Cover Image: Raising Antiracist Children

Raising Antiracist Children

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Member Reviews

Disclaimer: I was given an advanced review copy in exchange for an honest review through NetGalley.

I had never heard of, or read, the work of Britt Hawthorne before requesting to review this book. I saw the title and as an educator and a parent I wanted the opportunity to engage with this topic and learn. I my opinion, this book is worthy of a Doctorate Degree in Education. It could easily be approved before a committee of professional peers as an exemplary body of knowledge in higher education.

The book is separated into five parts: deepening our understandings, healthy bodies, radical minds, conscious consumption, and thriving communities. It lists all contributors with bio's, cites sources, offers additional reading recommendations for each section, bibliography, and index for easy reference.

But my favorite part is definitely the different activities given to engage in this topic with children. As an educator I appreciate the practical examples of incorporating lessons with children with questions and reflective prompts. It has many playful ways to engage with children as they learn more about this topic. And many informative things as an adult as I learn how to raise antiracist children.

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I am obsessed with this book! It was everything I was hoping it would be and more. I highly recommend this if you in any way have a hand in raising the next generation. The book covers a wide range of parenting challenges and gives actual practical advice on how to handle them.

The author uses real life stories to illustrate points and even gives sample dialogue on how you might handle different topics with your kids at different ages. I recommend having a notebook handy because there's writing exercises.

I am especially excited about the examples of play time activities. I can't wait to try some of them with Octavia. I love how well they discuss the importance of recognizing all marginalized identities and how they can intersect to cause unique challenges.

I seriously plan to buy a physical copy for my shelf and copies for my sisters too. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars!

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This is an excellent book for parents (and teachers!) beginning or deepening their journey of antiracism and raising antiracist children.

Hawthorne has a background in Montessori education, and I found many influences from Montessori principles, including the preparation of the adult as being essential to antiracist parenting and educating - as adults, we have to continually unlearn our biases and prejudices in order to raise antiracist children.

I also deeply appreciated Hawthorne’s focus on language as an antiracist tool. She reminds us that language matters and accurate language is crucial to antiracist practices. For example, she offers terminology such as “white dominance” instead of “white supremacy” in order to not perpetuate the idea that white peoples can be supreme, and accurately describe how whiteness is “being used to dominate land, cultures, languages, and people.”

I also really appreciated the section on conscious consumption as an antiracist tool, and how thinking critically what we consume can help raise the next generation of community-minded global citizens.

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What kind of parent do I want to be?
What do I do when my child is racist?

These are the type of questions in the book that really made me dive in and work.

I LEARNED SO MUCH FROM THIS BOOK.

This amazing parenting guide structures anti-biased and antiracist (ABAR) parenting into 5 sections: defining understanding, healthy bodies, radical minds, conscious shopping, and thriving communities.

Each section starts with an overview for adults and contains practical age-appropriate activities for children. I really appreciated that there were some activities specifically for children of colour, some for white children, and some for both.

Britt Hawthorne is a nationally recognized anti-bias and antiracist facilitator, but she doesn’t hesitate to bring in input from others, which I also really appreciated! Many book titles and resources sprinkled throughout.

This book made me examine my own biases in a completely new way. For example, I will now be using the term “white domination” instead of white supremacy, as Hawthorne reminds us that the word supremacy continues the idea that white people can be supreme. Domination, on the other hand, describes how it is used to dominate land, cultures, languages, and people.

“Diversifying your book collection is not the same as entering justice in your home. Action and dedication are required.” GUILTY. I will be examining how I can change this in my daily life.

“Focus more on the verb ‘being’ than the noun ‘ally.’” Allies think and discuss and sometimes forget to move past this stage. This is a problem that my Antiracist group struggled with in the beginning, now we have regular projects and activities, in addition to discussions.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for giving me a free copy in exchange for an honest review!

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I was a big fan of the author's work through their Instagram account. I enjoyed this book for the practical aspect and the reflection questions that were are the end of each chapter. I thought there were many real-world applications that were extremely helpful to me as a white educator and parent. Thank you, Britt Hawthrone, for your labor so that we may gain more insight into what it means to be an antiracist when raising children.

This book was provided to NetGalley and Simon Element for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

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This was such a helpful book! As a toddler mom, I appreciated the way the ideas and actions were broken down into manageable steps. It was Informative and instructive. Definitely recommend to all parents and adult leaders looking to cultivate an antiracist community!

