,

This is a list of multicultural books for children - picture books through elementary chapter books. A good multicultural book should:
- present the character's culture accurately and sensitively;
- feature marginalized protagonists or protagonists of color;
- empower children of different ethnic backgrounds;
- have strong literary merit.

Books that do not meet these criteria are subject to removal from this list, as there are many books out there that feature characters of ethnicity, but are not respectful toward their culture.
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4.06 avg rating — 282,838 ratings
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17

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4.11 avg rating — 1,725 ratings
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18

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4.15 avg rating — 92,333 ratings
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19

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3.79 avg rating — 17,114 ratings
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4.15 avg rating — 4,886 ratings
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21

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4.04 avg rating — 26,326 ratings
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22

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23

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24

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24

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4.23 avg rating — 7,575 ratings
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26

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4.53 avg rating — 73 ratings
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27

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4.12 avg rating — 25 ratings
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28

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4.16 avg rating — 43,307 ratings
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29

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4.17 avg rating — 1,864 ratings
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30

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3.77 avg rating — 7,291 ratings
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31

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4.45 avg rating — 143 ratings
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32

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4.12 avg rating — 66,116 ratings
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33

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4.37 avg rating — 51 ratings
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33

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4.02 avg rating — 356 ratings
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35

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36

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4.15 avg rating — 46 ratings
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37

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3.97 avg rating — 201 ratings
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38

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4.16 avg rating — 1,089 ratings
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39

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3.84 avg rating — 5,213 ratings
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40

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4.01 avg rating — 2,066 ratings
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41

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4.02 avg rating — 37,438 ratings
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42

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3.75 avg rating — 4,031 ratings
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43

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4.51 avg rating — 8,561 ratings
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44

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4.06 avg rating — 2,268 ratings
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45

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4.26 avg rating — 3,483 ratings
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46

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4.20 avg rating — 4,118,487 ratings
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47

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4.41 avg rating — 29 ratings
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48

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3.79 avg rating — 38,038 ratings
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49

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3.47 avg rating — 32 ratings
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50

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4.11 avg rating — 1,472 ratings
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51

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4.27 avg rating — 991 ratings
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52

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4.21 avg rating — 5,977 ratings
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53

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4.10 avg rating — 884 ratings
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54

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4.33 avg rating — 12,855 ratings
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55

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4.06 avg rating — 36 ratings
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56

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4.09 avg rating — 277 ratings
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56

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3.98 avg rating — 308 ratings
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58

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3.76 avg rating — 8,791 ratings
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59

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4.10 avg rating — 58,453 ratings
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59

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4.13 avg rating — 2,382 ratings
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61

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3.94 avg rating — 5,783 ratings
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62

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4.37 avg rating — 2,404 ratings
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63

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4.96 avg rating — 46 ratings
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63

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4.74 avg rating — 89 ratings
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63

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4.51 avg rating — 51 ratings
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66

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4.05 avg rating — 2,157 ratings
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66

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4.03 avg rating — 111 ratings
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68

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3.80 avg rating — 502 ratings
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68

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4.41 avg rating — 27 ratings
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68

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4.11 avg rating — 90 ratings
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71

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4.06 avg rating — 31 ratings
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72

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3.90 avg rating — 131,555 ratings
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72

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3.77 avg rating — 107 ratings
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74

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4.31 avg rating — 3,287 ratings
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75

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4.16 avg rating — 473 ratings
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75

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4.25 avg rating — 100,997 ratings
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77

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4.46 avg rating — 4,700 ratings
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77

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3.95 avg rating — 42,267 ratings
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77

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4.72 avg rating — 71 ratings
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80

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4.28 avg rating — 286 ratings
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80

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4.25 avg rating — 13,498 ratings
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82

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4.36 avg rating — 1,921 ratings
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83

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4.02 avg rating — 166 ratings
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83

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4.32 avg rating — 627 ratings
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85

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3.77 avg rating — 4,828 ratings
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86

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3.97 avg rating — 27,983 ratings
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87

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3.97 avg rating — 2,434 ratings
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88

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4.20 avg rating — 1,110 ratings
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89

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4.14 avg rating — 1,005 ratings
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90

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4.06 avg rating — 18,505 ratings
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91

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4.36 avg rating — 6,005 ratings
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91

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4.47 avg rating — 6,003 ratings
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93

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4.14 avg rating — 1,645 ratings
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94

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4.08 avg rating — 41,164 ratings
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95

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4.15 avg rating — 177 ratings
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96

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4.04 avg rating — 12,620 ratings
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97

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4.27 avg rating — 4,078 ratings
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98

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3.68 avg rating — 412 ratings
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99

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3.93 avg rating — 346 ratings
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100

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3.88 avg rating — 1,643 ratings
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465 books · 347 voters · list created December 3rd, 2009 by Liz (votes) .
143 likes · 
Lists are re-scored approximately every 5 minutes.


Liz 1323 books
138 friends
Donna-Lee 508 books
39 friends
Susan 4296 books
50 friends
Jacqueline 1054 books
384 friends
Dolly 16127 books
66 friends
Dori Jones 221 books
31 friends
Xenophon 2168 books
29 friends
Rebecca 3971 books
71 friends

More voters…


Comments Showing 1-5 of 5 (5 new)

dateUp arrow    newest »

message 1: by Donna (last edited Feb 08, 2013 05:41PM) (new)

Donna Davis To what age are you headed here? Do you want primary/picture books only, or are books for young adults also considered? Also, I don't know who added the Amityville Horror, but it should be removed.


message 2: by Thaddeus (new)

Thaddeus Are you kidding me? FIVE CHINESE BROTHERS on a "multicultural" list of children's books?

This list is "multicultural" in the way that White Castle hamburgers are "beef": Barely, and not in a way that anyone should be exceedingly proud of.


message 3: by Denise (new)

Denise Tad, you forgot to talk about the ballad to sensitivity that is Tikki Tikki Tembo.


message 4: by Kate (new)

Kate A lot of these books don't really meet what I'd hope a quality list of multicultural books would be. I'm going to be adding a description and removing books that are straight-up racist as opposed to good books featuring characters of color. Bear with me while I work on this!


message 5: by Ellena (last edited Jan 28, 2015 12:46PM) (new)

Ellena Thaddeus wrote: "Are you kidding me? FIVE CHINESE BROTHERS on a "multicultural" list of children's books?

This list is "multicultural" in the way that White Castle hamburgers are "beef": Barely, and not in a way t..."


Yes thank you for that response. As a child my teacher read the Five Chinese Brothers to our class and I enjoyed it. I was innocent and didn't realize how wrong this book was. Fast forward years later as an adult I thought I would pick up a book I enjoyed as a child and was disgusted at how racist it was. It reminds me of Mickey Rooney's foul portrayal of an Chinese man in Breakfast at Tiffany's. I wonder if my teacher didn't realize how insensitive this book was for Asian children. I want to become a teacher one day and I will introduce my students to books on diversity. This book will NOT be on my list.


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