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Ten Reasons Why Parents Should Read Multicultural Books to Their Kids

I was in the children’s section of a big, chain bookstore last week. I ambled around browsing picture book covers and flipping through the ones that were colorful or artistic. At first, I didn’t notice anything strange—there were many books on vehicles and animals; there were the seasonal ones (spring and summer themed books) and the timeless classics like “Goodnight Moon” and “Where the Wild Things Are.” There were also bestsellers and new releases, which were mostly sequels to hits like the “Ladybug Girl” and “Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus” series. I love these books.

Then I turned around and saw a couple of Indian-Americans browsing books. A woman in a hijab, with a Starbucks in hand, watched her son play at the train table. I heard a distant chatter in, what I thought was, Mandarin. Yet none of the books on display mirrored this heterogeneity around me. I stood there and wished books for children were much more eclectic and flavorful. I wished more books had stories in which I saw someone like the woman at the train table. Most of all, I wished these books were mainstream—powerful, influential and easily accessible. Why? Given recent discussions around the New York Times article, “How to Read Racist Books to Kids,” it became even more important to me to analyze what it is that we’ve come to accept as mainstream in children’s literature today. What should our kids be reading instead? What are the big bookstores really missing?...   MORE