Multicultural Children's Literature
Note: Letters are “Guided Reading Levels" from www.scholastic.com/bookwizard
​Updated list coming soon!

Social Class, Poverty & Privilege
K - The Relatives Came by: Cynthia Rylant
K - Tight Times by: Barbara Shook Hazen
L - Something Beautiful  by: Sharon Dennis Wyeth
L - Those Shoes by: Meredith Boelts
M - A Castle on Viola Street by: Dyanne Disalvo-Ryan
M - A Chair for My Mother  by: Vera B. Williams
M - Amelia’s Road by: Linda Jacobs Altman
N - Beatrice’s Goat by Page McBriar
N - Get Set! Swim! By Jeannine Atkins
N - Uncle Willie and the Soup Kitchen by: Dyanne Disalvo-Ryan
O - Gettin’ Through Thursday  by: Melrose Cooper
P - Fly Away Home  by: Eve Bunting
P - My Rows and Piles of Coins by: Tololwa Mollel
P - Sam and the Lucky Money by: Karen Chinn
Q - The Rag Coat by: Lauren Mills
R – The Family Under the Bridge
S - Brave Irene  by: William Steig
T - Going Home  by: Eve Bunting
V - Esperanza Rising by: Pam Munoz Ryan
X – Out of the Dust (The Great Depression)
? - Finding a Job for Daddy  by: Evelyn Hughes Masiac
? - Gregory Cool  by: Caroline Binch
? - Listen to the Wind, The Story of Dr. Greg and Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson & Susan Roth
? - Rich Cat, Poor Cat  by: Bernhard Waber
? - Somebody’s New Pajamas by: Isaac Jackson
? - The Sneetches by: Dr. Seuss
? - Tomas and the Library Card by: Pat Mora
? - Yertle the Turtle by Dr. Seuss

Race:
H - Shade of People by: Shelley Rotner & Shelia M. Kelly
K - The Colors of Us by: Karen Katz
M - I Love My Hair by: Natasha Tarpley
N – Suitcase
O – The Skin I’m In
Q – The Jacket
T – Bud, Not Buddy
U – The Dream Keeper
U – The Watsons Go To Birmingham-1963
V – The Cay
W - Bronx Masquerade by: Nicki Grimes
W - Maniac Magee by: Jerry Spinelli
Z – Elijah of Buxton
Z – Scorpions
Z – Tears of a Tiger
? - All the Colors We Are  by: Katie Kissinger
? - Let’s Talk About Race by: Julius Lester
? - My Nose, Your Nose by: Melanie Walsh
? - Skin Again by: Bell Hooks

Gender/LGBT
Players in Pigtails by: Shana Corey
Amazing Grace by: Mary Hoffman
Oliver Button Is a Sissy by: Tomie dePaola
William’s Doll by: Charlotte Zolotow
Max the Stubborn Little Wolf by: Marie-Odile Judes
Piggybook by: Anthony Browne
The Gingerbread Girl by: Lisa Campbell Ernst
And Tango Makes Three by: Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson
The Sissy Duckling by Harvey Fierstein
The Different Dragon by Jennifer Bryan
It’s Okay to Be Different by: Todd Parr
Spoon by: Amy Krouse Rosenthal
We Are All Alike...We Are All Different by: Sheltenham Elementary

Differences/Acceptance of Others who are Different from Us
S – Crazy Lady
O – The Hundred Dresses
Creativity by E.B. Lewis
The Story of Ferdiand by: Munro Leaf
Crazy Hair Day by Barney Saltzberg
The Big Orange Splot by Daniel Pinkwater
Tacky the Penguin series by Helen Lester and Lynn M. Munsinger
I Like Me! By Nancy Carlson

Ability/Disability
W - Freak the Mighty by: Rodman Philbrick
V – Yolanda’s Genius
U - The View from Saturday by: E.L. Konigsburg
U – The Summer of the Swans

Families
K - The Wednesday Surprise by: Eve Bunting
L - I Love Saturdays y Domingos by: Alma Flor Ada
L - Two Mrs. Gibsons by: Toyomi Igus
M - Visiting Day by: Jacqueline Woodson
? - The Family Book by: Todd Parr

