Story Time Books for Children Living at Homeless Shelters

(These are books that my colleague and I have used (or might use in the future)

Books for All Children

Books available in English

Raschka, Christopher. Yo! Yes?

Books available in both Spanish and English

Barrett, Judi. Los animales no deben actuar como la gente

Barrett, Judi. Animals should definitely not act like people

Browne, Anthony. Me gustan los libros

Browne, Anthony. I Like Books (Link +)

Carle, Eric. 10 little rubber ducks

Carle, Eric. 10 patitos de goma

Carle, Eric. Very busy spider

Carle, Eric. La araña muy ocupada

Carle, Eric. Very hungry caterpillar

Carle, Eric. La oruga muy hambrienta

Kasza, Keiko. Cuando el elefante camina

Kasza, Keiko. When the elephant walks

Martin, Bill. Oso pardo, oso pardo, qué ves ahí?

Martin, Bill. Brown bear, brown bear, what do you see?

Martin, Bill. Oso polar, oso polar, qué es ese ruido?

Martin, Bill. Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What do you hear?

Walsh, Ellen Stoll. Pinta ratones

Walsh, Ellen Stoll. Mouse Paint

Walsh, Ellen Stoll. Salta y brinca

Walsh, Ellen Stoll. Hop Jump

Bi-lingual Spanish-English Books

Bruzzone, Catherine. Puppy Finds a Friend = Cachorrito encuentra un amigo.

Luján, Jorge. Rooster Gallo

Morton, Lone. I'm too big = Soy demasiado grande

Risk, Mary. I want my banana! = Quiero mi plátano!

Books for Children in contact with their mothers

Books available in both Spanish and English

Simmons, Jane. Ven aquí, Daisy!

Simmons, Jane. Come along, Daisy!

Bi-lingual Spanish-English Books

Reiser, Lynn. Margaret and Margarita, Margarita y Margaret

Books for Children in contact with either parent or other older relatives

Books available in both Spanish and English

Cabrera, Jane. Panda Grande y Panda Pequeño

Cabrera, Jane. Panda Big and Panda Small (Link +)

Compassion

http://www.uexpress.com/dearabby/?uc_full_date=20070826

I especially like the second letter and response. I now know that other people give bottled water to homeless people.

stepping on my soapbox for a bit

I don't always think about the big things - natural disasters, mass starvation, genocide, etc. because these are not part of my day to day life. I do my small part to help, whether it's writing checks to non-profit organizations, having money from my paycheck earmarked to go to specific non-profit organizations, or writing letters to politicians.

One thing I do on a somewhat regular basis is to help homeless people in small ways. I have some $1.00 McDonalds gift certificates, bottles of water and pamphlets published by the City of San Jose that list resources that help homeless people. When I see a homeless person at a gas station, convenience store, etc., I give these things to him/her. I used to do this out of self-righteousness; now I do this out of compassion. I still find it difficult to love everyone, however, my compassion for people has increased quite a bit in the last few months. I believe that compassion is close to love.