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 — 21,051 ratings
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4.38 avg rating — 6,851 ratings
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4.25 avg rating — 4,876 ratings
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4.72 avg rating — 32 ratings
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4.01 avg rating — 71,040 ratings
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7

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4.38 avg rating — 12,726 ratings
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8

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4.15 avg rating — 17,038 ratings
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9

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3.97 avg rating — 115,455 ratings
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10

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3.88 avg rating — 6,699 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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4.15 avg rating — 93,420 ratings
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13

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4.05 avg rating — 285,600 ratings
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14

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3.90 avg rating — 130,350 ratings
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15

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4.10 avg rating — 1,296 ratings
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16

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4.12 avg rating — 2,339 ratings
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17

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4.11 avg rating — 1,746 ratings
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18

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4.04 avg rating — 26,328 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 — 43,422 ratings
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21

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4.12 avg rating — 7,334 ratings
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22

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4.49 avg rating — 16,722 ratings
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23

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3.80 avg rating — 17,435 ratings
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24

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4.15 avg rating — 4,929 ratings
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25

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4.52 avg rating — 52 ratings
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26

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4.23 avg rating — 7,668 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 — 1,870 ratings
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30

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3.77 avg rating — 7,300 ratings
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31

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4.01 avg rating — 2,081 ratings
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32

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4.12 avg rating — 67,276 ratings
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33

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3.75 avg rating — 4,051 ratings
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34

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4.51 avg rating — 8,579 ratings
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35

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4.20 avg rating — 4,215,357 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 — 361 ratings
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38

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4.01 avg rating — 118 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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3.98 avg rating — 212 ratings
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41

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4.16 avg rating — 1,099 ratings
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42

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3.84 avg rating — 5,251 ratings
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43

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4.21 avg rating — 6,012 ratings
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44

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4.02 avg rating — 37,714 ratings
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45

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4.06 avg rating — 2,304 ratings
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45

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4.09 avg rating — 898 ratings
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47

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4.33 avg rating — 12,879 ratings
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48

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4.26 avg rating — 3,500 ratings
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49

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3.76 avg rating — 8,858 ratings
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50

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4.12 avg rating — 2,517 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 — 38,430 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 — 9,951 ratings
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55

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4.11 avg rating — 1,487 ratings
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56

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4.27 avg rating — 1,000 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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4.30 avg rating — 290 ratings
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59

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4.36 avg rating — 1,932 ratings
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59

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4.45 avg rating — 4,770 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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3.78 avg rating — 4,870 ratings
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64

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4.36 avg rating — 6,013 ratings
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65

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4.10 avg rating — 59,087 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 — 5,837 ratings
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68

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4.56 avg rating — 9,166 ratings
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69

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4.37 avg rating — 2,445 ratings
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70

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3.93 avg rating — 1,799 ratings
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71

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4.43 avg rating — 12,367 ratings
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72

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4.27 avg rating — 4,090 ratings
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73

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4.96 avg rating — 47 ratings
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73

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4.73 avg rating — 92 ratings
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73

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4.52 avg rating — 52 ratings
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76

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4.05 avg rating — 2,183 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 — 506 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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4.10 avg rating — 92 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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3.89 avg rating — 133,364 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 — 3,324 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 — 104,376 ratings
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87

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4.35 avg rating — 57,485 ratings
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88

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3.95 avg rating — 42,711 ratings
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89

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4.25 avg rating — 13,730 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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4.27 avg rating — 946 ratings
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93

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3.98 avg rating — 28,242 ratings
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94

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3.97 avg rating — 2,500 ratings
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95

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4.32 avg rating — 2,147 ratings
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95

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4.14 avg rating — 1,011 ratings
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97

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3.70 avg rating — 1,329 ratings
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97

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4.39 avg rating — 1,653 ratings
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99

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4.06 avg rating — 18,610 ratings
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100

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4.47 avg rating — 6,115 ratings
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468 books · 345 voters · list created December 3rd, 2009 by Liz (votes) .
144 likes · 
Lists are re-scored approximately every 5 minutes.


Liz 1305 books
138 friends
Donna-Lee 508 books
39 friends
Susan 4362 books
50 friends
Jacqueline 1078 books
382 friends
Dolly 16278 books
66 friends
Dori Jones 216 books
31 friends
Xenophon 2183 books
29 friends
Rebecca 4181 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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