Today isย Multicultural Childrenโs Book Day, and we are celebrating diversity in children’s literature!
Woo-hoo! ย You better believe I’m all for it.
Our kids must read a wide variety of books, books that feature characters of all shapes and sizes. They need to read about different families, foods, and cultures. ย Different holidays, customs, and crafts. ย Different experiences, events, and celebrations.
It’s imperative that our books reflect the world around us, and, in my opinion, there’s no better way to open up the doors of conversation and learning rather than with books.
And though there are a million, trillion books out there, today you’ll be able to add some great, new titles to your list for your next library trip, thanks to my list here and the many other bloggers who are writing about their favorite multicultural children’s books today.
Here’s the skinny. . .
- 10 Must-Read Multicultural Children’s Books: I’ll be honest. I’m kind of cheating here.
Narrowing this list down was pretty tricky for me, since I have a boatload of favorite multicultural children’s books.
But what I also realized is that because my own kiddos (10, 8, and 6 years old) are slowly moving over to that YA (young adult) bookshelf, my picks are a bit of both.
I couldn’t help it.
My top five must-read multicultural children’s books are:
- Cora Cooks Pancit, by Dorina K. Lazo Gilmore ย | Little Cora learns the art of cooking pancit with the help of her mama on a rare day when her brother and sisters are out of the house.
- The Legend of the Indian Paintbrush, by Tomie de Paola ย | ย I love Tomie de Paola’s take on this Indian legend about how a young boy, the artist of his tribe, creates a painting to fulfill his Dream-Vision.
- So Far from the Sea, by Even Bunting ย | ย Theย Iwasaki family visits Manzanar, where Japanese were interned during WWII, and little Laura says goodbye to her Grandfather in a touching and memorable way.
- The Legend of the Bluebonnet, by Tomie de Paola ย | ย The story of a courageous Comanche girl and how she parts with her most prized possession in order to help her people is moving and unforgettable.
- Mama’s Saris, by Pooja Makhijani ย | ย I have always loved the grace and beauty of not only the sari but the story of how important it is for a little girl to wear a sari like her mother.
- I also love, love, love the A Child’s Day series–a day in the life of a child in some part of the word. ย It’s a photo journal, a glimpse into what life is like for children all around the world. Love these.
For slightly older kids, I love these multicultural books for young adult (ya) readers:
- Theย Recipe for Adventure series, by Giada DeLaurentiis ย | (ages 7-12) ย Adventure, cooking, and a whole lot of Italian family is the focus of this series which follows Alfie and his sister Emilia all over the world as they solve mysteries and sample food along the way.
- Aloha, Kanani, by Lisa Yee ย | ย (ages 8+) ย Kanani’s Hawaiian life is totally foreign to her New York City cousin, Rachel, but the girls have a whole summer to learn from each other and embrace their differences.
- Children of the River, by Linda Crew ย | (ages 9+) Sundara and her family move to Oregon to escape the Khmer Rouge army, and Sundara struggles with balancing her Cambodian identity with the new American lifestyle.
- The House on Mango Street, by Sandra Cisneros ย | ย (ages 13+) ย Beautiful and poetic, this coming of age story tells Esperanza’s experiences growing up in the inner city.
- The Contender, by Robert Lipsyte ย | ย (ages 13+ ) Alfred works hard to stay out of trouble, but he finds out that a winner isn’t always the guy who comes out on top.
It’s really just a start. I have a ton more to recommend, but I do want you to check out other folks’ recommendations as well!
Want to know a bit more about Multicultural Children’s Book Day? Sure you do.
Mission of Multicultural Children’s Book Day: Despite census data that shows 37% of the US population consists of people of color, only 10% of childrenโs books published have diversity content. Using the Multicultural Childrenโs Book Day, Mia Wenjen fromย Pragmatic Momย and Valarie Budayr fromย Jump Into a Book/Audrey Pressย are on a mission to change all of that. Their mission is to not only raise awareness for the kidโs books that celebrate diversity, but to get more of these types of books into classrooms and libraries.
Another goal of this exciting event is create a compilation of books and favorite reads that will provide not only a new reading list for the winter, but also a way to expose brilliant books to families, teachers, and libraries.
The event’s sponsors areย Wisdom Tales Press, Lee & Low Books Chronicle Books, and Susan Daniel Fayad: Author ofย My Grandfatherโs Masbaha.
Do check out the other great bloggers who are participating in the Multicultural Children’s Book Day event: ย
2GirlsLostInaBookย ยทย 365 Days of Motherhoodย ยทย A Bilingual Babyย ยทย A Simple Life, Really?ย ยทย Africa to Americaย ยทย After School Smarty Pantsย ยทย All Done Monkeyย ยทย Andiโs Kids Booksย ยทย Anita Brown Bagย ย ยทย Austin Gilkesonย ยทย Barbara Ann Mojicaย ยท ย Books My Kids Readย ยทย Bottom Shelf Booksย ยทย Cats Eat Dogsย ยทย Chasing The Donkeyย ยทย Children’s Book-a-Day Almanacย ยทย Children’s Books Healย ยทย Church o Booksย ยทย CitizenBetaย ยทย Crafty Moms Shareย ยทย Discovering The World Through My Son’s Eyesย ยทย Early Wordsย ยทย Flowering Mindsย ยทย Franticmommyย ยทย Gatheri
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