Raising Readers and Leaders

Raising Readers and Leaders 📚 Diverse & inclusive books
🧠 Neurodivergent bibliophile mama
✊🏼Humanity • belonging • advocacy
🍄 Spreading ☮️ & 💛
🌎 Raising readers who ask "why?"

06/12/2026

🔆💜 Friendship is a beautiful thing. It doesn’t always look the way the world expects, and it doesn’t need to be understood by everyone to be real.

Love, connection, and friendship have no limits. They are not defined by words, abilities, or differences.

Every child deserves a friend. Every child deserves to feel seen, included, and valued. No one should be left out or left alone because they communicate, move, or experience the world differently.

Sometimes the most powerful friendships remind us that understanding isn’t always spoken—it’s felt. 💛





❤️🖤💚Looking for ways to celebrate Juneteenth with your kids in Phoenix? ❤️🖤💚Juneteenth is a chance to teach our children...
06/12/2026

❤️🖤💚Looking for ways to celebrate Juneteenth with your kids in Phoenix? ❤️🖤💚

Juneteenth is a chance to teach our children about freedom, resilience, truth, and joy—not just through books, but through community.

If you’re local, here are a few family-friendly ways to celebrate this week:

📍 Juneteenth Freedom Festival
🗓 June 13 | ⏰ 10 AM
📌 George Washington Carver Museum, Phoenix
A beautiful mix of history, storytelling, and community reflection. (Phoenix New Times)

📍 Phoenix Art Museum Juneteenth + Kids Day
🗓 June 13 | ⏰ 10 AM–2 PM
📌 Phoenix Art Museum
Hands-on art activities for kids and a creative way to talk about history. (Phoenix New Times)

📍 Valley of the Sun Juneteenth Celebration
🗓 June 13 | ⏰ 5–9 PM
📌 Eastlake Park, Phoenix
Music, crafts, games, and community resources with a festival feel. (Facebook)

📍 Tempe Juneteenth Celebration
🗓 June 20 | ⏰ 11 AM–3 PM
📌 Tempe History Museum
Story time, performances, hands-on activities, and food trucks. (Tempe)

📍 Eastlake Park Juneteenth Celebration
🗓 June 20
📌 Eastlake Park, Phoenix
One of Phoenix’s oldest Juneteenth traditions in the historic heart of Black Phoenix. (Juneteenth Events)

Because when children know the truth about history, they grow into adults who can help shape a better future. ✊🏾☮️📚💛

🐾 ⚽️ World Pup. No allegiance. Just chaos. 🥅 🐾
06/12/2026

🐾 ⚽️ World Pup. No allegiance. Just chaos. 🥅 🐾





💛 Happy Loving Day 💙Today marks the anniversary of Loving v. Virginia (June 12, 1967), the Supreme Court decision that e...
06/12/2026

💛 Happy Loving Day 💙

Today marks the anniversary of Loving v. Virginia (June 12, 1967), the Supreme Court decision that ended laws banning in*******al marriage in the United States.

Before this ruling, love across racial lines was criminalized. Families like mine could have been illegal.

Richard and Mildred Loving fought for the simple right to love, marry, and raise their family in peace—and because of their courage, countless families exist today.

This is why we teach this history. Not as a side note, but as a powerful reminder that justice shapes the lives we live now.

Books help us tell that story.

📚 For kids:
• The Case for Loving: The Fight for In*******al Marriage — Selina Alko

📚 For older readers / grown-ups:
• Loving vs. Virginia: A Documentary Novel of the Landmark Civil Rights Case — Patricia Hruby Powell

Love is a human right. Always has been. Always will be. ❤️🖤

*******alFamilies RaisingReadersLeaders4Peace

🎶 🧳 Pack your bags… we’re traveling the world through music this summer! 🌍🎶I’m always looking for fun ways to help kids ...
06/12/2026

🎶 🧳 Pack your bags… we’re traveling the world through music this summer! 🌍🎶

I’m always looking for fun ways to help kids explore cultures, and this idea from Busy Moms Do Piano with Carly is such a gem.

Today the Busy Kids Love Music passport gets its very first stamp: Puerto Rico 🇵🇷

What a beautiful place to start—full of rhythm, joy, and rich musical traditions that invite kids to listen, move, and learn.

In this episode, kids will explore:
🎵 Bomba and plena (traditional Puerto Rican music)
🥁 The stories and sounds behind the music
🎧 A playlist to keep the learning going all week
📖 A printable passport stamp for their summer journal

I love learning opportunities like this because they remind us that music is more than entertainment—it’s history, identity, storytelling, and connection.

