The Open Shelf Good Protocols
Reading settings

The lap shelf

The first books, read on a lap, in a lap's amount of time.

Language American Sign Language is a language here, not an accommodation.
Format
Borrow or buy

A Day With No Words

Tiffany Hammond, ill. Kate Cosgrove · The lap shelf · birth to about six

A picture book by a Black autistic mother about an ordinary day with her nonspeaking autistic son, who talks with a tablet and is understood completely.

Why it belongs Own-voice twice over, and proof that the lap shelf can hold a nonspeaking child as the hero rather than the problem.

  • Difference honored
  • Belovedness and the secure base

In English

Borrow · Libby · borrow — opens Seattle Public's Libby; switch to your own library inside the appSeattle Public Library · Seattle Public LibraryKing County Library · King County LibraryFind a library · WorldCatBuy · Bookshop.org · buy — supports the sourcing map

Buying may earn a small commission; all of it funds the sourcing of home-language editions.

Borrow or buy

I Talk Like a River

Jordan Scott, ill. Sydney Smith · The lap shelf · about four to eight

A boy who stutters has a bad speech day until his father takes him to the river and shows him that the water, too, bubbles, churns, and moves — and so does he.

Why it belongs The book that lets a child who speaks differently see their own mouth as a river rather than a fault. Attention and belonging in one image.

  • Difference honored
  • Attention and wonder

In English audiobook

Borrow · Libby · borrow — opens Seattle Public's Libby; switch to your own library inside the appSeattle Public Library · Seattle Public LibraryKing County Library · King County LibraryFind a library · WorldCatBuy · Bookshop.org · buy — supports the sourcing map

Buying may earn a small commission; all of it funds the sourcing of home-language editions.

Borrow or buy

The Snowy Day

Ezra Jack Keats · The lap shelf · birth to about six

A small boy wakes to a city turned white and spends a whole day inside the wonder of fresh snow.

Why it belongs Rosa's snowflake as a board book: delight that arrives unbidden and melts the moment you try to keep it.

  • Attention and wonder
  • Belovedness and the secure base

In English

Borrow · Libby · borrow — opens Seattle Public's Libby; switch to your own library inside the appSeattle Public Library · Seattle Public LibraryKing County Library · King County LibraryFind a library · WorldCatBuy · Bookshop.org · buy — supports the sourcing map

Buying may earn a small commission; all of it funds the sourcing of home-language editions.

Borrow or buy

Owl Babies

Martin Waddell, ill. Patrick Benson · The lap shelf · birth to about five

Three owl children wake in the dark to find their mother gone, and wait, and worry, until she returns.

Why it belongs Siegel's secure base in its purest form: the child who can bear the going because the coming-back is sure.

  • Belovedness and the secure base

In English

Borrow · Libby · borrow — opens Seattle Public's Libby; switch to your own library inside the appSeattle Public Library · Seattle Public LibraryKing County Library · King County LibraryFind a library · WorldCatBuy · Bookshop.org · buy — supports the sourcing map

Buying may earn a small commission; all of it funds the sourcing of home-language editions.

Borrow or buy

The Kissing Hand

Audrey Penn · The lap shelf · about three to six

A raccoon afraid of his first day of school is given a secret to carry: a kiss pressed into his palm.

Why it belongs Siegel's four S's at the first goodbye — the secure base a child can hold in their hand and take into the world.

  • Belovedness and the secure base

In English, Spanish

Borrow · Libby · borrow — opens Seattle Public's Libby; switch to your own library inside the appSeattle Public Library · Seattle Public LibraryKing County Library · King County LibraryFind a library · WorldCatBuy · Bookshop.org · buy — supports the sourcing map

Buying may earn a small commission; all of it funds the sourcing of home-language editions.

Borrow or buy

The Rabbit Listened

Cori Doerrfeld · The lap shelf · about three to seven

When something breaks and everyone rushes to fix or advise, only the rabbit simply comes near and stays.

Why it belongs Siegel's co-regulation made a picture book: presence, not fixing, is what lets a heart come back to itself.

  • Belovedness and the secure base

In English

Borrow · Libby · borrow — opens Seattle Public's Libby; switch to your own library inside the appSeattle Public Library · Seattle Public LibraryKing County Library · King County LibraryFind a library · WorldCatBuy · Bookshop.org · buy — supports the sourcing map

Buying may earn a small commission; all of it funds the sourcing of home-language editions.

