Multicultural Children's Literature: Through the Eyes of Many Children

by Donna E. Norton

A must-have resource for all teachers and adults interested in evaluating, selecting, and sharing multicultural literature written for children and young adults, this widely-popular guide is thoroughly updated to include the most outstanding examples of children’s and adolescent literature available. In Donna E. Norton’s Multicultural Children’s Literature , readers gain a deeper appreciation and understanding of the rich cultural heritage embedded in authentic multicultural literature and see how to share that appreciation and heritage with children and young adults. A chapter each is devoted to the following children’s and adolescent literature in the following cultures: African American, Native American, Latino, Asian, Jewish, and Middle Eastern.

Genres: Nonfiction

368 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

Reviews

[Michelle Boyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Note: This is an "introductory" piece, so even though it aims to navigate and give examples about different types of children's literature, it does fall into a lot of generalizations. That doesn't mean that what is between the covers is not useful or helpful for those interested in working with children's lit, esp. multicultural literature. Just avoid falling into the "tokenism" trap that exists if you're an educator.

Despite having some areas where things may be over-simplified or generalized, this does give a good overview for American Indian, African American, Jewish, etc., children's literature. There are some very good examples throughout that discuss common themes, threads, and plot devices within each section. I picked this up to specifically look at American Indian children's literature, and I found that most of the information was relevant.

It does include some "interactive" guides on how to engage students. In some cases these pieces could be very helpful in a classroom setting. But there are a few of their examples that, honestly, have some problems. One of them includes having students "determine if the author is American Indian" and here's a huge problem with that: students may not know how to decide this--are we talking based on tribal enrollment, blood quantum, author's claim, etc. Students should not be but in the position, ever, to determine identity for a marginalized group. I bet the author just meant try to decide if the author is *full of crap* or actually in some way authentic--still, using terms like "authentic" is problematic--but no matter what the phrasing is misguided.

All in all, a good overview.

[radioHUGO · Rating 5 out of 5]

read for my course! nicely made

[Lindsay · Rating 5 out of 5]

multicultural


I liked this book pretty well, but I thought after the first chapter it got a little repetitive. But I do always like when the pictures are actual photos, because I feel that it helps kids relate, and I also liked how this wasn't a stereotypical book, sometimes I feel like they say things about certain races that are so typical and I don't like that, but this book didn't do that.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I learned so much from this book.

[Mills College Library]

810.99282 N883 2012