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Surface-level Diversity

by Debbi Michiko Florence, Middle grade: The Only Black Girls in Town by Brandy Colbert, Jasmine Toguchi, Mochi Queen A Dash of Trouble by Anna Meriano

Ignoring Intersectionality

Three decades ago, legal scholar and civil rights activist Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw coined the term " intersectionality " as a way of examining how courts failed to account for the overlapping forms of discrimination faced by Black women. Today, the term is used more broadly to refer to the way race, class, gender, sexuality and other characteristics overlap and shape individuals' experiences. "We like to think about people being one thing or the other when you can be Asian and queer and an immigrant," said Martin, the University of Washington professor. While a decade ago it may have been hard to find books by and about people whose identities sit at those types of intersections, that's increasingly less true, Martin said. "You can find those books if you are looking."

Sidekick Syndrome

: Picture books Maybe Something Beautiful by F. Isabel Campoy and Theresa Howell, illustrated by Rafael López, The Patchwork Bike by Maxine Beneba Clarke and illustrated by Van T. Rudd, Niño Wrestles the World by Yuyi Morales

Middle grade: Sal and Gabi Break the Universe by Carlos Hernandez, Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky by Kwame Mbalia, Dactyl Hill Squad by Daniel José Older

Treating Groups as Monoliths

by Jewell Parker Rhodes, Young adult: Black Brother, Black Brother The Henna Wars by Adiba Jaigirdar, Black Enough: Stories of Being Young & Black in America edited by Ibi Zoboi

Excluding #OwnVoices

by Traci Sorell and illustrated by Frané Lessac, Picture books: by Matthew A. Cherry and illustrated by Vashti Harrison, We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga Saturday by Oge Mora

Stopping at the Text

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Diversifying Your Classroom Book Collections? Avoid these 7 Pitfalls | KQED

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Keeping your book selection relevant means making sure it includes meaningful experiences of different kinds of people, especially from marginalized communities. Here are some strategies and book titles that can help students grow from what they read.

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https://www.cnn.com/style/amp/afro-latinx-childrens-books-hyphenated/index.html?__twitter_impression=true

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Multicultural and international books serve three main functions:

They help create an awareness, understanding, and appreciation for the differences of others.

They help children of color to view their culture in a positive light.

They provide a vehicle for students to travel to different cultures and witness the rich story-telling traditions these countries have to offer.

Multicultural Literature

Multicultural literature includes books that portray people of color: African Americans, Native Americans, Asian Americans, and Latinos. They also, however, include books that help to portray religious groups other than Christians like Jews, Catholics, Muslims, Mormons and Amish. Lastly, they include books that portray the intellectually and physically challenged.

Spinelli, J. (1990). Maniac Magee. New York: Scholastic Inc.

Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli is a novel about Jeffrey Lionel Magee who was orphaned at three years old when the trolley his parents were in fell into the Schuylkill River. He lived with his Aunt Dot and Uncle Dan for eight years until he could no longer bear to live in their unhappy home where no one talked. So he ran away. After a year of wandering, he ends up in Two Mills which is across the river where is parents died.

Hector Street divided the East End and West End of the town of Two Mills. The East End is where the blacks lived and the West End is where the whites lived. Jeffery encounters kind families on both side of Hector Street that take him in and feed him, but he ends up living with the Beale's, a black family. When his presence causes problems for the Beale's, Jeffery leaves and finds a place to sleep in the buffalo pen at the nearby zoo. He is hungry and exhausted when Grayson, the grounds keeper, finds him collapsed on the ground. The old man cleans and feeds him, and they become good friends. It is the only time Jeffrey does not have to deal with the hatefulness of people. His happiness is short lived though. Grayson does not awake one morning. No one comes to his funeral except Jeffery. Jeffrey is then forced to face the hateful people in Two Mills once again.

Hill, L.C. (2010). Dave the Potter, Artist, Poet, Slave. (Kindle DX Version)

Dave the Potter, Artist, Poet, Slave is a picture book written in verse about an African American slave who lived in the 1800's in South Carolina. Dave created pottery and then wrote a short poem on them. This seems unimpressive at first, but Dave did this during a period in our country's history when it was illegal for slaves to learn to read or write. The punishment 50 lashes. Many of the poems Dave wrote on his pottery were humorous: "I, made this Jar all of cross / If, you don't repent, you will be, lost."

Code Talker by Joseph Bruchac is a novel about the Navajo's part in helping the United States win World War Two.

Thirteen Moons on Turtle's Back by Joseph Bruchac and Jonathan London is a picture book with a collection of poems. The poems explain the Native American lunar calendar that includes 13 moons.

A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park is based on the true story of the Sudanese lost boys.

by Linda Sue Park is a historical novel about a small seaside village in the west coast of Korea where celadon pottery has been made since 918 A.D. The novel is also about accepting life's adversities and becoming triumphant in spite of them. Crane-man, a homeless, village cripple takes charge of an unwanted, abandoned orphan, Tree-ear. They take care of each other by scrounging for food during the day, and sleeping under a bridge at night. Crane-man has been the only father thirteen-year old Tree-ear has known. Ironically, it is the vagrant who teaches Tree-ear about living honorably. They live in a small, seaside village, Ch'ulp'o, known for its grayish-green pottery called celadon. When Tree-ear stumbles onto a job helping a gifted, aging, celadon potter named Min, life for the two vagrants becomes purposeful and less concerned with basic survival. It is at this point in the novel that the reader learns of the rich history behind the Korean celadon pottery.