Borrow or buy

The Invisible String

Patrice Karst · The lap shelf · about three to eight

A mother tells two frightened children that love is a string that connects them no matter the distance.

Why it belongs Siegel's attachment made visible — the connection that holds across any separation a child will meet.

  • Belovedness and the secure base
  • The thread of years

In English, Spanish

Borrow · Libby · borrow — opens Seattle Public's Libby; switch to your own library inside the appSeattle Public Library · Seattle Public LibraryKing County Library · King County LibraryFind a library · WorldCatBuy · Bookshop.org · buy — supports the sourcing map

Buying may earn a small commission; all of it funds the sourcing of home-language editions.

Borrow or buy

A Friend for Henry

Jenn Bailey, ill. Mika Song · The lap shelf · about four to eight

Henry, an autistic boy, looks for a friend who will follow the rules that keep his world in order — and finds one, on his own terms.

Why it belongs Grandin's founding claim at the earliest age: a mind that works differently is not looking for a friend the wrong way.

  • Difference honored
  • Belovedness and the secure base

In English

Borrow · Libby · borrow — opens Seattle Public's Libby; switch to your own library inside the appSeattle Public Library · Seattle Public LibraryKing County Library · King County LibraryFind a library · WorldCatBuy · Bookshop.org · buy — supports the sourcing map

Buying may earn a small commission; all of it funds the sourcing of home-language editions.

Borrow or buy

A Handful of Quiet A Handful of Quiet: Happiness in Four Pebbles

Thich Nhat Hanh · The lap shelf · about four and up

A simple pebble meditation for children — flower, mountain, water, space — four breaths a small body can hold.

Why it belongs The canon's own, for the youngest hands: Thich Nhat Hanh's mindfulness made concrete enough for a child to practice.

  • Attention and wonder

In English

Borrow · Libby · borrow — opens Seattle Public's Libby; switch to your own library inside the appSeattle Public Library · Seattle Public LibraryKing County Library · King County LibraryFind a library · WorldCatBuy · Bookshop.org · buy — supports the sourcing map

Buying may earn a small commission; all of it funds the sourcing of home-language editions.

Borrow or buy

Fry Bread Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story

Kevin Noble Maillard (Seminole), ill. Juana Martinez-Neal · The lap shelf · about three to eight

Fry bread as food, shape, sound, and nation — Native identity as a living present, not a museum piece.

Why it belongs Difference honored at the table: a people's ongoing life, made and eaten and passed down.

  • The table and the gathering
  • Difference honored

In English

Borrow · Libby · borrow — opens Seattle Public's Libby; switch to your own library inside the appSeattle Public Library · Seattle Public LibraryKing County Library · King County LibraryFind a library · WorldCatBuy · Bookshop.org · buy — supports the sourcing map

Buying may earn a small commission; all of it funds the sourcing of home-language editions.

Borrow or buy

Thank You, Omu!

Oge Mora · The lap shelf · about three to seven

The smell of one grandmother's stew draws a whole block to her door, and the block feeds her back.

Why it belongs The table and the gathering: generosity that returns to the one who gave first.

  • The table and the gathering
  • Belovedness and the secure base

In English

Borrow · Libby · borrow — opens Seattle Public's Libby; switch to your own library inside the appSeattle Public Library · Seattle Public LibraryKing County Library · King County LibraryFind a library · WorldCatBuy · Bookshop.org · buy — supports the sourcing map

Buying may earn a small commission; all of it funds the sourcing of home-language editions.

Borrow or buy

Hair Love

Matthew A. Cherry, ill. Vashti Harrison · The lap shelf · about three to seven

A Black father learns, with love and patience, to do his daughter's hair.

Why it belongs Belovedness through the hands — a father's tenderness made of practice, not talk.

  • Belovedness and the secure base
  • Making and repair

In English

Borrow · Libby · borrow — opens Seattle Public's Libby; switch to your own library inside the appSeattle Public Library · Seattle Public LibraryKing County Library · King County LibraryFind a library · WorldCatBuy · Bookshop.org · buy — supports the sourcing map

Buying may earn a small commission; all of it funds the sourcing of home-language editions.

Borrow or buy

Eyes That Kiss in the Corners

Joanna Ho, ill. Dung Ho · The lap shelf · about four to eight

An Asian-American girl comes to love her eyes, and her mother's, and her grandmother's.

Why it belongs Difference honored as inheritance: the feature the world would flatten, received as beauty and belonging.

