Brave Multicultural Books to Make Every Reader Dream

Inside: Reading is for dreamers – for people who want to lose themselves in other worlds. In order to dream, every child needs the chance to flip through pages and see every personality, ethnicity, and culture staring back up at them. Below you’ll find ideas of how to make multicultural books part of your classroom routine and a list of brave texts you won’t want to miss!

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   Why Multicultural Books Matter:

Let’s be real. Teaching language arts is about far more than teaching reading and writing. At its core, literature exists to teach lessons and explore the human condition. As teachers of literature, we often have the privilege of engaging students in discussions on deeper matters of the heart, like courage, justice, integrity etc…

Before we take on character building and heavy life lessons, we absolutely must consider equal access to texts for every ethnicity. If we believe that reading examples of brave and strong humans produces brave and strong humans, then we need to ensure that all students see all people, of every skin color and background, acting in courageous ways.

To consider the importance of multicultural texts, you must consider the classroom without them. Sitting in that lonely desk is the child who never sees themselves in books. They look in the mirror and must face the doubt that they are not made of courage, like the characters they read about in school. Additionally, the child who sees themselves, but not others will have a narrow opinion of who can accomplish what.

The message communicated by multicultural books is that anyone can achieve anything. Unfortunately, the opposite is true in classrooms and homes where multicultural books are lacking. Dreams are lacking.

I can’t help but think of the dreams of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Langston Hughes:

“Hold fast to dreams,
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly.”

To make dreams attainable for everyone – we must provide equal access to multicultural texts.

How to S.H.A.R.E. Dreams With Every Child 

S – Select multicultural books:

Just like anything else, integrating multicultural books won’t happen in your classroom unless you intentionally make them happen. Choose mentor texts that take place in a different country, time period, or that show insight into a specific culture. Don’t limit your library!

Dreamy Short stories:

• Fish Cheeksby Amy Tan
• Eleven by Sandra Cisneros
• Thank You Ma’am by Langston Hughes
• The Stolen Party by Liliana Heker
• Names/Nombres by Julia Alvarez

Dreamy Poetry:

• 19 Varieties of Gazelle: Poems of the Middle East by Naomi Shihab Nye
• Neighborhood Odes – By Gary Soto
• Brown Girl Dreaming – By Jacqueline Woodson
• I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
• Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai 
• The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes (Vintage Classics)
• Mother to Son – Langston Hughes

H – Hold conversations: 

Build cultural knowledge by discussing the setting (when and where) of the mentor texts. Students may not understand the time period and or details of the culture they are reading about, so take time to teach them. Use images and maps to bring the setting and culture of the text to life.

Bonus Content!

• These conversations are the perfect time to engage students about their culture. Allow student “experts” to explain their own experiences. By the way, I find myself embracing academic humility in cultural conversations. If I don’t know something, I own this as a room to grow moment and look it up!

A – Author Study:

Learning about the author’s life and background of a text can be a meaningful way to incorporate a multicultural mindset and build background knowledge.

Dreamy Authors:

• Naomi Shihab Nye
• Jason Reynolds
• Nic Stone
• Angie Thomas
• Langston Hughes
• Maya Angelou
• Gary Soto
• Amy Tan
• Sandra Cisneros
• Gwendolyn Brooks
• Christopher Paul Curtis
• Jacqueline Woodson
• Gary Paulsen
• Marie Lu
• Pam Munoz Ryan
• Rita Williams
• Linda Sue Park
• Mildred D. Tayor
• Julia Alvarez
• Patricia Polacco
• Ginnie Lo
• Thanhha Lai 

R – Read Picture Books:

Picture books are no longer geared solely for little kids. In fact, the more pictures books I read, the more I think of relevant ways to use them in middle and high school. Consider choosing a picture book as an anchor text to kick off a unit or writing piece. They take all of 10 minutes to read, but your students will connect with the pictures and stories. For more details on the power of using picture books, read my previous mentor text post.

Dreamy Multicultural Picture Books:

• Martin’s Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
• Rosa
• Yoko Writes Her Name (A Yoko Book)
• Too Many Tamales
• Lon Po Po: A Red-Riding Hood Story from China
• The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind
• The Name Jar
• My Name Is Yoon
• Henry’s Freedom Box: A True Story from the Underground Railroad
• Mahjong All Day Long

  E – Excerpts from novels: 

Novels as mentor texts can easily overwhelm a 45 minute period. Instead of feeling obligated to teach an entire novel, use an excerpt as a mentor text. This allows for a quick background discussion and may hook students into reading the entire text on their own. Also, since you won’t be teaching the entire book, you can use novels geared toward a variety of age levels. Choosing a well-written excerpt packs a powerful punch.

In example, the short story, Rules of the Game, is an excerpt from Amy Tan’s, Joy Luck Club. It reads as a stand alone story, but is actually part of a larger story. It makes this lengthy text accessible for more students.

Bonus Content!

• Real life: When looking for a mentor text to model sensory language, I found a two page excerpt from Bud Not Buddy. I quickly introduced the book and author, and proceeded to teach sensory language. This allowed for introduction to a multicultural book while teaching the content. Plus – the writing was phenomenal, which helped my students in their own writing. Win, win!

Dreamy Multicultural Novels

• Dear Martin
• Ghost Boys
• The Hate U Give
• Long Way Down
• Ghost
• To Kill a Mockingbird
• Sounder
• The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, Young Reader’s Edition
• The Watsons Go to Birmingham–1963
• Bud, Not Buddy
• Homeless Bird
• Esperanza Rising (McDougal Littell Library)
• A Long Walk to Water: Based on a True Story
• Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
• The House on Mango Street
• Kira-Kira

Ultimately, there is no need to feel pressure to use an entire novel. Choose one powerful selection that teaches content that you need.

Dream On!

It’s about showing all students that all people can be courageous in the face of challenges. All people can achieve their dreams. What better way to build respect and culture among all of your students than to use multicultural text? You are building self-esteem, respect, compassion, understanding, multiple perspectives, background knowledge – basically all of the traits that we hope to impart to these lovely humans as they grace our classroom for a season.