,

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.
1

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4.38 avg rating — 12,672 ratings
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3.88 avg rating — 6,649 ratings
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4.24 avg rating — 1,142 ratings
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12

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4.06 avg rating — 283,764 ratings
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13

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3.90 avg rating — 129,668 ratings
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4.11 avg rating — 1,732 ratings
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17

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4.15 avg rating — 92,604 ratings
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18

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4.04 avg rating — 26,324 ratings
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19

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3.89 avg rating — 254 ratings
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20

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4.16 avg rating — 43,337 ratings
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21

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4.12 avg rating — 7,316 ratings
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22

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4.49 avg rating — 16,635 ratings
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23

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3.79 avg rating — 17,229 ratings
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24

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4.15 avg rating — 4,900 ratings
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25

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4.51 avg rating — 51 ratings
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26

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4.23 avg rating — 7,604 ratings
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27

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4.53 avg rating — 73 ratings
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28

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4.12 avg rating — 25 ratings
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29

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4.17 avg rating — 1,866 ratings
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30

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3.78 avg rating — 7,298 ratings
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31

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4.01 avg rating — 2,073 ratings
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32

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4.12 avg rating — 66,424 ratings
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33

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3.75 avg rating — 4,039 ratings
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34

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4.51 avg rating — 8,571 ratings
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35

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4.20 avg rating — 4,143,195 ratings
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36

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4.38 avg rating — 52 ratings
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36

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4.02 avg rating — 358 ratings
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38

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 117 ratings
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39

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4.15 avg rating — 46 ratings
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40

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3.97 avg rating — 202 ratings
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41

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4.16 avg rating — 1,092 ratings
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42

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3.84 avg rating — 5,233 ratings
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43

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4.21 avg rating — 5,992 ratings
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44

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4.02 avg rating — 37,529 ratings
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45

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4.06 avg rating — 2,280 ratings
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45

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4.09 avg rating — 885 ratings
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47

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4.33 avg rating — 12,849 ratings
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48

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4.26 avg rating — 3,493 ratings
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49

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3.76 avg rating — 8,810 ratings
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50

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4.13 avg rating — 2,386 ratings
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51

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4.41 avg rating — 29 ratings
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52

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3.79 avg rating — 38,136 ratings
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53

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3.47 avg rating — 32 ratings
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54

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4.57 avg rating — 9,808 ratings
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55

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4.11 avg rating — 1,474 ratings
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56

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4.27 avg rating — 992 ratings
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57

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4.06 avg rating — 36 ratings
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58

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4.29 avg rating — 288 ratings
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59

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4.36 avg rating — 1,927 ratings
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59

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4.45 avg rating — 4,727 ratings
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61

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4.08 avg rating — 276 ratings
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61

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3.98 avg rating — 308 ratings
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61

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3.78 avg rating — 4,841 ratings
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64

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4.36 avg rating — 6,006 ratings
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65

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4.10 avg rating — 58,635 ratings
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66

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4.20 avg rating — 1,112 ratings
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67

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3.94 avg rating — 5,804 ratings
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68

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4.56 avg rating — 9,051 ratings
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69

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4.37 avg rating — 2,420 ratings
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70

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3.93 avg rating — 1,789 ratings
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71

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4.43 avg rating — 12,276 ratings
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72

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4.52 avg rating — 2,322 ratings
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73

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4.27 avg rating — 4,078 ratings
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74

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4.96 avg rating — 46 ratings
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74

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4.72 avg rating — 90 ratings
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74

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4.51 avg rating — 51 ratings
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77

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4.05 avg rating — 2,160 ratings
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77

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4.03 avg rating — 111 ratings
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79

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3.80 avg rating — 502 ratings
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79

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4.41 avg rating — 27 ratings
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79

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4.11 avg rating — 90 ratings
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82

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4.06 avg rating — 31 ratings
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83

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3.90 avg rating — 132,093 ratings
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83

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3.77 avg rating — 107 ratings
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85

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4.31 avg rating — 3,296 ratings
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86

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4.16 avg rating — 474 ratings
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86

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4.25 avg rating — 101,984 ratings
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88

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4.35 avg rating — 57,069 ratings
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89

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3.95 avg rating — 42,388 ratings
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89

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4.72 avg rating — 71 ratings
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91

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4.25 avg rating — 13,574 ratings
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92

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4.02 avg rating — 166 ratings
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92

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4.32 avg rating — 627 ratings
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94

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4.26 avg rating — 939 ratings
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95

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3.97 avg rating — 28,055 ratings
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96

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3.97 avg rating — 2,453 ratings
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97

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4.32 avg rating — 2,142 ratings
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97

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4.14 avg rating — 1,005 ratings
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99

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3.71 avg rating — 1,319 ratings
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99

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4.39 avg rating — 1,650 ratings
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467 books · 344 voters · list created December 3rd, 2009 by Liz (votes) .
144 likes · 
Lists are re-scored approximately every 5 minutes.


Liz 1334 books
138 friends
Donna-Lee 508 books
39 friends
Susan 4335 books
50 friends
Jacqueline 1063 books
384 friends
Dolly 16222 books
66 friends
Dori Jones 216 books
31 friends
Xenophon 2168 books
29 friends
Rebecca 4035 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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