  • Difference honored
  • Belovedness and the secure base

In English

Borrow · Libby · borrow — opens Seattle Public's Libby; switch to your own library inside the appSeattle Public Library · Seattle Public LibraryKing County Library · King County LibraryFind a library · WorldCatBuy · Bookshop.org · buy — supports the sourcing map

Buying may earn a small commission; all of it funds the sourcing of home-language editions.

Borrow or buy

Alma and How She Got Her Name

Juana Martinez-Neal · The lap shelf · about four to eight

A Peruvian girl learns the ancestor behind each part of her very long name.

Why it belongs The thread of years for the youngest: a name as a carrier bag of the people who made you.

  • Difference honored
  • The thread of years

In English, Spanish

Borrow · Libby · borrow — opens Seattle Public's Libby; switch to your own library inside the appSeattle Public Library · Seattle Public LibraryKing County Library · King County LibraryFind a library · WorldCatBuy · Bookshop.org · buy — supports the sourcing map

Buying may earn a small commission; all of it funds the sourcing of home-language editions.

Borrow or buy

Drawn Together

Minh Lê, ill. Dan Santat · The lap shelf · about four to nine

A Thai grandfather and his grandson share no common language until they meet in drawing.

Why it belongs Making as the bridge across the language gap this whole library is built to honor.

  • Making and repair
  • Difference honored
  • The thread of years

In English

Borrow · Libby · borrow — opens Seattle Public's Libby; switch to your own library inside the appSeattle Public Library · Seattle Public LibraryKing County Library · King County LibraryFind a library · WorldCatBuy · Bookshop.org · buy — supports the sourcing map

Buying may earn a small commission; all of it funds the sourcing of home-language editions.

Borrow or buy

Watercress

Andrea Wang, ill. Jason Chin · The lap shelf · about five to nine

A Chinese-American girl's shame at foraging roadside watercress turns to belonging when her mother tells the story behind it.

Why it belongs The table and the thread of years: a family's hard history carried in a humble green.

  • The table and the gathering
  • The thread of years

In English

Borrow · Libby · borrow — opens Seattle Public's Libby; switch to your own library inside the appSeattle Public Library · Seattle Public LibraryKing County Library · King County LibraryFind a library · WorldCatBuy · Bookshop.org · buy — supports the sourcing map

Buying may earn a small commission; all of it funds the sourcing of home-language editions.

Borrow or buy

A Different Pond

Bao Phi, ill. Thi Bui · The lap shelf · about five to nine

A Vietnamese refugee father and his son fish before dawn to help feed the family.

Why it belongs Belovedness and the table: a father's quiet provision, and a memory of another pond an ocean away.

  • Belovedness and the secure base
  • The table and the gathering

In English

Borrow · Libby · borrow — opens Seattle Public's Libby; switch to your own library inside the appSeattle Public Library · Seattle Public LibraryKing County Library · King County LibraryFind a library · WorldCatBuy · Bookshop.org · buy — supports the sourcing map

Buying may earn a small commission; all of it funds the sourcing of home-language editions.

Borrow or buy

Mama, Do You Love Me?

Barbara M. Joosse, ill. Barbara Lavallee · The lap shelf · birth to about six

An Inuit child tests every edge of a mother's love and finds it holds past all of them.

Why it belongs The secure base across cultures: love that does not flinch at the hardest 'what if'.

  • Belovedness and the secure base

In English

Borrow · Libby · borrow — opens Seattle Public's Libby; switch to your own library inside the appSeattle Public Library · Seattle Public LibraryKing County Library · King County LibraryFind a library · WorldCatBuy · Bookshop.org · buy — supports the sourcing map

Buying may earn a small commission; all of it funds the sourcing of home-language editions.

Borrow or buy

Sulwe

Lupita Nyong'o, ill. Vashti Harrison · The lap shelf · about four to eight

A girl the color of midnight learns to love her own deep light.

Why it belongs Difference honored against colorism: the belovedness a child must sometimes be taught to give themselves.

  • Belovedness and the secure base
  • Difference honored

In English

Borrow · Libby · borrow — opens Seattle Public's Libby; switch to your own library inside the appSeattle Public Library · Seattle Public LibraryKing County Library · King County LibraryFind a library · WorldCatBuy · Bookshop.org · buy — supports the sourcing map

Buying may earn a small commission; all of it funds the sourcing of home-language editions.

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