Criteria for Evaluating Multicultural Materials

Temple, Martinez, Yokota, and Naylor (1998) offer the following criteria for evaluating multicultural children's books and stories:

• "Do the author and illustrator present insider perspectives? The author should maintain an insider's mind-set and point of view when writing about a cultural group in order to portray it authentically. ... Illustrations should be accurate, true to the time period portrayed, and culturally authentic. They must not stereotype, homogenize, or ridicule any cultural group. Racial groups should be depicted with a variety of physical features that are not overemphasized. Illustrations play a major role in transmitting cultural images, especially in picture books. Often, a book's cover illustration sends an immediate message about the book's perspective." (pp. 101-102)

• "Is the culture portrayed multidimensionally? Cultural groups should be presented multidimensioally in order to help readers realize the depth and breadth of experiences within cultures. ... Cultural groups should not be presented through images that could lead to stereotyping." (p. 102)

• "Are cultural details naturally integrated? The flow of the story should be maintained while the cultural details necessary to make it come alive are related. The details should be presented in context so that cumbersome explanations are not necessary. If longer explanations are needed, footnotes or endnotes can serve to clarify." (p. 102)

• "Are details accurate and interpretation current? Details must be accurate and true to the situation in which they are presented. Factual errors, omissions, and changes are sometimes indicative of sloppy research and presentation. Other times, these problems may actually reflect an attempt on the author's part to meet the expectations of a mainstream readership with preconceived notions of cultures. Series books that focus on children in various countries are sometimes guilty of such intentional errors. ... There are also series books that are written according to a formula, such as books about other countries in which authors 'fill in the blanks' of standardized formats. In many cases, these authors have no first-hand experience with the country they write about." (p. 102)

• "Is the language used authentically? The language and dialect spoken by characters should authentically portray the kinds of interactions typical of those characters, and terminology that refers to aspects of culture should be acceptable by contemporary standards." (p. 103)

• "Is the collection balanced? A special consideration is the need to present children with a balanced collection of multicultural books. The term 'collection refers to the books available in a school, classroom, or public library, and also to the books selected to serve as teaching units within a classroom." (p. 103)

• "Does the work present cultural details authentically? The work should allow the readers to experience cultures different from their own. If the work reflects their culture, readers should be able to relate to and take pride in the work. If the work is not authentic, it can perpetuate stereotypes or provide misleading information.

• Does the author write from the perspective of a cultural insider or outsider? Being a member of the culture in the literature makes it more likely that the author is accurately representing the cultural group.

• Does the work promote stereotypes? When literature depicts nonmainstream cultures in a way that is condescending or stereotypical, there is little value of having the literature in the classroom.

• Which cultural group is being represented? Teachers need to be sure that groups in addition to African Americans, Asian Americans, Latin Americans and Native Americans are represented in the literature used. For example, Jewish Americans, Appalachian Americans, and European Americans also have cultural experiences that can be shared outside of the 'generic' American experience." (p. 92)

For additional information, refer to the following sources:

• How to Choose the Best Multicultural Books (Clegg, Miller, Vanderhoof, Ramirez, & Ford, 1996)

• 10 Quick Ways to Analyze Children's Books for Racism and Sexism (Council on Interracial Books for Children, n.d.)

• What Is an Authentic Multicultural Book? (Just Us Books, 1995)

  References