Children's Books That Reflect Diversity

Teachers can work with school librarians to choose children's books that reflect diversity in racial and ethnic identity, disabilities, families, and gender roles.

The following sources may be helpful in choosing these books:

• Derman-Sparks and the Anti-Bias Curriculum Task Force (1989) provide a detailed listing of children's books that reflect cultural diversity, disabilities, nontraditional families, and anti-bias themes.

• Web sites that offer listings of multicultural children's books and book reviews for teachers are listed in multicultural children's literature.

• What Is an Authentic Multicultural Book? provides guidelines for choosing children's books--particularly those with Afrocentric themes--that adequately reflect and portray diversity.

References