiveBias

To say that our family loves books is an understatement. Our shelves are overflowing and books are littered on most flat surfaces in our apartment. I love excitement on my kids’ faces when they receive a new book. Even though we have a large library of reading material, it’s easy to purchase the same types of books over and over.

I try hard to provide Sophia and Jaxson with a diverse collection of books. For us, diversity means books that reflect the world we live in: cultural, racial, gender, or economic diversity. Don’t worry. It’s not difficult to grow your own collection with age appropriate diverse books for your kids.

It’s important for us to read books with characters who are different from us–no matter your skin color. Diverse books teach us about other cultures and lifestyles. This helps us become more compassionate human beings–an important skillset for raising global citizens.

Tips For Building a Diverse Library For Your Kids

1. Start with your kids’ interests. When Sophia was a preschooler, she loved everything about princesses. So in addition to the usually fairy tales we discovered at the library, I searched for books with independent princesses and princesses with brown skin. Now she can’t get enough of fantasy and science fiction, so I found diverse fantasy and science fiction books for our library. In fact, one of her favorite series is Spirit Animals. (Keep reading to see how you can get a free copy from Kellogg’s!)

2. Think beyond racial diversity. While it’s important for kids to learn about other cultures and races, we are diverse in many ways. Choose books that offer different views of gender, sexual orientation, economic level, physical disabilities or special needs. Not sure where to start? Check out We Need Diverse Books’ website.

3. The character’s diversity doesn’t need to be the plot. This is especially important. While issue-based books tell important stories (i.e. books on slavery, immigration, etc), seeing diverse characters dealing with everyday problems are just as important. The character’s differentness doesn’t have to be the star of the book.

Suggestions to Start Your Diverse Library

Not sure where to start when building your library? You can take a look at my multicultural book lists on this site for preschool through middle grade recommendations.

You can also start your diverse library collection with Kellogg’s–just in time for back to school. Kellogg’s is offering a huge collection of full length books from Scholastic for free! Above are just a few of the diverse books I found from the list. There’s also a selection of Spanish and bilingual to choose from.

Sophia highly recommends the Grimtastic Girls and Spirit Animal series.

For a limited time, Kellogg’s will give 2 free books with codes from their specially marked products purchased at Sam’s Club. This means you can stock up on breakfast foods or snacks and earn free books! Kellogg’s will send you one book from their list of Scholastic best sellers. Kellogg’s will also send a book to a school in need. Pretty awesome, right?

Our family stocked up on lunch box snacks: Cheez-Its. Not only are they a delicious addition to the kids’ lunch, they’re perfect to snack on while they read. I might have snuck a bag for myself.

Once you’ve purchased of a specially marked package of Kellogg’s products from Sam’s Club, it’s easy to redeem your free book. You’ll need the code inside the package. My 16-digit code was printed inside the Cheez-It box. I just removed all the bags, took a photo of the code, and placed the bags back inside for easy storage.

How to redeem your free book

Step 1:  Once you have your code, head to the Kellogg’s free book offer site. You can preview the books available or click “Enter Code Now.”

Step 2: Enter your code in the box. You’ll have the option to log in, create an account, or just use as a guest.

Step 3: You have the option to choose a book or donate your book to a school or person of your choice. Remember, for every code you redeem, Kellogg’s is already donating a book to a school in need. That’s the 2 books part.

Step 4: Choose and order your free book.  The book will be mailed to you or you may choose an ebook format. Repeat with more codes to keep growing your collection of diverse books. You can redeem up to 30 free books!

I’m giving Jaxson first dibs on our free book and then Sophia can choose the next one. There’s nothing more exciting that receiving a new book–except reading it together with our family.

Want to sample Kellogg’s products? 

Check to see if the Sam’s Club near you is offering food demos (samples) on August 22 and 23, 2015. They’ll sample a variety of Kellogg’s products to try before you buy. Sophia and Jaxson love these food demos. It’s a great way to get them to try new foods.

If you’re not a Sam’s Club member, you can visit as a guest. Bring this invitation printed out to the Member Services Desk at your local Sam’s Club for a pass to shop for the day. A 10% service fee applies on all non-member purchases when shopping with this One-Day Pass (not applicable in CA, SC or Elmsford, NY). The 10% service fee does not apply if the non-member decides to join the Club at the time of purchase.

Which of these diverse books would you add to your kids’ collection?