Multicultural Books

It is simply amazing how many multicultural books there are to read! I wish these wonderful books had been out when I was in school.

The opportunities to learn about the many different cultures in America are astounding! I have found books about Asian Americans, African Americans, Hispanic Americans, and Native Americans.

These multicultural books are in order by age groups. Just like books being in order by grade level, age groups are only a suggestion of where to start when choosing a book. The best guidelines are you and your child.

Multicultural Books about Asian Americans

Dinner at Aunt Connie’s House by Faith Ringgold (6-8)

Lee Ann: The Story of a Vietnamese-American Girl

by Tricia Brown (6-8)

Apple Pie 4th of July by Janet S. Wong (6-9)

Dim Sum for Everyone by Grace Lin (6-9)

Jin Woo by Eve Bunting (6-9)

Sumi’s First Day of School Ever by Joung Un Kim & Soyung Pak (6-9)

Japanese Boys’ Festival by Janet Riecheck (6-12)

I Hate English! by Ellen Levin (7-9)

In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson by Bette Bao Lord (7-9)

The Boy of the Three-Year Nap by Dianne Snyder (7-9)

The Caged Birds of Phnom Penh by Frederick Lipp (7-9)

The Tongue-Cut Sparrow by Minako Ishii (7-9)

Yoshi’s Feast by Kimiko Kajikawa (7-10)

My Hiroshima by Junko Morimoto (8-10)

Tales from Gold Mountain: Stories of the Chinese in the New World

by Paul Yee (8-10)

Tongues of Jade by Laurence Yep (8-12)

American Dragons: Twenty-five Asian American Voices

by Laurence Yep (9-12)

Dragonwings by Laurence Yep (9-12)

Journey to Topaz by Yoshiko Uchida (9-12)

My Freedom Trip: A Child’s Escape from North Korea

by Frances Park & Ginger Park (9-12)

Sadako by Eleanor Coerr & Ed Young (9-12)

The Ghost Fox by Laurence Yep (9-12)

The Land I Lost: Adventures of a Boy in Vietnam

by Huynh Quang Nhuong (9-12)

Year of Impossible Goodbyes by Sook Nyul Choi (9-12)

Child of the Owl by Laurence Yep (12-young adult)

Multicultural Books about African Americans

Everett Anderson’s Goodbye by Lucy Clifton (5-7)

The Patchwork Quilt by Valerie Flournoy (5-7)

Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears by Verna Aardema (5-7)

Amazing Grace by Mary Hoffman (6-8)

Children of the Sun by J. Carew (6-8)

Cornrows by Camille Yarbrough (6-8)

Jambo Means Hello: Swahili Alphabet Book by Muriel Feelings (6-8)

Tar Beach by Faith Ringgold (6-8)

The Jazz Man by Mary Hays Weik (6-8)

Dad, Jackie, and Me by Myron Uhlberg (6-9)

Nathaniel Talking by Eloise Greenfield (6-10)

Under the Sunday Tree by Eloise Greenfield (6-10)

A Wave in Her Pocket: Stories from Trinidad by Lynn Joseph (7-9)

Anansi the Spider: A Tale from the Ashanti by Gerald McDermott (7-9)

Freedom School, Yes by Amy Littlesugar (7-9)

Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters: A African Tale by John Steptoe (7-9)

The People Could Fly: American Black Folktales

by Virginia Hamilton (7-9)

The Tales of Uncle Remus: The Adventures of Brer Rabbit

by Julius Lester (7-9)

Ananse and the Lizard: A West African Tale by Pat Cummings (7-10)

Mrs. Katz and Tush by Patricia Polacco (7-12)

A Blessing in Disguise by Eleanora E. Tate (8-10)

A Long Hard Journey: The Story of the Pullman Porter

by Pat McKissack & Fredrick McKissack (8-10)

Aunt Flossie’s Hats (and Crab Cakes Later)

by Elizabeth Fitzgerald Howard (8-10)

Black Is Brown Is Tan by Arnold Adolf (8-10)

Langston: A Play by Ossie Davis (8-10)

Talkin’ about Bessie: The Story of Aviator Elizabeth Coleman

by Nikki Grimes (9-11)

A Girl Called Boy by Belinda Hurmence (9-12)

Black Cowboy, Wild Horses: A True Story by Julius Lester (9-12)

Cousins by Virginia Hamilton (9-12)

Grandmama’s Pride by Becky Birtha (9-12)

Jump Ship to Freedom by James Collier & Christopher Collier (9-12)

M. C. Higgins, the Great by Virginia Hamilton (9-12)

Now is Your Time: The African-American Struggle for Freedom

by Walter Dean Myers (9-12)

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor (9-12)

Rosa by Nikki Giovanni (9-12)

Sounder by William H. Armstrong (9-12)

Take a Walk in Their Shoes: Biographies of 14 Outstanding African Americans

by Glennette Tilley Turner (9-12)

The Last Safe House: A Story of the Underground Railroad

by Barbara Greenwood (9-12)

The Slave Dancer by Paula Fox (9-12)

Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Freedom Movement

by Lillie Patterson (11-young adult)

Belle Teal by Ann M. Martin (12-young adult)

The Black Americans: A History in Their Own Words: 1619-1983

by Milton Meltzer (12-young adult)

Locomotion by Jacqueline Woodson (12-young adult)

Witness by Karen Hesse (12-young adult)

