SCIENTIA

2006

The Journal of the Honors Program

About the Author

Mary Jo G. Biazzo is receiving a Bachelor of Science Degree in Elementary Education with minors in Science and Nutrition/Dietetics. She is a member of Delta Epsilon Sigma, the National Honor Society for Catholic Colleges and Universities; Kappa Delta Pi, the International Honor Society in Education; and Kappa Gamma Pi, the National Catholic College Graduate Honor Society. She decided to pursue a Citation in Honors as a way to push herself academically, and prove to herself that she is determined, and prepared to succeed in any challenges she decides to take on. Mary Jo would like to thank her advisor, Ms. Ellen Burkhouse, for her time, encouragement, support, and valuable thoughts throughout the process; her reader, Professor Lloyd Hildebrand, for his support, and for reviving her love of children’s literature; Ms. Christina Elvidge for her encouragement and guidance; and her parents, and boyfriend Stephan, for their unconditional love and support.

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The Role of Multicultural Children’s Literature in the Elementary Classroom

Mary Jo Biazzo

Introduction

Multicultural children’s literature is often defined as literature that recognizes and accepts

human differences and similarities related to gender, race, culture, disability, and class. The

definition of multicultural children’s literature that best fits this paper is: literature for children

that recognizes and accepts human differences and similarities related to different cultures,

races, and geographical regions. It is literature that emphasizes respect for the different cultures

in society. In today’s diverse American society, multicultural children’s literature is a useful way

to introduce children to cultures that may be unfamiliar to them, as well as the cultures of their

own backgrounds.

Multicultural children’s literature is a valuable tool for educators to incorporate into the

curriculum. The many benefits of using this tool will be explored. This type of children’s

literature has not always encompassed a wealth of material as it does today. The history of

multicultural children’s literature, as well as reasons for lack of representation of certain cultures,

will be touched upon. Educators planning on incorporating multicultural children’s literature

into their curriculum need to be sure that they choose appropriate and sound literature of this

type. What are the criteria educators need to look for when exploring this type of literature? The

critical measures involved in choosing multicultural children’s literature will be examined.

Benefits

Professionals in the field of multicultural education often stress how important it is to use

multicultural literature to heighten cultural awareness (Norton, 1990). Stories are powerful

learning tools that need to be recognized as compelling ways to gain cultural understanding in

the classroom (Mathis, 2001). Multicultural literature addresses the toils, beliefs, and dreams of

all Americans (Lee, 1995). This type of literature teaches children ways in which people are

different, as well as ways in which they are similar. When children realize the similarities that

are shared across cultures, they acquire a sense of acceptance and appreciation for other people

(Hillard, 1995). An awareness of similarities may help to diminish a fear of differences, and

decrease cultural ethnocentrism, therefore reducing chances of prejudice. Multicultural

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children’s literature acts as an influence for children to identify prejudice and to work toward its

reduction (Ford, 2000; Lu, 1998; Stewig, 1992). By making children aware that there is

prejudice towards differences the teacher can help them to be prepared for encounters with

prejudice that they may have in the future, or may help them understand encounters that they

may have already had (Higgins, nd). Through this type of literature children find that all people,

no matter from what culture or geographic region, have the same basic needs, feelings, and

emotions (Ford, 2000).

Bishop (in Gillespie, Powell, Clements, Swearingen, 1994) poses three major reasons for

using multicultural children’s literature. First, this type of literature shows how we are similar to

each other when it comes to needs, desires, and emotions. Secondly, this literature allows

children to honor the differences that make each cultural group special and enhance the whole of

society. Finally, multicultural children’s literature can be a source for learning about the effects

of social issues on the lives of everyday people (Bishop in Gillespie, Powell, Clements,

Swearingen, 1994).

Multicultural literature also allows minority children to see their culture and learn more

about it. By reading stories about their own culture, children can find commonalities with the

characters, such as experiences similar to their own. They can gather ideas and develop

strategies to help them deal with issues in their lives (Lu, 1998). Reading about their culture

helps children to feel proud of their culture and heightens their self-concept. Children learn

about the many variations of culture, like the celebrations, actions, and languages of the people

(Ford, 2000). It is important for children to see a representation of all races, ethnicities, and

cultures that are in society in order to form a true acceptance for all and an understanding of

pluralism. Children should have the opportunity to be familiar with and value their own heritage

and those of other people (Micklos, 1996).