Tree-ear must accomplish blistering tasks to gain Min's trust and respect. Min is stingy with his compliments, but he allows the boy to learn some of crafts of the trade. Tree-ear learns where and how to get the clay for the pottery, he learns how to draining the clay, he learns how to glaze and how to load the pottery into the kiln. After months of working with Min, Tree-ear asks Min if he can learn to form the clay on the wheel. Min replies that he will never teach him the trade because that is passed from father to son. Despite this crushing disappointment, the boy remains loyal to Min and risks his life to get Min a royal commission .

Grace Lin

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin received a 2010 Newbery Honor. Lin skillfully weaves forty-eight chapters of short Chinese tales into a cohesive story that is captivating and enriching. Her illustrations are also vibrant and intricate, transporting the reader to a China long ago. The Chinese culture, wit, and values resound in each tale.

Minli's motivations and journey in the novel are relevant to all children today. Her character, determination and fearlessness will inspire readers to look for and embrace the small blessings in their lives.

Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan is a novel about a wealthy Mexican landowner's only daughter, Esperanza Ortega. The story starts out weeks before her thirteenth birthday. Esperanza's lives a pampered, sheltered life. She goes to a private all girls' school, she has a servant that still helps her bath, and she has never had to work a single day of her young life. Things change suddenly when the day before her birthday her father is robbed and killed by bandits. Esperanza, her mother, and grandmother wait up all night for her father's return, but instead her greedy Tio Luis hovers as they wait for news. When Alfonso, their trusted field-worker and father's close friend, returns with his son Miguel and her father's lifeless body, Esperanza's perfect world is shattered. Tio Luis owns the land, but Romona, Esperanza's mother, has inherited the large house on the land. He offers Romona a proposal of marriage, but she refuses. Their home with all their belongings is torched in the darkness of early morning.

Esperanza, Romona, Alfonso, his wife Hortensia, and son Miguel, escape to Los Angeles, California to find work on the large vegetable and fruit farms. Esperanza must adjust from having everything done for her, to cleaning dirty diapers, cleaning and packing produce for market, bathing only once a week, and sharing. When her mother becomes gravely ill and must be hospitalized for five months, Esperanza realizes that the most valuable possessions are loved ones during the valleys in life

The Dreamer by Pam Munoz Ryan is a novel based on the childhood of the Chilean Nobel Laureate Pablo Neruda, the pseudonym of Naftali Ricardo Reyes Basoalto. Neruda won the Nobel prize for Literature in 1971. Ryan's character is named Naftali Reyes.

When selecting multicultural literature, teachers must first look at the normal standards for judging literature: believable story line, interesting plot, and important theme. The literature must also avoid racial or cultural stereotypes. The cultural details included need to be accurate relation to: idioms, food, customs, clothing, and religious beliefs. Judging Multicultural Literature

Multicultural literature must also be sensitive to subcultures: dress codes for certain groups, or lifestyles for different tribes.

Cultural authenticity must also be considered. Do people within a culture feel that the literature has correctly portrayed their beliefs and cultural idiosyncrasies.

Multicultural and International books help to educate children about the many rich cultures around the world, they help children to appreciate the differences in each culture, but also, they help children to recognize our many similarities that, hopefully, dispels the fears that generate prejudices, hatred, and eventual clashes that lead to us to battles.

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Multicultural and international books serve three main functions: They help create an awareness, understanding, and appreciation for the differences of others. They help children of color to view their culture in a positive light. They provide a vehicle for students to travel to different cultures and witness the rich story-telling traditions these countries have to offer.

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TeachingBooks | Author & Book Resources to Support Reading Education

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TeachingBooks strives to enrich everyone's experience reading children's and young adult books with our original and curated literary resources.

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"I want to step away from that for a moment to be able to show that ... their worlds can be vibrant and full of color." This looks like a great book for older students ( no pictures), but rich in cultural language.

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Multicultural books help children see their culture in a positive view point, religion, or physical or intellectual disability. They also help children appreciate their differences.

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There are authors working to increase the number of Afro Latinx books. Books where people of Afro Latinx are experiencing new fun things as oppose to just cultural situations. The authors are normalizing their culture and experiences..

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More than half of U.S. public school students are children of color. “If you only ever read books by people who look like you and who live like you, that’s intellectual poverty because you don’t ever see into the life of someone else from their perspective,”

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Multi-Cultural books help students appreciate their own difference and to not fear being different.

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Make sure we as teachers have diverse books in our classroom but we have to be carful with what the book represents. Such as avoiding books where its only about suffrage, making sure they are the main character and not a sidekick and avoid books where they just replaced a character with a person of color.

