Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Recommended Resources Movies that aren't about white people

Have you considered Star Trek (either the original series or the Next Generation? There are numerous characters who have different skin colors and also are aliens. That always seemed more important to me than skin color even when I got older. Unfortunately the original series is somewhat sexist by today's standards IMO but many of the stories remain interesting and DD11 and I get a kick out of talking about how Captain Kirk was always hitting on the surprisingly attractive and humanoid alien women.

I wish that I could say I have kept a list, but I just grab the books when I find them and return them. If you Google "books for kids of color" or "books with Asian characters" and things like that, there are all kinds of great lists. It is amazing how few books feature kids with brown skin (be it Asian, Hispanic, African American, etc).NPR has done several pieces on the problem.

It is often advisable for parents of gifted kids to keep a list of books read. Because you especially mention library books, parents may be interested to know that libraries may track circulation - a list of the books checked out on an individual library card may be available to the card holder. This allows the cardholder to quickly obtain a list. Especially where there has been a helpful librarian making suggestions as to selections, such a reading list may be valuable for one's own use or to share with others.

Similar tips here and here. So many books, so little time! One list shows 620 books, another 147, and one link is a list of lists! If a local library does not have a title of interest, books may often be provided from other locations by an inter-library loan program.

I don't understand what you are suggesting. I hope that the only lists of books checked out that I can access are those of my children and me.

Also for teens/adults, The Hundred Foot Journey, produced by Steven Spielberg, Oprah Winfrey, and Juliet Blake.
The Wikipedia article quotes Oprah as mentioning in interviews, "Food blends cultures and allows us to have just a little peek into someone else's life... " and "understand that you’re really more alike than you are different".

Bostonian, indigo was referring to greenlotus not tracking what books they checked out and suggesting the library will have tracked what they checked out for them.

Whoever suggested Annedroids... thanks! We watched a few episodes and found that both our almost 4 DS ... and our 23 month old DD were entranced by the show. (And this is the *only* show so far that DD watched a whole episode and cried when we turned the TV off... every other show, she got bored after 10 minutes other than some of the Peg plus Cat problems). I have no idea how much our 23 month old understands... but it was interesting that this is the only show I have seen that really caught her attention.

In a sort of related vein, does anybody remember the biographical movie "The Girl Who Spelled Freedom", about a Cambodian refugee who (almost?) won the Spelling Bee in the 80s? I loved that movie when I was a kid and recently tried to find a copy, but to no avail.

Yes! Here's a bit about the Disney movie and a 2013 article updating readers on the life of the main character, Linn Yann. Time for a re-release on DVD? Oddly, I did not find the existence of this movie acknowledged on the list of "All Movies" on the Disney website. The movies appear alphabetically, I looked primarily under "G" (Girl) and "T" (The).

MegMeg my daughter was adopted transracially and there is a lot of discussion on this topic in some groups I am a part of. Of course diverse characters in the movies and books she sees are important, but even more important is to see herself reflected in the community. We purposefully sought out a pediatrician of color, for example, and work to cultivate friendships with families and children of color. It may be more difficult if the child is one of very few kids at school with brown skin, based on what I have observed.

Re: Bend It Like Beckham, we love that movie. My 7 yr. old has seen it and the references to sex go over her head--she loves the soccer storyline. I agree that it is empowering. My older daughter and I got a big laugh out of a line during a sari-fitting about "juicy juicy mangoes" that we frequently quote.

edited to add: sorry, didn't mean to stray from your original request! also sent you a PM

It may have been mentioned, not going back to look, but I think Mulan is also a great one!