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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4.35 avg rating — 21,030 ratings
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4.38 avg rating — 6,818 ratings
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4.25 avg rating — 4,871 ratings
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4.72 avg rating — 32 ratings
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4.01 avg rating — 70,854 ratings
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7

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4.38 avg rating — 12,717 ratings
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8

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4.15 avg rating — 17,033 ratings
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9

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3.97 avg rating — 115,200 ratings
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10

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3.88 avg rating — 6,679 ratings
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11

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4.24 avg rating — 1,143 ratings
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12

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4.06 avg rating — 285,045 ratings
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13

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3.90 avg rating — 130,049 ratings
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4.10 avg rating — 1,294 ratings
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15

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4.12 avg rating — 2,333 ratings
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16

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4.11 avg rating — 1,735 ratings
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17

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4.15 avg rating — 93,073 ratings
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18

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4.04 avg rating — 26,330 ratings
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19

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3.89 avg rating — 255 ratings
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20

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4.16 avg rating — 43,405 ratings
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21

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4.12 avg rating — 7,325 ratings
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22

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4.49 avg rating — 16,692 ratings
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23

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3.79 avg rating — 17,375 ratings
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24

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4.15 avg rating — 4,921 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 — 7,638 ratings
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27

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4.55 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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3.77 avg rating — 7,304 ratings
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31

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4.01 avg rating — 2,078 ratings
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32

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4.12 avg rating — 67,023 ratings
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33

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3.75 avg rating — 4,043 ratings
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34

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4.51 avg rating — 8,575 ratings
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35

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4.20 avg rating — 4,197,418 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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4.03 avg rating — 359 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 — 211 ratings
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41

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4.15 avg rating — 1,093 ratings
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42

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3.84 avg rating — 5,242 ratings
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43

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4.21 avg rating — 6,003 ratings
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44

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4.02 avg rating — 37,648 ratings
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45

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4.06 avg rating — 2,289 ratings
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45

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4.09 avg rating — 896 ratings
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47

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4.33 avg rating — 12,865 ratings
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48

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4.26 avg rating — 3,490 ratings
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49

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3.76 avg rating — 8,839 ratings
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50

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4.13 avg rating — 2,389 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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3.80 avg rating — 38,341 ratings
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53

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3.52 avg rating — 33 ratings
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54

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4.57 avg rating — 9,895 ratings
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55

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4.11 avg rating — 1,482 ratings
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56

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4.27 avg rating — 995 ratings
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57

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4.05 avg rating — 37 ratings
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58

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4.29 avg rating — 287 ratings
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59

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4.36 avg rating — 1,929 ratings
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59

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4.45 avg rating — 4,758 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 — 309 ratings
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61

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3.77 avg rating — 4,864 ratings
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64

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4.36 avg rating — 6,005 ratings
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65

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4.10 avg rating — 58,928 ratings
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66

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4.20 avg rating — 1,119 ratings
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67

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3.94 avg rating — 5,828 ratings
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68

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4.56 avg rating — 9,132 ratings
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69

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4.37 avg rating — 2,427 ratings
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70

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3.93 avg rating — 1,798 ratings
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71

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4.43 avg rating — 12,338 ratings
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72

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4.27 avg rating — 4,085 ratings
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73

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4.96 avg rating — 46 ratings
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73

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4.73 avg rating — 91 ratings
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73

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4.51 avg rating — 51 ratings
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76

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4.05 avg rating — 2,178 ratings
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76

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4.04 avg rating — 112 ratings
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78

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3.80 avg rating — 505 ratings
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78

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4.41 avg rating — 27 ratings
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78

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4.11 avg rating — 90 ratings
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81

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4.06 avg rating — 31 ratings
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82

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3.90 avg rating — 132,969 ratings
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82

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3.78 avg rating — 108 ratings
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84

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4.31 avg rating — 3,315 ratings
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85

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4.16 avg rating — 475 ratings
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85

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4.25 avg rating — 103,657 ratings
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87

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4.35 avg rating — 57,311 ratings
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88

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3.95 avg rating — 42,598 ratings
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89

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4.25 avg rating — 13,688 ratings
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90

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4.02 avg rating — 168 ratings
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90

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4.32 avg rating — 629 ratings
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92

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4.26 avg rating — 946 ratings
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93

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3.98 avg rating — 28,192 ratings
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94

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3.97 avg rating — 2,479 ratings
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95

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4.32 avg rating — 2,145 ratings
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95

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4.14 avg rating — 1,010 ratings
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97

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3.70 avg rating — 1,327 ratings
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97

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4.39 avg rating — 1,651 ratings
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99

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4.06 avg rating — 18,588 ratings
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100

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4.47 avg rating — 6,062 ratings
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467 books · 343 voters · list created December 3rd, 2009 by Liz (votes) .
144 likes · 
Lists are re-scored approximately every 5 minutes.


Liz 1304 books
138 friends
Donna-Lee 508 books
39 friends
Susan 4367 books
50 friends
Jacqueline 1073 books
382 friends
Dolly 16265 books
66 friends
Dori Jones 215 books
31 friends
Xenophon 2183 books
29 friends
Rebecca 4160 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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