We’re excited to share that Juna and Appa by Jane Park and illustrated by Felicia Hoshino was selected as a featured title for National Education Association’s Read Across America 2022-2023!
Each month, the NEA selects a picture book, middle grade, and young adult title that explores diversity and inclusion. Every featured title includes activity suggestions, questions for discussion or reflective writing, related resources, and more titles to try. Juna and Appa is highlighted in the July 2023 theme “Cultivate Caring Connections” as a text that can help to aid discussions about community support and other healthy relationships.
Juna and Appa is a tender ode to fathers and to the many families working behind shop counters. In the book, Juna enjoys helping her father in their dry-cleaning shop on Saturdays. It’s their special time together.
One day Juna sees a customer yelling at Appa about a lost jacket. Juna has never seen her father look so worried and becomes determined to help. She sets off on a magical journey in search of the jacket, and along the way meets remarkable animals that show her the different ways that fathers care for their young.
Add Juna and Appa to your bookshelf today while supporting your favorite AAPI-owned bookshop. View the entire Read Across America 2022-2023 calendar here. Happy reading!