What did you think of President Obama's Back to School speech? I found it to be truly inspiring. The two sentences that meant the most to me were:
"Every single one of you has something you’re good at. And you have a responsibility to yourself to discover what that is."
I believe in those words, and they remind me of two of my posts: Celebrating Individuality, Part 1 and Part 2. You see, to me, everything we say to children can always be followed up with a great picture book. Or, if we don't know how to approach a subject with children, sometimes reading the right picture book can make starting a conversation so much easier!
When I found Reading Rockets' post, You can't let your failures define you, I couldn't help but add to this wonderful list of picture books that make great follow-ups to President Obama's speech. By the way, I want to thank @CherylRainfield (on Twitter) for calling my attention to such a great blog post.
Here are some of the books I immediately thought to add to that list, and the previous posts where you can find out more about them:
- The Dot and Ish, by Peter H. Reynolds (more info)
- Weslandia, by Paul Fleischman (more info)
- Salt in His Shoes: Michael Jordan in Pursuit of a Dream, by Deloris Jordan (more info)
- Eleanor, Quiet No More: The Life of Eleanor Roosevelt, by Doreen Rappaport (more info)
- Bubba and Trixie, by Lisa Campbell Ernst (more info)
- The Art Lesson, by Tomie dePaola (more info)
- Sequoyah: The Cherokee Man Who Gave His People Writing, by James Rumford (more info)
- Miss Rumphius, by Barbara Cooney (more info)
- Oh, the Places You'll Go! by Dr. Seuss (more info)
- Planting the Trees of Kenya: the Story of Wangari Maathai, by Claire A. Nivola (more info)
- Giraffes Can't Dance, by Giles Andreae (more info)
These are just a few of the books that go along with the themes of individuality, motivation, and determination. If I had all day, I could probably keep listing more. I have to stop myself here, though! If you'd like to add to the list, please feel free...
What was your favorite part of the President's speech?