As a future educator, it seems promising that there are numerous positive outcomes of

using multicultural children’s literature with all students. This type of literature seems to be an

excellent source of citizenship education. Students can learn about issues that people of different

cultures must deal with, and compare and contrast these issues with the ones they face in their

own lives. Incorporating multicultural children’s literature provides unique learning

opportunities that cannot be gained from most textbooks.

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History

Not all literature that is labeled multicultural serves the purposes that are outlined above.

Especially, but not exclusively, in the past, literature defined as multicultural contained

inaccurate, and sometimes offensive descriptions and portrayals of the people of several cultures.

Many multicultural books contain stereotypical generalizations about cultures. For example,

certain books may describe Africans as dark-skinned people who live in the jungle and hunt

animals, or Asians as frail, slanted-eyed individuals who wear silk clothing and live in pagodas.

While this may be true about many individuals who are members of these cultures, they are not

true descriptions of each culture as a whole (Lee, 1995). Good multicultural literature shows the

lives of individual people. It does not describe an entire culture by using general personality

traits and/or behaviors (Shioshita, 1997). Using only books that present these types of

descriptions of minorities would not allow children to gain a fair understanding of cultures.

During the past two decades, only four best sellers out of 253 featured African-American

characters. A book is called a best seller if more than 1 million copies of it have been sold. The

four best sellers that included African-American characters are The Cay by Theodore Taylor,

published in 1970; Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor, published in 1991;

Sounder by William Armstrong, published in 1972, and Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats,

published in 1976 (Fiction, 1999 in Pirofski, nd).

This lack of African-American representation in children’s literature may be attributed to

the fact that there is a lack of African-American authors, as well as a meager representation of

minorities among committee members of certain influential groups, such as the Newbery Medal

Award. The Newbery Medal Award criteria for its selection committee is based on the

explanation of a theme, clarity, organization, development of plot and character, appropriateness

of style, description of setting, and accuracy of information (Peltola, 1996 in Pirofski, nd). This

means that a book that contains inaccurately portrayed language, and stereotypes, could pass the

criteria and qualify for the Newbery Medal. In the same way, a book that contains social value

can be overlooked if it does not fit all of the above criteria (Pirofski, nd).

More than two decades ago, Adams (1981), (in Pirofski, nd), conducted a content

analysis of multicultural representation in children’s classics and Newbery Medal winners. The

multicultural factors that were considered are: age, disabilities, ethnic ancestry, gender,

illustrations, language, regional culture, religious affiliation, and socioeconomic status.

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According to Adams, of fifty-seven combined Newbery and children’s classics that were

surveyed, only three of the twenty-five classics were considered acceptable, and nineteen of the

thirty-two Newbery books were acceptable. This meant that just over a third of the books that

were surveyed were found to be acceptable. The books that were analyzed include: Swiss Family

Robinson by Johann David Wyss, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, Little

Women by Louisa May Alcott, Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson, Gulliver’s Travels

by Jonathan Swift, Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers, Bambi by Felix Salten, Moby Dick by Herman

Melville, Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie, and Heidi by Johanna Spyri (Adams, 1981 in Pirofski, nd).

Gary, 1984 (in Pirofski, nd) found negative stereotypes of African-Americans in

Newbery Medal and Caldecott Award books that were published between 1969 and 1983. These

negative stereotypes were found in descriptions of physical characteristics, language of African-

American characters, and the depiction of their status within a community (Gary, 1984 in

Pirofski, nd).

Many unacceptable representations of minority groups are found in books that are written

by persons who are not part of that cultural group. This type of literature is known as cross-

cultural literature. Cai and Sims Bishop (1994, in Taxel, 1997) draw attention to research that

shows that cross-cultural literature may actually enforce ignorance and prejudice against

minorities rather than lessen it (Cai & Sims Bishop, 1994 in Taxel, 1997). One example of the

stereotyping that has been found in books of this type is the portraying of African-Americans as

submissive toward Caucasians (Taxel, 1997).