What a fun way to build global curiosity this summer. ✈️🌎
Who’s listening along?

BusyKidsLoveMusic SummerLearning WorldMusicForKids

📚☀️ Summer Reading Challenge Alert! ☀️📚Thank you, PBS KIDS, for this fun Book Bingo card! 🎉Reading doesn’t have to be co...
06/11/2026

📚☀️ Summer Reading Challenge Alert! ☀️📚

Thank you, PBS KIDS, for this fun Book Bingo card! 🎉

Reading doesn’t have to be complicated to make a big impact. Visit the library, listen to an audiobook, read about animals, share a favorite story with a friend, or snuggle up with a picture book. Every book counts!

🌟 Can your family get BINGO?
🌟 Can you complete the whole card?
🌟 Which square will you tackle first?

Drop a 📚 in the comments if you’re joining the challenge, and tell me your child’s current favorite book!

📖☀️🌈

👧🏽 I have two daughters.One is bold enough to question everything. The other is determined enough to never give up.I’ve ...
06/06/2026

👧🏽 I have two daughters.

One is bold enough to question everything. The other is determined enough to never give up.

I’ve watched adults call girls “bossy,” “dramatic,” “too much,” or “too sensitive” when they’re often showing the very qualities we celebrate in leaders: confidence, passion, persistence, and conviction.

I don’t want girls to become smaller to make others comfortable. I want them to learn kindness, empathy, and respect while holding onto the voices that make them who they are.

The world needs girls who know their worth. 💛

One of the things I love most about children’s books is that they give girls permission to be fully themselves.

✨ Curious.
✨ Determined.
✨ Loud with joy.
✨ Passionate about what they believe.
✨ Unapologetically confident.

Because the traits that get girls labeled “too much” are often the same traits that help them change the world. 🌎📚☮️💛

📚☀️ Los Angeles friends, it’s summer reading season! ☀️📚Looking for a fun (and free!) way to keep kids reading this summ...
06/02/2026

📚☀️ Los Angeles friends, it’s summer reading season! ☀️📚

Looking for a fun (and free!) way to keep kids reading this summer? The LA County Library Summer Discovery Program is back! From June through August, readers of all ages can log books, complete activities, earn badges, and enter prize drawings—all while building a lifelong love of reading.

Whether your child is devouring chapter books, listening to audiobooks, flipping through graphic novels, or enjoying picture books together, every page counts. Summer reading helps prevent the “summer slide” and keeps young minds growing all season long.

📖 Register online or visit your local LA County Library branch to join the fun. Libraries truly are one of the greatest gifts our communities offer—books, programs, learning opportunities, and adventures for every age.

☀️ 🫐🌸🐛🌼🍓💦 June always feels a little magical.It’s the season of muddy feet, backyard picnics, library adventures, popsic...
06/02/2026

☀️ 🫐🌸🐛🌼🍓💦

June always feels a little magical.

It’s the season of muddy feet, backyard picnics, library adventures, popsicle-sticky fingers, and slowing down long enough to notice butterflies, clouds, and tiny wonders hiding in plain sight.

As a teacher (and a mama), I know children don’t always need elaborate plans or expensive activities. Some of the most meaningful memories are made while reading a book under a tree, drawing with sidewalk chalk, building blanket forts, collecting treasures on a nature walk, or simply spending time together.

This month, I’m leaning into joy. More books. More sunshine. More curiosity. More kindness. More unhurried moments that remind us childhood isn’t something to rush through.

Thank you, , for these beautiful reminders that sometimes the best summer days are the simplest ones. 🌿📚🦋🫧✨

What’s one small thing that brings your family joy in the summer?

☀️📚 Are you spending the summer in the Los Angeles area?The Los Angeles Public Library Summer With the Library program i...
06/02/2026

☀️📚 Are you spending the summer in the Los Angeles area?

The Los Angeles Public Library Summer With the Library program is back! From June 6–August 9, 2026, readers of all ages can participate in summer reading, discover new books, attend library events, and keep the joy of learning going all season long.

Summer reading helps children build vocabulary, strengthen literacy skills, spark curiosity, and develop a lifelong love of books. Best of all, it’s a fun way for families to learn and explore together.

Whether you’re raising a new reader, a reluctant reader, or a book-loving kid who always has their nose in a story, your local library is a wonderful place to spend part of your summer. 🌞📖

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