Multicultural books are ones that involve diverse characters from different ethnic backgrounds.
Diversity books involve characters with different issues such as bullies, children with disabilities, or diverse families.
And Tango Makes Three
Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell
Characters: Roy, Silo, Mr. Gramzay, Tango
Setting: Central Park Zoo
Summary: The book starts out in the Central Park Zoo, explaining that every year at a certain time, the boy and girl penguins notice each other and mate. But there are two special penguins who are both boys and seem to do the same things the girls and boys do together. The zookeeper Mr. Gramzay realizes that Roy and Silo are in love. He sees that they want to have a baby to love just like the rest of the penguins do, so he puts another penguin’s egg into their nest and Roy and Silo eventually see baby Tango hatch. Tango is the first penguin to have two daddies. This book is based off of a true story.
Theme: Gay marriage/adoption, Love doesn’t have boundaries
Setting: Central Park Zoo
Summary: The book starts out in the Central Park Zoo, explaining that every year at a certain time, the boy and girl penguins notice each other and mate. But there are two special penguins who are both boys and seem to do the same things the girls and boys do together. The zookeeper Mr. Gramzay realizes that Roy and Silo are in love. He sees that they want to have a baby to love just like the rest of the penguins do, so he puts another penguin’s egg into their nest and Roy and Silo eventually see baby Tango hatch. Tango is the first penguin to have two daddies. This book is based off of a true story.
Theme: Gay marriage/adoption, Love doesn’t have boundaries
First Strawberries: A Cherokee Story
Joseph Bruchac
Characters: Husband and wife Cherokees
Setting: Outside
Summary: The husband comes home from work one day to see that there is no dinner and he and his wife fight. The wife leaves and the husband feels bad and asks the sun for help. The sun grows strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries right before the wife’s eyes for her to pick as she walks away and she plans to give them to her husband. He is able to catch up to her because she finally stopped walking to pick them and they share the strawberries together.
Theme: Be kind
Summary: The husband comes home from work one day to see that there is no dinner and he and his wife fight. The wife leaves and the husband feels bad and asks the sun for help. The sun grows strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries right before the wife’s eyes for her to pick as she walks away and she plans to give them to her husband. He is able to catch up to her because she finally stopped walking to pick them and they share the strawberries together.
Theme: Be kind
Fly Away Home
Eve Bunting
Characters: A boy and his dad, another boy and his family
Setting: An airport
Summary: A boy and his dad live in an airport, moving around each day so they don’t get caught. The dad tries to look for an apartment, but they cannot afford it. Another family also lives in the airport who have a boy the other boy’s age. The boys try to make money during the day by helping people around the airport, and they save their money for their families. They vow to help each other if one family gets out. The boy with the father is starting school the next year, so it’s really important to his dad that they get a place t o live by them so he can have his education. That boy once saw a bird in the airport trying to get out and succeed, and feels that he understands the bird and that he will get out one day too.
Theme: Poverty, Be grateful, Teamwork, Setting goals
I Hate English!
Ellen Levine
Characters: Mei Mei, Nancy
Setting: New York
Summary: Mei Mei and her family move from China to Chinatown in New York. She didn’t want to move and now doesn’t want to speak English because it is so different from her language. Her cousin Bing takes her to the Chinatown learning center but she only works on her homework in Chinese. One day a teacher named Nancy reads a book to Mei Mei and she really likes it until she hears words that don’t have a Chinese equivalent. Mei Mei cries, but that night when her mom says goodnight, she replies in English. The next time Mei Mei sees Nancy she yells at her but then Nancy takes her out around the city, talking to her about everything, and Mei Mei realizes that she wants to be heard too and starts talking a lot. From then on, Mei Mei chooses to use Chinese and English whenever she wants.
Theme: Be open minded, Immigration
In Our Mothers' House
Patricia Polacco
Characters: Meema and Marmee, Narrator girl and her brother Will and sister Millie
Setting: Home
Summary: Two women adopt an African-American girl, an Asian boy, and a Caucasian girl. They grew up in a loving household with wonderful memories such as dancing, sliding down the banister, trick or treating, painting on the walls, etc. The neighborhood does not discriminate against them, and they like to have sleepovers, a tree house, and a block party. One neighbor, though, Mrs. Lockner, sneers at them and tells them that she doesn’t like what they are, never allowing her children to play with them. In the end, all 3 children grow up and marry heterosexually, have wonderful lives, and the boy Will stays in the family house to raise his family.
