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 — 21,093 ratings
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4.39 avg rating — 6,904 ratings
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4.25 avg rating — 4,889 ratings
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4.72 avg rating — 32 ratings
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4.01 avg rating — 71,568 ratings
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4.38 avg rating — 12,766 ratings
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8

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4.15 avg rating — 17,087 ratings
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9

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3.98 avg rating — 116,240 ratings
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10

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3.88 avg rating — 6,757 ratings
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11

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4.88 avg rating — 42 ratings
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12

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4.24 avg rating — 1,145 ratings
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13

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4.15 avg rating — 94,227 ratings
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14

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4.05 avg rating — 287,351 ratings
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15

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3.90 avg rating — 131,156 ratings
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16

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4.10 avg rating — 1,307 ratings
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17

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4.12 avg rating — 2,352 ratings
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18

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4.11 avg rating — 1,758 ratings
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19

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4.04 avg rating — 26,362 ratings
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20

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3.88 avg rating — 253 ratings
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21

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4.16 avg rating — 43,525 ratings
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22

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4.12 avg rating — 7,362 ratings
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23

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4.49 avg rating — 16,782 ratings
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24

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3.80 avg rating — 17,674 ratings
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25

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4.15 avg rating — 4,942 ratings
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26

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4.52 avg rating — 52 ratings
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27

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4.24 avg rating — 7,734 ratings
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28

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4.55 avg rating — 73 ratings
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29

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4.12 avg rating — 25 ratings
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30

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4.17 avg rating — 1,872 ratings
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31

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3.78 avg rating — 7,320 ratings
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32

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4.01 avg rating — 2,086 ratings
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33

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4.12 avg rating — 68,112 ratings
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34

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3.75 avg rating — 4,068 ratings
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35

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4.51 avg rating — 8,586 ratings
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36

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4.20 avg rating — 4,269,931 ratings
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37

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4.38 avg rating — 52 ratings
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37

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4.05 avg rating — 369 ratings
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39

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 120 ratings
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40

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4.15 avg rating — 46 ratings
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41

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3.98 avg rating — 211 ratings
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42

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4.16 avg rating — 1,106 ratings
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43

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3.84 avg rating — 5,274 ratings
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44

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4.21 avg rating — 6,025 ratings
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45

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4.02 avg rating — 37,968 ratings
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46

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4.06 avg rating — 2,331 ratings
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46

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4.09 avg rating — 902 ratings
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48

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4.33 avg rating — 12,888 ratings
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49

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4.26 avg rating — 3,502 ratings
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50

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3.76 avg rating — 8,930 ratings
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51

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4.13 avg rating — 2,539 ratings
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52

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4.41 avg rating — 29 ratings
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53

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3.80 avg rating — 38,719 ratings
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54

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3.52 avg rating — 33 ratings
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55

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4.57 avg rating — 10,069 ratings
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56

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4.11 avg rating — 1,493 ratings
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57

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4.27 avg rating — 1,005 ratings
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58

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4.05 avg rating — 37 ratings
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59

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4.30 avg rating — 291 ratings
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60

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4.36 avg rating — 1,939 ratings
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60

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4.45 avg rating — 4,801 ratings
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62

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4.09 avg rating — 274 ratings
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62

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3.98 avg rating — 309 ratings
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62

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3.78 avg rating — 4,885 ratings
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65

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4.36 avg rating — 6,014 ratings
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66

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4.10 avg rating — 59,546 ratings
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67

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4.20 avg rating — 1,125 ratings
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68

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3.94 avg rating — 5,874 ratings
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69

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4.56 avg rating — 9,274 ratings
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70

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4.38 avg rating — 2,464 ratings
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71

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3.93 avg rating — 1,802 ratings
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72

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4.42 avg rating — 12,483 ratings
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73

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4.27 avg rating — 4,113 ratings
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74

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4.96 avg rating — 47 ratings
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74

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4.73 avg rating — 93 ratings
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74

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4.52 avg rating — 52 ratings
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77

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4.05 avg rating — 2,192 ratings
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77

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4.04 avg rating — 115 ratings
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79

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3.81 avg rating — 507 ratings
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79

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4.43 avg rating — 28 ratings
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79

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4.10 avg rating — 92 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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3.89 avg rating — 134,548 ratings
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83

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3.80 avg rating — 108 ratings
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85

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4.30 avg rating — 3,334 ratings
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86

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4.16 avg rating — 476 ratings
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86

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4.25 avg rating — 106,647 ratings
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88

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4.34 avg rating — 57,872 ratings
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89

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3.95 avg rating — 43,160 ratings
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90

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4.24 avg rating — 13,891 ratings
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91

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4.03 avg rating — 171 ratings
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91

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4.32 avg rating — 630 ratings
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93

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4.26 avg rating — 955 ratings
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94

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3.98 avg rating — 28,398 ratings
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95

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3.97 avg rating — 2,549 ratings
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96

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4.33 avg rating — 2,155 ratings
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96

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4.14 avg rating — 1,015 ratings
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98

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3.71 avg rating — 1,331 ratings
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98

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4.39 avg rating — 1,653 ratings
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100

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4.06 avg rating — 18,676 ratings
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470 books · 358 voters · list created December 3rd, 2009 by Liz (votes) .
144 likes · 
Lists are re-scored approximately every 5 minutes.


Liz 1299 books
138 friends
Donna-Lee 508 books
39 friends
Susan 4390 books
50 friends
Jacqueline 1091 books
382 friends
Dolly 16383 books
66 friends
Dori Jones 214 books
31 friends
Xenophon 2184 books
30 friends
Rebecca 4270 books
70 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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