Supporting Students Affected by Immigration Enforcement: Books and Activities for Building Belonging

Kirsten Cappy is the executive director of I’m Your Neighbor Books. Honored by the Maine Education Association, the nonprofit cultivates welcoming behaviors and builds a sense of belonging in communities by increasing access to and engagement with immigrant and new generation children’s literature. The nonprofit's Welcoming Library project received an American School Library Association commendation for creating a "culture of welcoming and belonging” in US schools. Kirsten is a co-creator of the Pine Project Professional Development, which uses Welcoming Library picturebooks to increase educators’ capacity to include race, culture, exclusion, and inclusion in their SEL teaching. With Congolese educator Yaya Gentille, Kirsten has released the award-winning multilingual picturebook Kende! Kende! Kende!, the story of a Congolese family's migration to America's Northeast.