Reading For Social Justice: A Guide for Families and Educators is designed to support a group of caretakers: parents, guardians, teachers, librarians and others as they plan and lead an intergenerational social justice reading group. Along with models and resources, you’ll find practical recommendations for establishing a framework, inviting student input and organizing a series of meetings during which children and adults in your community can read, talk, teach and learn together. 

We all share the important task of helping children develop the skills they need to thrive in a diverse democracy. These skills include understanding how to speak and listen to one another, to share and hear stories and ideas, and to recognize the value in our differing experiences. The true spirit of this work also requires that we learn as well, listening to children’s stories and learning about the world as they observe and live it. 

One way to do this effectively is to meet and explore the ways we differ and what we have in common. These interactions reinforce—for all involved—how to honor and share our identities, understand and celebrate our diversity, recognize injustice and act together to address it.