Overcome Trauma by Reading Books
As a first time parent, you are mostly worried about your baby sleeping and eating. When the Egypt Revolution began just 3 weeks after I had my daughter was born in Cairo, I was trying to get her to sleep to the sound of gunshots. As I was reading aloud, there were military tanks roaring down my street. It was not the parenting experience I had imagined in my head during all those months of pregnancy. I certainly did not imagine having to overcome trauma by reading books.
Like many of you, I read parenting books about brain development, sleeping strategies, etc. However, not one of the parenting books did it give any advice about what to do with an infant during a civil war and a government being overthrown.
All over Cairo, grocery stores were running out of food and water, the ATMs were empty, and the internet and phone lines were shut down. The country was crumbling before my very eyes, and I had no choice but to evacuate.
So 3 1/2 weeks after my C-section, I flew by myself over 7,000 miles home to California with a 3 week old with an emergency passport.
“Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls. The massive characters are seared with scars.”
– Khalil Gibran
Overcome Trauma by Reading Books
Over the next couple of years, I did not talk about our evacuation at all, and when I did, I wasn’t able to talk without crying. I thought I would never get over the trauma. It was only when I connected reading to my experience in Cairo that the healing began. I started reading books myself and to my daughter about overcoming obstacles and turning a negative experience into good.
I needed to apply the transformative power of storytelling to myself. When I began to read, it changed me as a person, and a parent. I found that I could overcome trauma by reading and finding hope in the stories of others who had also experienced trauma.
How to Teach Children to Read the World
Now, 6 years later, I often share my story with people, but most importantly with my daughter. I talk about what it was like to keep her safe in a situation where there was very real danger. Every time my daughter and I read a book about Egypt, I take the opportunity for a teachable moment to share what I learned and how I have grown since we were forced to leave Cairo.
My second daughter was born a few months ago and now the teaching has come full circle. I watched my daughter read The Tiny Traveler: Egypt: A Book of Shapes
And to think I never wanted to talk about leaving Egypt. It blows me away to hear those stories retold from a child’s perspective. It also reminds me that I continue to underestimate what children are capable of understanding.
**If you are struggling with trauma yourself, Better Help has a great resource on reasons to choose an online psychiatrist.
The Importance of a Diverse Bookshelf
As a professional educator, I have taught many children how to read. However, since becoming a parent, reading to learn has become even more valuable to me as teaching how to read.
I want to give them reading strategies for becoming academically successful in school. Although, teaching them to read without teaching them how to read the world, I have only done my job halfway.
Take a minute to think about all of the books on your bookshelf right now at home. These books are full of stories and adventures that your kids LOVE. Each time you read this column, I want you to find new books your kids will love.
I want to give you books that help children learn how to rhyme and sound out words. Simultaneously, I want to highlight learning about geography, multiculturalism, social justice, religion, race, and more. We need to model that WHAT we read is just as crucial as HOW to read.
Since becoming a parent, reading to learn has become even more valuable to me as teaching how to read. Read more on The Anatomy of a Diverse Bookshelf.
Teaching Literacy Skills With Diverse Books
Teaching literacy while simultaneously teaching empathy, resiliency, hope, and imagination is going to be my top priority. I believe if you want to raise global citizens who are tolerant and empathetic, you start from birth.
The time to teach children about race, ethnicity, religion, gender, human rights is now, not “later”. I am hoping you will join me in teaching those difficult concepts and topics early and often through The Ultimate Guide to a Multicultural Library.
The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched – they must be felt with the heart.
– Helen Keller
So below, I have listed a few favorite books for how to teach children to read the world. I hope that find a few new titles that resonate with your family as well as give a new perspective about the world around us.
Teaching Resiliency
“Try again, fail again. Fail better.” – Albert Einstein
Antoinette (Gaston and Friends)
Teaching Hope
“Hope is the thing with feathers, that perches in the soul, and sings the tune without the words, and never stops at all.” – Emily Dickinson
Malala, a Brave Girl from Pakistan/Iqbal, a Brave Boy from Pakistan: Two Stories of Bravery
Mama Miti: Wangari Maathai and the Trees of Kenya
Teaching Global Citizenship
“Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of overcoming it.” – Helen Keller
One Hen: How One Small Loan Made a Big Difference (CitizenKid)
Teaching Community
“So much of what is best in us is bound up in our love of family, that it remains the measure of our stability because it measures our sense of loyalty.” – Haniel Long
Quinito’s Neighborhood/El Vecindario de Quinito
It Takes a Village: Picture Book Edition by Hillary Rodham Clinton
Teaching Imagination
“Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.” – Albert Einstein
Teaching Empathy
Empathy works so well because it does not require a solution. It requires only understanding. – John Medina
Teaching Social Justice
I truly believe the only way that we can create global peace is through not only educating our minds, but our hearts and our souls. – Malala Yousafzai
Stepping Stones: A Refugee Family’s Journey (Arabic and English Edition)
Multicultural Books for Children
I have joined other multi-racial, multi-cultural, and multi-faith families to bring you more great titles. In every column I write for this brilliant new magazine, I am committed to giving you the best.
The books recommendations will will filled with multiracial and multicultural book male and female protagonists. These will teach your children to read, but also teach hope, resiliency, race, geography, social justice, global citizenship, and more.
Find amazing books to not only teach your child to read, but to read the world!
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This FREE ebook is filled with expert strategies guaranteed to help your child learn HOW to read without using a curriculum. I use diverse and multicultural books and resources to teach kids to read the world and become global citizens as well as successful readers!
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