Harlem Summer by Walter Dean Myers (14-young adult)

Multicultural Books about Hispanic Americans

The Little Ant: La Hormiga Chiquita by M. R. Ramirez (5-7)

I Love Saturdays y domingos by Alma Flor Ada (5-8)

Borreguita and the Coyote by Verna Aardema (6-8)

Ghost Catcher by Dennis Haseley (6-8)

Nine Days to Christmas: A Story of Mexico

by Marie Hall Ets & Aurora Labastida (6-8)

The Old Lady Who Ate People by Francisco Hinojosa (6-8)

The Upside Down Boy, El nino de cabeza by Juan Felipe Herrera (6-8)

The Woman Who Outshone the Sun

by Rosalma Zubizarreta & Harriet Rohmer (6-8)

Uncle Nacho’s Hat by Harriet Rohmer (6-8)

The Hard-times Jar by Ethel Footman Smothers (6-9)

Nino’s Mask by Jeanette Winter (6-9)

Arroz con Leche: Popular songs and Rhymes from Latin America

by Lulu Delacre (6-10)

This House is Made of Mud. Esta Casa Esta Hecha de Lado

by Ken Buchanan (7-9)

In My Family – En Mi Familia by C. L. Garza (7-12)

And Now Miguel by Joseph Krumgold (8-10)

Children of the Incas by David Mangurian (8-10)

The Mystery of the Ancient Maya

by Carolyn Myer & Charles Gallenkamp Myer (8-10)

Baseball in April and Other Stories by Gary Soto (9-12)

Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan (9-12)

Prietita and the Ghost Woman by Gloria Anzaldua (9-12)

Tomas and the Library Lady by Pat Mora (9-12)

Cool Salsa – Bilingual Poems on Growing Up Latino in the

United States by Lori Marie Carlson (10-12)

Fiesta femenina: Celebrating Women in Mexican Folktale

by Mary-Joan Gerson (11-young adult)

Belle Teal by Ann M. Martin (12-young adult)

Crazy Loco by David Rice (12-young adult)

Where Angels Glide at Dawn: New Stories from Latin America

by Lori M. Carlson & Cynthia L. Ventura (12-young adult)

Multicultural Books about Native Americans

Corn is Maize: The Gift of the Indians by Aliki (6-8)

Knots on a Counting Rope by Bill Martin, Jr. & John Archambault (6-8)

Raven: A Trickster Tale from the Pacific Northwest

by Gerald McDermott (6-8)

The Mud Pony by Caron Lee Cohen (6-8)

The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses by Paul Goble (6-8)

The Legend of the Bluebonnet by Tomi dePaola (6-8)

The Legend of the Indian Paintbrush by Tomi dePaola (6-8)

Brother Eagle, Sister Sky by Chief Seattle (6-10)

Doctor Coyote: A Native American Aesop’s Fables

by John Bierhorst (7-9)

Iktomi and the Buffalo Skull by Paul Goble (7-9)

Pueblo Boy: Growing Up in Two Worlds by Marcia Keegan (7-9)

The Desert is Theirs by Byrd Baylor (7-9)

The Loon’s Necklace by William Toye (7-9)

The Story of Jumping Mouse by J. Steptoe (7-9)

The Whistling Skeleton: American Indian Tales of the Supernatural

by John Bierhorst (7-9)

Where the Buffaloes Begin by Olaf Baker (7-9)

Field Mouse Goes to War by Edward A. Kennard (7-10)

How Chipmunk Got His Stripes by Joseph Bruchac (7-10)

Sacajawea by Joseph Bruchac (7-10)

A God on Every Mountain Top: Stories of Southwest Indian Mountains by Byrd Baylor (8-10)

Hawk, I’m Your Brother by Byrd Baylor (8-10)

The Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare (8-10)

Nanabosho Grants a Wish by Joseph & Matrine McLellan (8-11)

Anpao: An American Indian Odyssey by Jamake Highwater (9-12)

Arctic Memories by Normee Ekoomiak (9-12)

Black Star, Bright Dawn by Scott O’Dell (9-12)

Buffalo Hunt by Russell Freedman (9-12)

Dancing Teepees: Poems of American Indian Youth

by Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve (9-12)

I Wear the Morning Star by Jamake Highwater (9-12)

Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell (9-12)

Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George (9-12)

Julie’s Wolf Pack by Jean Craighead George (9-12)

Meet Mindy: A Native Girl from the Southwest

by Susan Secakuku (9-12)

Meet Naiche: A Native American Boy from the Chesapeake Bay Area by Gabrielle Tayac (9-12)

Only the Names Remain: The Cherokees and the Trail of Tears

by Alex W. Bealer (9-12)

Powwow by George Ancona (9-12)

The Chumash by J. D. Duval (9-12)

The First Americans: The Story of Where They Came From and Who They Became by A. Aveni(9-12)

The Secret of the Eagle Feathers by Maura Elizabeth Keleher McKinley (9-12)

The Trail of Tears by R. Conrad Stein (9-12)

Multicultural books are a great window into other cultures. They are also a great way to see that we are all people who want to get along with other people.

A great concept that is easy to explore with multicultural books is the Cinderella story. The Cinderella story has been told in many different countries. Ruth Heller has written a series of Cinderella stories to begin your exploration!

Let me know what you think about these multicultural books for children!

Click here for some fun activities for these multicultural books!

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