I Like Myself - by Toni Sturdivant (Paperback)

About the Book

"This book provides lesson planning insights and academic activities that are designed to facilitate positive racial identity in Black children. Supplementing and complementing any curriculum, this critical resource provides information across social-emotional, academic, and fine arts domains that stay faithful to curricular goals while specifically targeting the racial identity needs of Black preschoolers"--

Book Synopsis

Support young Black children in developing a positive racial identity.

I Like Myself uses the latest research into positive identity formation to provide practical solutions for educators. It links together lesson planning insights, academic activities, and children's book recommendations that are designed to facilitate positive racial identity in Black children, covering topics including hair texture, skin tone, language, self-esteem, and media representation. Supplementing and complementing any curriculum, this critical resource provides information across social-emotional, academic, and fine arts domains that stay faithful to curricular goals while specifically targeting the racial identity needs of Black preschoolers. Targeting the Black identity specifically, the lessons are designed to be engaging, meaningful and effective for all students, so each child feels valued and accepted while also gaining the knowledge and skills that they need to be successful.

Featuring recommendations for over 150 children's books to support positive identity formation in Black children and 70+ activities and ideas to pair with children's book read-alouds.

Review Quotes

Affirmation statements matter to children, and their communities of caregivers, family, teachers, siblings, and extended families. Many factors within a culture affirm and support the positive images of many children, by the nature of their alignment with dominant cultural views. This is like drinking the water or breathing the air, it's all around us. But what if - no, not 'if' but 'when - what happens WHEN those dominant views differ, or negate a young child's self-image? In I Like Me, Dr. Sturdivant speaks from lived experience, her own and her own children's, and out of her deep and compelling research, with a ton of intelligence and even more heart. This book rings true in a culture that denies many children access to affirmation statements. With careful, thoughtful, well-designed literary structure, this book delves into racial identity issues. Responsive caregivers can learn her about hair, and language, and literature. Dr. Sturdivant has provided a path forward in promoting racially affirming practices in our early childhood profession.

--Josh Thompson PhD, Professor Early Childhood Education, Texas A&M University-Commerce

This poignant, well-crafted book offers solutions to anti-Black sentiments through lessons for preschool children. The author's willingness to join this narrative exhibits an understanding of the role early intervention plays to support healthy self-awareness and self-love. She challenges readers to unpack the social hierarchy that perpetuates a belief system and urges us to use this knowledge to counter societal messaging about race in preschool classrooms. Truly a must-read for early educators!

--Kellee Tyrone, Child Development Specialist, Camp Fire First Texas

By showcasing actual effective practices, Sturdivant masterfully reveals how to plan authentic, engaging, and standards-based lessons for the positive racial identity needs of Black children. But she doesn't stop there! She shows us how to develop practical play-based solutions that counter the negative social messages children regularly receive as we celebrate the richness of children's racial and ethnic differences across the curriculum. This text should be a resource for all early childhood educators.

--Iliana Alanís, PhD, Professor of Early Childhood/Elementary Education, The University of Texas at San Antonio

About the Author

Dr. Sturdivant is the Vice President of Early Education at Camp Fire First Texas where she oversees school readiness, early education apprenticeship programs, and community training solutions. She was previously an assistant professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at Texas A&M-Commerce. A successful classroom teacher of three- and four-year-olds, she has also developed training for early childhood educators in grades Pre-K through 3rd grade across the country and internationally. She has taught pre-service teachers, current teachers, and other future professionals aspiring to work with children at three universities and one community college district. She holds a PhD in Interdisciplinary Learning and Teaching with a cognate in Early Childhood Education from the University of Texas at San Antonio.