Multicultural Literature in the Elementary

School

What is Multicultural Literature?

Multicultural Literature includes tradebooks, regardless of genre, that focuses on people of color, regional cultures, religious minorities, the disabled, the elderly, and female perspectives.

The Value of Multicultural

Literature

• It heightens respect for all individuals

• It acknowledges the contributions of minorities

• It brings children into contact with other cultures

• It enhances students’ self-concept

• It helps students realize that society has developed a value system that validates some differences and minimizes others

• It encourages students to detect prejudice and to work towards its elimination

Types of Multicultural Books

Social-Conscience Books

Books about microcultural groups other than European-Americans. These books are written to help all readers know the condition of their fellow humans.

Melting Pot BooksBooks written on the assumption that everyone needs to be informed that people of microcultures are exactly alike, except for the color of their skins, their language, or their religious beliefs.

Culturally-Conscious Books

Books written primarily(though not exclusively) by microcultural authors(other than European-American) for readers belonging to their microculture.

Thematic Approach to Using Multicultural Children’s

Literature

The thematic approach calls for the use of children’s storybooks with common themes to address differences and similarities among people and cultures.

Books from different cultures which represent the same themes can be used together to teach diversity to children

Multicultural themes should be relevant to all humans, no matter what culture students belong to.

Types of Multicultural

Themes

Family Traditions and Beliefs

• Weddings• Birthdays• New Siblings• Family gatherings and rituals• Sickness

Major Holidays

•Chinese New Year

•Christmas and Hanukkah

•Kwanzaa

•Easter

•Thanksgiving

•National Holidays

Emotions or Ways of Life

•Loss of loved ones or pets•School life•Responsibilities at home•Friendship•Growing up/Coming of age

Nursery Rhymes

•Lullabies

•Skipping songs

•Tongue twisters

•Limericks

Folktales/Folklore

Multicultural Book Awards

Coretta Scott King Awardand the

John Steptoe Award

Awarded to an African-American author and an African-American illustrator for outstanding inspirational and educational contributions to the field of children’s literature

Pura Belpre´ Award and the Americas Award

Awarded to Latino writers and illustrators whose works best portray, affirm, and celebrate the Latino cultural experience. These may be works written in English or Spanish.

Asian-Pacific American Awards for Youth, Young Adult, and

Children’s Literature

Awarded to authors and illustrators whose works promote the Asian/Pacific American culture and heritage, based on literary and artistic merit

The Mildred L. Batchelder Award

Awarded to an American publisher for a children’s book considered to be the most outstanding of those books originally published in a foreign language in a foreign country, and translated into English and published in the United States

Reading multicultural literature gives students an awareness of negative bias towards others. If used purposefully, children’s multicultural literature can help us reach this goal.

References

American Library Association. (2006). Book/media awards. Retrieved July 30, 2007, from the American Library Association Web site: http://www.ala.org/bookmediaawards

Barta, J. & Grindler, M.C. (1996). Exploring bias using multicultural literature for children. Reading Teacher, 50, 269-270.

Lynch-Brown, C. &Tomlinson, C.M. (2005). Essentials of children’s literature. Boston: Pearson Education.

Sapon-Shevin, M. (1999). Because we can change the world: A practical guide to building cooperative inclusive classroom communities. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn and Bacon.

Wan, G. (2006). Teaching diversity and tolerance in the classroom: A thematic storybook approach. 127(1), 140-143.