Seeing oneself in a book, or in a movie, or on a TV show, is very validating to a child, and I might add, to an adult as well. This communicates to the child that they belong to. They have a place in the world. I remember very clearly the first time I saw a family like mine in a children’s book, I was 27 years old and browsing in a bookstore. I came across the book, The Carp in the Bathtub which is about a Jewish family similar to mine, and as I stood there reading the book, tears rolled down my cheeks. It felt so good to be recognised. As Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop has so famously said, books are mirrors, windows, and sliding doors. When a child sees a character in a book like them, that is a mirror; the child recognises themselves and that is very reassuring. When a child sees a character in a book who is different than they are, that is a window that teaches them about different people, different families, different cultures, and that is very interesting because children are naturally curious. And every book is a sliding door that any child can open and then step into a whole new world, which is very exciting.