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In a world in which systems perpetuate racism, it is not enough to simply “not be racist.” We must be actively antiracist if we are to counteract racism and make a difference in the world. In Raising Antiracist Children, Britt Hawthorne shares her personal experiences and practical tips for parents navigating antiracism with their children. She shares terminology and practices in simple verbiage to help parents explain and model antiracism for their children. In a world of injustices, we can make a difference.

Disclaimer: A copy of this book was provided by the publisher.

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I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a wonderful book. I found it extremely helpful.

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I don’t have my own children, but I do have a lot of friends with children. This book is a great resource for anyone that’s interested in breaking racist cycles with this kiddos in their lives. A lot of the statistics won’t be new information with most people, but the book takes that to the next level. This book is perfect for people wondering where to go next with that information. The author gives exercises to do with the kids in your life as well as possible conversation starters to help you work with your kids through hard or confusing situations.

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I LOVE this book and will buy it when it is published. It provides definitions, examples, developmentally-appropriate language, and so, so much more. It moves beyond theoretical to practical application- I cannot wait until June to get my physical copy to flag, mark, and integrate into my parenting. Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for an electronic ARC of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

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It is not good enough to not be racist. You need to be anti-racist.
If you have children, or if you don't, you should read this book.
No matter the age of your children, this book explains how to talk to them about race. There are multiple activities and questions for each age group that will further their understanding of each section.
This is an excellent book that I used with my children and I highly suggest that everyone reads this book and shares it with the children they care for.
Thank you to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for this ARC.

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I think every parent in the world could benefit from humbling themselves and reading this. Well written, informative, impactful!

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This book was a fantastic read and I feel that it is a much needed book. Everyone can benefit from reading it.

I absolutely loved that the book breaks things down into age brackets! I enjoy that there were reflection questions so that you can take a minute to reflect over what you just read, I really appreciated that.

I am looking forward to publish date so I can purchase a physical copy.

I loved this book and definitely recommend it.

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First off- thank you to Simon & schuster for allowing me to receive an advanced readers copy, also to NetGalley for working with the publisher.

All reviews are my own, and unpaid/not sponsored.


Okay- I’ve read a lot of anti racist books, a lot of perceptive books by POC, WOC, and those who are POC in the LGBTQIA+ community in the last couple years. Each holds a little fragment of my ever evolving mind- but this is a first for me, a parenting one. I personally have two children - and although I consider myself open minded, I wouldn’t consider myself racist or biased - but I do admit I live in a (predominately) cis white straight community within the military, and my children aren’t exposed to a *ton* of different cultures, ethnicities, lifestyles except within whatever is driving distance. It’s one thing to be open minded- but reading this book gave me ideas on how to also be inclusive, make room for others, and give grace to self reflection that I’m able to share and reach towards my kids with. This book is almost formatted like a mini workbook- with reflection questions - little snippets of pause basically. I enjoyed that, and I think it’s a great book that in 2022- we kind of need more than ever. Heavy emphasis on the “colorblind” isn’t the way to approach racism, which I appreciated the most. Learning much more than just “racism bad”- also learning about our bodies, how we perceive other ethnicities anatomy, within colorism. Our internalized, interpersonal, institutional and systemic views and what needs to be adjusted - super helpful. Not only this but examples and samples of approaches- which, for someone who grew up in a family that didn’t speak to each other much- is super helpful as I navigate my own kind of changes I want to make for my children. I’m excited for the publish date so I can purchase a physical copy to refer back to over and over again.

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Wowowowowowowowow. Ok YES. This book is EXACTLY what I needed. I’m buying it the second it comes out because it’s not just a read once and move on- it is absolutely a reference book for our family to read and use and learn from for years to come. I’ve struggled a lot over the last few years with how I approach racism with my young child. If I’m honest- it’s scary. It’s heavy and important and so important that I feel like I can’t convey what I want to without help. We’ve read so many books, from adult books to kids books. We’ve opened the dialogue, and we have tried. But sometimes, the ideas don’t translate to his tiny mind. This book has the clearest breakdowns based on age groups. So when they’re discussing diversifying consumed goods such as books, they tell you what to do for tiny humans, big kids, big big kids, etc. I can’t remember the exact age groupings, but it was so so nice to see where my kiddo fits and what to look for in the future. The books touches on so many topics within the beast that is discrimination and really blew me away. I can’t rave enough!

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