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Rather than showing African Americans as people who overcame identity and race issues, some authors are show casing ethnicities and cultures in children's books with vibrant color and vivid imagery. Showing people all of races in everyday situation and learning all kinds of lessor or morals is important for children to see and make the connection that all children are equal in all situations of life.

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This article talks about the different cultures that exist in the US. It also emphasizes helping children view their culture in positive ways, it also provides awareness and understanding about the diverse cultures.  

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This article talks about the different cultures that exist in the US. It also emphasizes helping children view their culture in positive ways, it also provides awareness and understanding about the diverse cultures.  

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"I think it's really important for young readers to feel seen more than anything else"

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In this article the author talks about how in children's media, stories featuring protagonists of color are often about overcoming struggle, or are "hyper focused" on identity and race. She said that she wanted to get away from this so that she can show that these children's worlds can be vibrant and full of color.

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Website dedicated to resources geared to the diverse books, activities, authors, and reviews.

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This website is a great resource to teachers that desire to have culturally diverse classrooms

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Diversifying bookshelves does not mean just checking off one book for each census category.

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These authors want to give the same opportunities to children of color, to be the heroes and have adventures like books that don't portray characters that look like them.

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It is important to create new characters with textual accurate backgrounds and stories to fit the given cultures and diversities. It isn't as easy as slapping an "African" name and changing the color of a main character.

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Loved that if the child grows up with examples, they can start to believe that you can be a part of this creative world. See themselves as they read and see themselves in the art they look at.

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"When you grow up with examples of diverse heroes, it affects your imagination. You start to believe that you can be part of this creative world, and I think that's very important."

Charles Esperanza stated "When I was first trying to get into the business. I heard some really wild things about why publishers wouldn't have a Black child as the protagonist. I remember one editor told me that for picture books, they would rather have an animal like a panda or something as a main character, because every kid could relate to that."

There aren't many books that represent the Afro-Latinix population and the article goes into depth about how the four featured authors are trying to change it.

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This website is a great resource for both students and teachers to find authors, different genres, and culturally diverse books. It can also help with homework and planning.

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"those books should not be the only place children of color appear on bookshelves."

“If you only ever read books by people who look like you and who live like you, that’s intellectual poverty because you don’t ever see into the life of someone else from their perspective,” she said."

Both really good quotes from the article that make very important points!

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This webpage had a lot of really great links and resources for educators. There was a lot of great information on this webpage. There were several links that we found were interesting and beneficial to us as future educators.

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Multicultural and international books serve three main functions:

They help create an awareness, understanding, and appreciation for the differences of others.

They help children of color to view their culture in a positive light.

They provide a vehicle for students to travel to different cultures and witness the rich  story-telling traditions these countries have to offer.

Multicultural literature includes books that portray people of color: African Americans, Native Americans, Asian Americans, and Latinos.  They also, however, include books that help to portray religious groups other than Christians like Jews, Catholics, Muslims, Mormons and Amish.  Lastly, they include books that portray the intellectually and physically challenged.

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This article addresses the need to have books based on Black characters living joyfully, not only showing suffering. Humanizing black children, women and men to give them a voice. We should intersperse books to have diversity in every sense.

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"They provide a vehicle for students to travel to different cultures and witness the rich  story-telling traditions these countries have to offer."

This one stood out to our group!

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There are some major pitfalls to avoid when trying to diversify your classroom library. It is important to assess literature on multiple levels, such as how diversity is represented, if the diverse characters in the story are relatable in reality, does the story just "add a dark-skinned cover" simply in attempts to appear diverse without including the personality traits in the character? Including diversity needs to be done in a way that is meaningful and relatable to students. "Building a classroom library that offers windows, mirrors, and sliding glass doors to all children is more than a numbers game. It requires thoughtful curation of who is represented and how.".

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GROUP #1This article went back to the fact that it is important to show diversity by means of history a facts. You can't just slap a brown face on a person to make it diverse. Also books with diversity should include adventure and fun just like any other book instead of pointing out the diversity only. It is important that you make a main character not just sidekicks.  

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GROUP #1This article went back to the fact that it is important to show diversity by means of history a facts. You can't just slap a brown face on a person to make it diverse. Also books with diversity should include adventure and fun just like any other book instead of pointing out the diversity only. It is important that you make a main character not just sidekicks.  

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This website is a great place for teachers who want to add more diversity into their curriculum and classroom but don't know where to begin and where to find the resources!

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Multicultural and international books help children appreciate the differences and also see the similarities too. It helps children of color view their culture in a positive light. Cultural authenticity is important in these books. It also talks about the different religions and disabilities as well.

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Good resource to bring different books into your classroom about diversity. There are resources on teaching the books as well as assignments to bring the book more into depth for the students. Website is in 104 languages.

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It is hard to get authors of diverse circumstances to become authors for fear of being judged or not getting it "right." This article made us realize or rethink that diversity isn't just color but is religion, sex, culture, etc..

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Multicultural Books help create awareness for everyone, helps everyone see books written about characters like themselves, and help those who are less cultured be able to learn more. This hopefully helps students view everyone through different lenses and be more aware.