Cross-cultural literature is at the heart of the extremely controversial issue of who should

write and illustrate multicultural literature. Cai and Sims Bishop, 1994 (in Taxel, 1997), divide

multicultural literature into at least three specific categories of literature. The largest category,

world literature, is literature about minority cultures. The second category, cross-cultural

literature, is literature that is about a specific culture and is written by individuals not of that

group. This category of literature is the most controversial. Finally, parallel culture literature is

literature that is written by individuals who are part of “parallel cultural groups” such as Asian

Americans, African Americans, and Native Americans. This literature discusses the experiences

and beliefs that are developed by being a part of these specific groups (Cai & Sims Bishop, 1994

in Taxel, 1997).

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Cultural authenticity is a major concern. Some people believe that only individuals of a

given culture should be allowed to write stories about people of that culture. On the other hand,

some people believe that anyone, no matter what culture they represent, should be free to write

about whatever they wish (Shioshita, 1997). Some people who believe that it is best for authors

to write about their own culture do acknowledge some exceptions. Some exceptions include

people who have lived in the culture that they are depicting most of their lives, authors who write

based on experience of other cultures in our society, and authors who may not be of that specific

culture but still can provide an accurate portrayal of the culture (Barrera, Liguori & Salas, 1992;

Howard, 1991; Nieto, 1992; Sims Bishop, 1992; Hillard, 1995; Yakota, 1993 in Higgins, nd).

Since pictures form much of what children believe about a country or culture, the

accuracy of illustrations is also very important (Kurtz, 1996). The best advice may be summed

up in a statement by Harold Underdown, 2001, “Whatever an author’s background may be, in

my experience it is best to stick to what she or he knows.”

When writing and/or illustrating another culture, the author and illustrator should study

and know as much about the culture as possible before even starting their work. It is best that at

least the author or illustrator have first-hand knowledge of the culture portrayed. However, if

neither the author nor illustrator has first-hand knowledge, they should be in contact with an

expert on the culture to ensure accuracy. The issue of accuracy in this situation is as important

as accuracy is in a situation that deals with scientific information (Kurtz, 1996). There are

qualified people available to ensure that multicultural books that are published are culturally

authentic. Unfortunately, this important step is not taken as often as it should be, which is

leading to unnecessarily inaccurate details that, while they may not seem significant to outsiders,

may cause offense to people of that culture (Lee, 1995).

If authors, illustrators, and/or publishers do not take the initiative to be sure that

characters and situations are culturally accurate, some negative circumstances may arise. People

of the misrepresented culture may find the book offensive. Incorrect information can create

misconceptions for readers, which can lead to false knowledge about a certain place or culture,

and can even create stereotypes.

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Selection Criteria

With the amount of literature available, finding books that are appropriate and accurate

may be challenging. Experts provide many suggestions for selecting quality multicultural

children’s literature. The Anti-Defamation League has developed a list of such suggestions.

First of all, the story itself needs to be appealing and interesting to children. Good

characters should be represented by a variety of backgrounds. The theme of the book should

offer lessons to be learned, and values that are examined instead of values that are sermonized.

The setting should represent urban, suburban, and/or rural settings accurately. The setting should

also be culturally accurate. Diversity of people should be represented in illustrations. The

diversity should also be seen within cultural groups. It should be clear that not all people of a

cultural group look alike. The illustrations should realistically represent people and evade

supporting cultural stereotypes (Anti-Defamation League, 2003).

There is a list of other suggestions that experts advise educators to use to aid them in

selecting multicultural children’s literature. Educators should look at critical reviews of books

before they select them. These types of reviews can be very useful in providing important

information. There are a number of review journals that can be used for this purpose. Some

examples are the ALAN Review, Children’s Literature in Education, Horn Book Guide to

Children’s and Young Adults’ Books, Horn Book Magazine, Interracial Books for Children

Bulletin, and MultiCultural Review (Lu, 1998).

It seems logical that the sensible thing to do before using multicultural books for

educational or classroom use would be to consult one of these journals. Educators should be

sure to provide students with accurate information about people and cultures. Educators will

avoid running into problems with accuracy and stereotypes by choosing selections listed in a

review journal.