Theme: Acceptance
Junkyard Wonders
Patricia Polacco
Characters: Trisha, Fellow students & teacher
Setting: School
Summary: Trisha doesn’t want to go back to California with her mom because at her school there, everyone knows that she is in special ed classes and makes fun of her, so her dad agrees to let her stay with him in Michigan. Here too, she is put in a special ed class with kids with growing problems, Tourette syndrome, diabetes, refusing to talk, etc. and the kids still make fun of her and the rest of the “Junkyard kids” – because they are all rejects. The teacher tries to show them that junkyard doesn’t imply rejects, it implies amazing new creations. The class splits into groups for the year and goes to a junkyard to find things to make them into something new and Trisha’s group remakes an airplane. They raise money throughout the year to buy a new motor for it, and when they finally do, one of the boys in the class dies. They name the plane the ‘Junkyard Wonder’ because that’s what he thought it should be called. One of the boys says that the plane will go to the moon on the day they set it off from the school rooftop as they watch it fly away. On the last page, it has an epilogue of what the kids did when they grew up- the boy who said it would go to the moon took a picture he had of them all as children and put it on the Apollo 11 flight- they really all did go to the moon.
Theme: Love yourself
Lon Po Po: A Red Riding Hood Story From China
Ed Young
Characters: Shang, Tao, Paotze, Po Po (a wolf)
Setting: In China, near the children’s house
Summary: When Shang, Tao, and Paotze’s mother leave to visit their Po Po (grandmother), she tells them to lock the doors and go to sleep. A big wolf notices this, and knocks on the door pretending to be their Po Po, saying his voice is different due to a cold. The girls let him in and he blows out the candle so he can’t be seen. They climb into bed and they notice a furry tail, but Po Po says it is hemp. They notice pointy teeth but Po Po says it is an awl. Shang lit the candle again and before it was put out, she saw the wolf’s face. She devised a plan to convince the wolf that there were ginko nuts that will make him live forever if he tried one, and that the tree is right outside. The girls climb to the top and Shang tells her sisters what’s happening. The wolf can’t get up so they tell him to sit in a basket and they’ll pull him up- and when they do they “accidentally” drop him each time until he dies. They are no longer in danger and go to sleep.
Theme: Don’t open the door for strangers
Mr. Lincolns's Way
Patricia Polacco
Characters: Mr. Lincoln, Gene
Setting: School
Summary: Mr. Lincoln is the school principal whom almost everyone loves. Mean Gene is the school bully, who one day, yells that he isn’t afraid of that n--- Mr. Lincoln. The principal hears this and wants to find a way to help him stop being so troubled. He notices that Gene seems to like birds, so he asks him for help in the school’s atrium- Gene seems surprised but agrees. When the birds start to finally come after Gene’s improvements, he stops being so mean. But one day, Gene is sent to the principal’s office for calling two Mexicans hurtful names. He tells Mr. Lincoln that he got in a fight for helping him, a black man, after school with the birds. Mr. Lincoln uses the birds as a metaphor for the kids in school/the world to try and help Gene see that we are all equals, and Gene promises to stop the name-calling. Ducklings soon hatch, and Gene and the principal get them out to water, where Gene’s loving, fair, Grandpa is (who taught him all about birds). Gene says he will do anything he can to make them proud.
Theme: Respect, Don’t bully, Treat each other as equals
My Father’s Boat
Sherry Garland
Characters: Boy and his father
Setting: Fishing boat
Summary: A young boy and his dad go out onto his fishing boat. The family is Vietnamese and the dad has always fished for a living. He teaches his son the ways of the boat. While they’re doing that, the dad tells his son about his own father, who is a fisherman in Vietnam, who could not come to America because of a war. He misses his dad every day and tells his son that he would love him and maybe one day they can meet finally. The boy wonders about what his grandfather is like and how he would feel if his family was separated from him one day.
Theme: Family, Long-distance
Sherry Garland
Characters: Boy and his father
Setting: Fishing boat
Summary: A young boy and his dad go out onto his fishing boat. The family is Vietnamese and the dad has always fished for a living. He teaches his son the ways of the boat. While they’re doing that, the dad tells his son about his own father, who is a fisherman in Vietnam, who could not come to America because of a war. He misses his dad every day and tells his son that he would love him and maybe one day they can meet finally. The boy wonders about what his grandfather is like and how he would feel if his family was separated from him one day.
Theme: Family, Long-distance
One Green Apple
Eve Bunting
Characters: Farah, classmates, teacher
Setting: Apple orchard
Summary: Farah is new to America and is starting her first days of school. She feels and looks different than them, and people act differently than where she is from. They are at an apple orchard for a field trip, and her teacher tells her to take only one- Farah is frustrated because she is not stupid, she is just lost. She pulls a green apple from a tree, whereas all the other students took red ones. They juice their apples and all drink apple cider. One the way back, Farah’s first English word that she says out loud is apple.
Theme: Be yourself, Acceptance, Immigration
Since We’re Friends: An Autism Picture Book
Celeste Shally and David Harrington
Characters: Boy, Matt
Setting: Outside, around town
Summary: Matt and an unnamed boy are best friends, and Matt has autism. They play sports and sometimes its hard for Matt to understand, but his friend always works with him. They like to go to the playground and if Matt gets upset that his favorite swing is stolen, his friend gets him playing on something different. They love animals and going to the pool, and the boy helps Matt with his anxiety about sharing. Some kids think Matt is weird and don’t invite him to play, but his friend always makes sure that he is included.