Immigrant Experience
K - In the Small, Small Night by Jane Kurtz
M - My Diary from Here to There by Amada Irma Perez
M - My Name is Yoon by Helen Recorvits
N - Hannah is My Name by Belle Yang
N - The Color of Home by Mary Hoffman
N - The Have a Good Day Cafe by Frances Park
O - One Green Apple by: Eve Bunting
V - Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan
W - The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros
? - A Gift for Sadia by Marie Perry
? - America, My New Home by: Monica Gunning (poems)
? - Cooper’s Lesson by Sun Yung Shin
? - Fishing Sunday by Tony Johnston
? - In English, Of Course by Josephine Nobisso
? - Just Like Home by: Elizabeth Miller
? - Lakas and the Manilatown Fish by Kuwento Robles
? - Music for Alice by Allen Say
? - My Name is Bilal by: Asama Mobin-Uddin
? - Sofie and the City by Karima Grant
? - Sumi’s First Day of School Ever by Soyung Pak
? - The Dream on Blanca’s Wall by: Jane Medina
? - Waiting for Papa by Rene Colato Lainez

War/Peace
S - 14 Cows for America by Carmen Agra Deedy
U – Number the Stars
Z – No Pretty Pictures
? - What Does Peace Feel Like? By: V. Radunsky
? - Butter Battle Book by Dr. Seuss
? - Peace Crane by Sheila Hamanaka
? - The Big Book for Peace by Lloyd Alexander
? - The Peace Book by Todd Parr


Bullying
K - The Meanest Thing to Say by: Bill Cosby
L - The Sandwich Swap by: Queen Rania, Al Abdullah, Kelly DiPucchio
M - Chrysanthemum by: Kevin Henkes
M - Hooway for Wodney Wat by: Helen Lester
M - Yoko by: Rosemary Wells
N - The Name Jar by: Yangsook Choi
R – Dork in Disguise
V - Stargirl by: Jerry Spinelli
? - Each Kindness by: Jacqueline Woodson
? - Say Something by: Peggy Moss

Being an Activist
L - City Green by: Dyanne Disalvo-Ryan
M - Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type by: Doreen Cronin
M - Swimmy by: Leo Lionni
S - Harvesting Hope: The Story of Cesar Chavez by: Kathleen Krull
? - Dom’s Handplant by: Judy Wilford
? - Grace For President by: Kelly DiPucchio
? - Si, Se Puede! Yes, We Can!: Janitor Strike in L.A. by Diana Cohn
? - What Can We Do? By: Wendy Wall

Multiple Perspectives
L - Voices in the Park by: Anthony Browne
O - The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig by: Eugene Trivias
Q - The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by: Jon Scieszka
? - Duck! Rabbit! By: Amy Krouse Rosenthal
? - LaRue for Mayor: Letters from the Campaign Trail: Mark Teague
? - The Weird! Series by: Erin Frankel


Environmental  & Animal Rights
H - A Tree is Nice by Janice May Udry
K - Fireflies! By: Julie Brinckloe
L - The Salamander Room by Anne Mazer
R - The Great Kapok Tree :A Tale of the Amazon Rain Forest by Lynne Cherry
R – Shiloh
? - Just Right by Lilian Moore
? - The Lorax by Dr. Seuss
? - Wangari’s Trees of Peace by: Jeanette Winter

Multiculturalism / Understanding Other Cultures & Religions
K - For You Are a Kenyan Child by Kelly Cunnane
N - Saturday Market by Patricia Grossman and Enrique O. Sanchez
? - In the Heart of the Village: The World of the Indian Banyan Tree by Barbara Bash
? - Masai and I by Virginia Kroll and Nancy Carpenter
? - My Little Round House by Bolormaa Baasansuren
? - My Painted House, My Friendly Chicken & Me by Maya Angelou & Margaret Clark
? - Salaam: A Muslim American Boy’s Story
? - The Dancing Dragon by Marcia Vaughan

Poetry & Short Stories for Social Justice

Ritchie Valens
​http://www.rethinkingschools.org/static/archive/28_04/ancestors_valens-poem.pdf

Videos for Social Justice

Compare & Contrast-  America The Story of US is a great engaging video to compare social justice texts to. Propaganda comes to mind when watching the video as it frequently leaves out the history of people of color. Mostly white people are the heroes. I show the part of the film that shows Joseph Pulitzer as a huge hero, and then we watch Newsies, which portrays him as a villain. Students' eyes can be easily opened to the omission of important history in mainstream stories about American social studies.