By Monica Moran
Our first book club meeting of 2026 had the theme books about songs. We were very lucky to have people bring in their plentiful experience working with children to bring in their perspectives. There were several books brought up in our show-and-share zoom meeting, a few of which are listed below. We kicked it off with the board book Sing, illustrated by Tom Lichtenheld.
Attendee Joanie Calem works as a music specialist with preschools. She introduced us to her album Rainbow of Color and the book that came from it, We Can Get Along. Her music is available on Youtube.
Pam Gittleman brought her books Nursery Rhymes for Kinder Times which are well-known nursery rhymes which have been thoughtfully updated. Videos of these nursery rhymes performed by Laurie Berkner can be found on Youtube. Susan Ellithorpe brought the book she made with her kindergarten class Great Big World and shared the Peace Literacy Institute for peace literacy classroom resources.
Karen Kosko suggested books illustrated by Eric Puybaret: Somewhere Over the Rainbow, Over the Rainbow, and Puff the Magic Dragon. Susan Hopkins mentioned an interview with Resmaa Menakem sharing his picture book Stories From My Grandmother’s Hands. His book My Grandmother’s Hands was a recent EPCC book club pick with which many PEACE members may be familiar. There were several books brought up in our show-and-share Zoom meeting, a few of which are listed below. We had a large variety of books brought to the group but could not include them all in this summary. Please watch the video for more suggestions and join us for our next book club!
Book Club Meeting Recording
Passcode: +6tq6SLK
A few titles mentioned:
- Sing, Lyrics and Music by Joe Raposo, illustrated by Tom Lichtenheld
- Don’t Stop, lyrics by Christine McVie, illustrated by Nusha Ashjaee
- Coat of Many Colors by Dolly Parton, Illustrated by Brooke Boynton-Hughes
- We Can Get Along by Joanie Calem
- You Are Welcome Here by Joanie Calem
- Nursery Rhymes for Kinder Times (volumes 1 and 2) by Pam Gittleman
- Puff the Magic Dragon by Peter Yarrow and Lenny Lipton, illustrated by Eric Puybaret
- Mole Music by David McPhail
- Stories From My Grandmother’s Hands by Resmaa Menakem, illustrated by Leroy Campbell
- Let There Be Peace On Earth by Jill Jackson and Sy Miller, illustrated by David Diaz
