MULTICULTURALISM

AND PICTURE BOOKS

Kay E. Vandergrift

In exploring multicultural books for children, we seek both those that confirm our likenesses across cultures and those that identify the differences among individual cultures. Thus, we celebrate both universality and uniqueness. As we begin our semester's journey, we will look first at picture books that are truly multicultural. These are books that begin with a theme or a universal event and compare and contrast the treatment of that topic in different cultures. Here too we find books that picture everyday life experiences in multicultural settings.

The questions below are among those we will consider as we share our responses to picture books and to the secondary resources that inform those responses. Your responsibility throughout the course is to add to the lists of picture books and to the professional readings. This is especially important since we will be using different collections and have different books and other resources available to us.

General questions for consideration:

• How important is it for young children to have picture books that confirm their own life experiences?
• Do the books available in libraries adequately reflect the populations of their communties?
• What role does literature play in helping children understand and value other cultures?
• How do readers' own cultures shape their responses to and interpretations of specific books?
• What is the role of the adult intermediary (parent, teacher, librarians, or other caregiver) in guiding or enhancing children's responses to literature?
• Can an "outsider" create authentic literature about a culture other than his/her own?
• How important are universal, culturally non-specific stories with illustrations depicting a particular ethnic group relative to picture books that focus on specifically ethnic content?
• Do settings in traditional literature from different cultures contribute to a misunderstanding of those cultures? If so, how?
• Do literary and artistic works from other cultures sometimes appear of lesser aesthetic quality because those of the majority culture lack the knowledge and sensitivity to understand and appreciate creative forms of other cultures?

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  Please visit the Notes for the Analysis of a Picture Book before you begin reading these books.

Ajmera, Maya and Ann Rhesa Versola. Children from Australia to Zimbabwe. Foreward by Marion Wright Edelman. Watertown, MA: Shakti for Children/Charlesbridge, 1997.

Badt, Karin Luisa. Good Morning, Let's Eat. Chicago, IL: Children's Press, 1997.

Badt, Karin Luisa. Greetings. Chicago, IL: Children's Press, 1994.

Badt, Karin Luisa. Hair There and Everywhere. Chicago, IL: Children's Press, 1994.

Badt, Karin Luisa. Let's Go! Chicago, IL: Children's Press, 1997.

Badt, Karin Luisa. On Your Feet. Chicago, IL: Children's Press, 1994.

Badt, Karin Luisa. Pass the Bread. Chicago, IL: Children's Press, 1995.

Baer, Edith. This Is the Way We Go to School. Illus. by Steve Bjorkman. New York: Scholastic, 1990.

Beeler, Selby B. Throw Your Tooth on the Roof: Tooth Traditions from Around the World. Illus. by G. Brian Karas. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin, 1998.

Bernhard, Emery and Durga Bernhard. A Ride on Mother's Back: A Day of Baby Carrying Around the World. San Diego, CA: Harcourt Brace, 1996.

Boyd, Candy Dawson. Daddy, Daddy, Be There. Illus. by Floyd Cooper. New York: Putnam & Grosset, 1995.

Brooks, Jennifer. Hand and Hand Around the World. Illus. by Gwen Connelly. Sisters, OR: Multnomah Publishers, 1998.

Carling, Amelia Lau. Mama & Papa Have a Store. New York: Dial, 1998.

Corbett, Sara. Animals and Us. Chicago, IL: Chilren's Press, 1995.

Corbett, Sara. Hats Off to Hats. Chicago, IL: Chilren's Press, 1995.

Corbett, Sara. Hold Everything. Chicago, IL: Chilren's Press, 1997.

Corbett, Sara. Shake, Rattle, and Strum. Chicago, IL: Chilren's Press, 1997.

Feder, Jane. Table, Chair, Bear: A Book in Many Languages. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin, 1995.

Flanagan, Alice. Masks! Chicago, IL: Children's Press, 1997.

Gray, Nigel. A Country Far Away. Illus. by Philippe Dupasquier. New York: Orchard Books, 1989.

Guthrie, Woody. This Land Is Your Land. Illus. by Kathy Jakobsen. Boston, MA: Little Brown, 1998.

Hamanaka, Sheila. Be Bop-A-DO-Walk! New York: Simon & Schhuster, 1995.

Havill, Juanita. Jamaica and Brianna. Illus. by Anne Sibley O'Brien. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin, 1993.

Havill, Juanita. Jamaica's Blue Marker. Illus. by Anne Sibley O'Brien. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin, 1995.

Hoberman, Mary Ann, Comp. My Song Is Beautiful: Poems and Pictures in Many Voices.Boston, MA: Little Brown, 1994.

Johnson, Dolores. Seminole Diary: Remembrances of a Slave. New York: Macmillan, 1994.

Kindersley, Barnabas and Anabel Kindersley. Celebrations! New York: Dorling Kindersley, 1997.

Kindersley, Barnabas and Anabel Kindersley. Children Just Like Me. New York: Dorling Kindersley, 1995.

Lankford, Mary D. Dominoes Around the World. Illus. by Karen Dugan. New York: Morrow, 1998.

Lorenz, Albert and Joy Schler. House: Showing How People Have Lived Throughout History from the Lives of Legendary Mena nd Women. New York: Harry N. Barams, 1998.

Lundgren, Mary Beth. We Sing the City. Illus. by Donna Perrone. New York: Clarion, 1997.

Martin, Bill Jr., and John Archambault. Here Are My Hands. Illus. by Ted Rand. New York: Holt, 1987.

Morris, Ann. Light the Candle! Bang the Drum!: A Book of Holidays Around the World. Illus. by Peter Linenthal. New York: Dutton, 1997.

Morris, Ann. Shoes Shoes Shoes. New York: Mulberry/Morrow, 1998.

Morris, Ann. Tools. Photos by Ken Heyman. New York: Mulberry/Morrow, 1998.

Nascimbene, Yan. Day in September. San Diego, CA: Harcourt Brace, 1995.

Osborne, Mary Pope. One World, Many Religions: The Ways We Worship. New York: Knopf, 1996.

Rosenberg, Maxine B. Brothers and Sisters. Photos by George Ancona. New York: Clarion, 1991.

Trundle, Roma. The Usborne Book of Peoples of the World. London: Usborne, 1978.

Van Laan, Nancy. Sleep, Sleep, Sleep: A Lullaby for Little Ones Around the World. Illus. by Holly Meade. Boston, MA: Little Brown, 1995.

White, Sylvia. Welcome Home! Chicago, IL: Children's Press, 1995.

You are encouraged to add picture books or secondary sources on this topic.

To return to the Gender and Culture Syllabus

To send email to Professor Kay E. Vandergrift

Created January 4, 1999, Last Reviewed and Updated January 25, 1999