Theme: Friendship
Celeste Shally and David Harrington
Characters: Boy, Matt
Setting: Outside, around town
Summary: Matt and an unnamed boy are best friends, and Matt has autism. They play sports and sometimes its hard for Matt to understand, but his friend always works with him. They like to go to the playground and if Matt gets upset that his favorite swing is stolen, his friend gets him playing on something different. They love animals and going to the pool, and the boy helps Matt with his anxiety about sharing. Some kids think Matt is weird and don’t invite him to play, but his friend always makes sure that he is included.
Theme: Friendship
So Far from the Sea
Eve Bunting
Characters: A family
Setting: A war relocation center
Summary: A family goes to visit a war relocation center, Manzanar, where they go often. This is their last visit because they are moving away. In this war relocation center, years ago, they took Japanese people who lived in the United States and brought them there during World War 2 to prevent them from helping the enemy. The family always goes to visit there because that is where their father/grandfather’s grave is. In the afterward, there is information about what happened at Manzanar. In addition, the illustrations are color and black and white, to go back and forth from present day to the past.
Theme: Diverse citizens, History, Remembering loved ones
Eve Bunting
Characters: A family
Setting: A war relocation center
Summary: A family goes to visit a war relocation center, Manzanar, where they go often. This is their last visit because they are moving away. In this war relocation center, years ago, they took Japanese people who lived in the United States and brought them there during World War 2 to prevent them from helping the enemy. The family always goes to visit there because that is where their father/grandfather’s grave is. In the afterward, there is information about what happened at Manzanar. In addition, the illustrations are color and black and white, to go back and forth from present day to the past.
Theme: Diverse citizens, History, Remembering loved ones
The Keeping Quilt
Patricia Polocco
Characters:
Setting: America and Russia
Summary: Anna came from Russia to America and learned English so quickly that she even taught her parents. As she grew older, her favorite dress and babushka from home became too small, so her mom decided to make a quilt out of parts of them. The quilt was used as a tablecloth and at her wedding to her later husband Sasha. It is then used as the welcoming blanket for her daughter Mary. Mary’s grandmother Anna then used the quilt for when she was old and cold, to celebrate her birthday, and was using it the day she died. Mary’s wedding incorporated the blanket, and so did the birth of her own daughter Patricia. Patricia used it at her 1st birthday, to make forts with, to play with, at her wedding, and for her kids Traci and Steven. Patricia, the author, cannot wait to tell her grandkids about the quilt one day.
Theme: Family, traditions
Patricia Polocco
Characters:
Setting: America and Russia
Summary: Anna came from Russia to America and learned English so quickly that she even taught her parents. As she grew older, her favorite dress and babushka from home became too small, so her mom decided to make a quilt out of parts of them. The quilt was used as a tablecloth and at her wedding to her later husband Sasha. It is then used as the welcoming blanket for her daughter Mary. Mary’s grandmother Anna then used the quilt for when she was old and cold, to celebrate her birthday, and was using it the day she died. Mary’s wedding incorporated the blanket, and so did the birth of her own daughter Patricia. Patricia used it at her 1st birthday, to make forts with, to play with, at her wedding, and for her kids Traci and Steven. Patricia, the author, cannot wait to tell her grandkids about the quilt one day.
Theme: Family, traditions
The Name Jar
Yangsook Choi
Characters: Unhei, Joey, family
Setting: New York, in school mostly
Summary: Unhei is starting school in America for the first time. Kids meet her on the bus and mispronounce her name, so when her teacher later asks her to introduce herself to the class, she says she doesn’t have a name yet. When she goes home, her mom reassures her that her name is wonderful and unique. The next day, Unhei sees a jar full of names on her desk that her classmates wrote down. Later, she shows some of the kids her name stamp, which interests them. When she arrives home one day, she gets a letter from her Grandma whom she misses that says she’ll always be her Unhei. After seeing a boy named Joey outside of school and telling him her real name, she gets to class the next day to see that her name jar is gone. Unhei decides to introduce herself as Unhei and helps the kids spell and pronounce it. She later learns that Joey took the jar so that she would want to keep her beautiful name. They are friends.
Theme: Love yourself, Immigration
The Matzah that Papa Brought Home
Fran Manushkin
Characters: Jewish family
Setting: Home
Summary: This book tells the story of a Passover meal. It tells about what a family does when the father brings home Matzah, how and what they eat, the history, and what rituals they do. Each page contains the same words of the previous pages, while adding upon it in a cumulative way. For instance, “This is the Matzah that Papa brought home…This is the feast that Mama made to go with the matzah that Papa brought home.” In the back there is more explanation and definitions of words used.
Theme: learning about Passover