Another avenue for choosing quality, reliable multicultural children’s literature is to

choose a book that was a winner or honor book of a literary award dealing with that culture.

There are many awards that are based on specific cultures. It appears that a book recognized by

one of these award committees will most likely present cultural information accurate enough to

be used in the classroom as an educational tool.

The Coretta Scott King Awards are awarded to an African-American author and an

African-American illustrator whose children’s books were considered to be an exceptional

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addition to children’s literature and to promote an understanding and appreciation of the

“American Dream.” This award was founded in 1969 to honor the late Dr. Martin Luther King,

Jr., and his widow (College of Education, 2003). The 2005 winner of the Coretta Scott King

author award is Toni Morrison for Remember: The Journey to School Integration. The 2005

winner of the Coretta Scott King illustrator award is Kadir A. Nelson for illustrations in

Ellington Was Not a Street, written by Ntozake Shange.

Founded in 1996, the Belpré Award honors Latino writers and illustrators who have

exceptionally depicted the Latino culture in children’s literature (College of Education, 2003).

The award is named for Pura Belpré, who was the first Latina librarian in the New York Public

Library. The 2006 Pura Belpré Award winner for narrative is Viola Canales for The Tequila

Worm. The 2006 Belpré Award winner for illustration is Raul Colón for illustrations in Doña

Flor: A Tall Tale About a Giant Woman with a Great Big Heart, written by Pat Mora

(Association for Library Service to Children, nd).

The Amèricas award, established in 1993, honors authors, illustrators, and publishers

who have created children’s literature about Latin America, the Caribbean, or Latinos. This

literature must pass certain criteria. The books must have exceptional literary quality and

cultural accuracy. They must also brilliantly incorporate wording, images, and design, and must

have the potential to be used in the classroom (College of Education, 2003). The winners of the

2005 Amèricas award are My Name is Celia/Me Llamo Celia by Monica Brown, and Sammy&

Juliana in Hollywood by Benjamin Alire Saenz. The 2005 honorable mention is Call Me Maria

by Judith Ortiz Cofer (Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies, 2005).

The Asian Pacific American Award for Literature, founded in 1998, is co-sponsored by

the Asian Pacific American Librarians Association and Chinese American Librarians

Association. This award honors authors and illustrators of adult, young adult, and children’s

fiction and nonfiction of high quality that pertains to Asians and/or Asian Americans (College of

Education, 2003). The 2004 winner of the Asian Pacific American Award for Literature for

illustration of children’s literature is Margaret Chodos-Irvine for the illustrations in Apple Pie 4th

of July, written by Janet S. Wong. The winner of the 2004 Asian Pacific American Award for

Literature for text in children’s literature is An Na for A Step From Heaven (Asian Pacific

American Librarians Association, 2004).

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The Tomás Rivera Mexican American Children’s Book Award was founded in 1995 in

honor of Tomás Rivera, the first Mexican American to be selected Distinguished Alumnus at

Southwest Texas State University. This award was established as an effort to maintain Rivera’s

view of Mexican Americans as a healthy, responsible community. The 2002 winner of this

award is A Library for Juana: The World of Sor Juana Inés by Pat Mora (Austin Public Library,

2003).

As a future educator, I am thrilled that there are so many journals and organizations

dedicated to showcasing the best in multicultural literature.

Conclusion

Multicultural children’s literature is vitally important in today’s interdependent world

where it is crucial that we cooperate with people who come from all walks of life and

backgrounds. Research proves that exposure to this literature is beneficial to all people.

Multicultural children’s literature can be used to learn about a culture that a child knows very

little about, as well as to help a child understand his or her own culture. This type of literature

allows children to understand that the people of America have roots all over the world. The goal

of using multicultural children’s literature is to help children realize that we all come from

different backgrounds, that we may differ from one another greatly, but when we examine people

closely, we see that regardless of culture, we are all capable of feeling the same emotions,

sharing the same dreams and aspirations, enduring similar struggles, and acquiring the same

wisdom. After all, as part of the human race, we are more alike than we are different.

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