Haili Smith, 16, and her sister Brooke Smith, 13, have very different tastes in books. But they share a belief that kids like to read about characters they can relate to. So, in 2020, they started Books Like Me. The nonprofit group supplies teachers with culturally diverse children’s books. “We didn’t really like reading a few years ago,” Haili said. “Then we started to look for books that had characters we saw ourselves in. It made us want to read more. We thought we could share that with students.”
16岁的海莉·史密斯和她13岁的妹妹布鲁克·史密斯对书的品味截然不同。但他们有一个共同的信念，那就是孩子们喜欢读与他们有联系的人物。所以，在2020年，他们创办了“像我一样的书”。这个非营利性组织为教师提供不同文化背景的儿童书籍。“几年前我们真的不喜欢读书，”海丽说。“然后我们开始寻找那些有我们自己特征的书。这让我们想要读更多的书。我们认为我们可以与学生分享。”
Haili and Brooke made a list of books they liked. On social media, they asked for donations of these titles. They began receiving boxes of new books to give away. Teachers and librarians can request a donation from Books Like Me online. Books are available in various genres and formats (体裁和开本). The Tristan Strong series, by Kwame Mbalia, is popular. So is Sulwe . The picture book was written by actress Lupita Nyong’o and illustrated by Vashti Harrison. “The art’s really good,” Brooke says. Ever since the organization was founded, Haili and Brooke have given away more than 16,000 books.
海丽和布鲁克列了一个她们喜欢的书的清单。在社交媒体上，她们请求捐赠这些书。她们开始收到一箱箱新书去送人。教师和图书管理员可以在线申请“像我一样的书”的捐赠。书籍有各种体裁和开本。Kwame Mbalia的特里斯坦·斯特朗系列很受欢迎。苏威也是如此。这本绘本由女演员露皮塔·尼永奥撰写，瓦什蒂·哈里森绘制。“艺术真的很棒，”布鲁克说。自该组织成立以来，海丽和布鲁克已经捐赠了1.6万多本书。
Anitra Carter teaches at a primary school. Donations from Books Like Me have gotten her students excited about reading. “It sparks something to see a character that looks similar to them,” Carter says. Carter believes diverse characters help kids develop empathy(同情). “There’s so much that we can learn when we read about other cultures,” she says. “So when we’re having real-life situations ... kids have some background knowledge about the experiences of other people.”
Anitra Carter在一所小学教书。“像我一样的书”的捐赠让她的学生对阅读感到兴奋。卡特说:“看到一个与他们相似的角色，会激发一些东西。”卡特认为，不同的角色有助于孩子培养同理心。“当我们阅读其他文化时，我们可以学到很多东西，”她说。“所以当我们在现实生活中遇到这种情况时……孩子们对其他人的经历有一些背景知识。”
Haili and Brooke have also taken books directly to students. “They all looked so happy when they found a book that really resonated with them,” Haili recalls a book fair. That, of course, is the goal. “I hope, and I think,” Haili says, “that all kids should see themselves represented in books so that they enjoy reading.”
海丽和布鲁克还把书直接送给学生。“当他们找到一本真正引起他们共鸣的书时，他们看起来都很高兴，”海丽回忆起一次书展。当然，这是我们的目标。“我希望，而且我认为，”海丽说，“所有的孩子都应该在书中看到自己，这样他们就会喜欢阅读。”
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