El día de los niños/El día de los libros – Children’s Day/Book Day

El día de los niños/El día de los libros, or Children’s Day/Book Day, is a celebration of children, families, and reading that promotes literacy for all. This yearlong event is celebrated on April 30, so there’s still plenty of time to prepare and join in the fun! Author Pat Mora added the festival of El día de los libros to the traditional Mexican Children’s Day in 1997 as a “commitment to linking children and their families to diverse books, languages and cultures.” The goal is to unite communities through literacy and reading. The books listed below are united in their emphasis on the power of books and libraries to make a difference in people’s lives.

El día de los niños/El día de los libros es una celebración de niños, familias y lectura que promueve la alfabetización para todos. ¡Este evento se celebra el 30 de abril, por lo tanto, todavía hay mucho tiempo para prepararse y unirse a la diversión! La autora Pat Mora añadió el festival de El día de los libros al tradicional El día de los niños de México en 1997 como un “compromiso de vincular a los niños y sus familias a diversos los libros, idiomas y culturas.” El objetivo es unir las comunidades a través de la alfabetización y la lectura. Los libros en esta lista están unidos en su énfasis en el poder de los libros y las bibliotecas para hacer una diferencia en las vidas de las personas.

For more information, please visit the Día website/Para más información, por favor visite el sitio web de Día: http://dia.ala.org/content/about-día

To find more books celebrating kids reading, try searching the catalog using a combination of subject terms like “juvenile fiction” for fiction books or “juvenile literature” for nonfiction books along with “book,” “read,” and “library.” Happy reading! ¡Feliz lectura!

Barton, Chris
Book or Bell? 2017 (picture book)
Henry is reading the best book he’s every read, maybe the best book ever, and he can’t wait to finish it! Then the bell rings, and he’ll have to save the rest for later…unless he just stays put. This chuckle-inducing tale about the mesmerizing power of a book will have kids laughing at the increasing antics of the adults in charge to get Henry to stop reading and adults smiling knowingly.
[SSHEL S-Collection Q. SE. B2854b]

Brown, Monica
Waiting for the Biblioburro. 2011 (picture book)
One day, Ana realizes that she has read all the books in her small village. Soon, she sees the most magical sight – there’s two burros carrying a library on their backs! The librarian (Luis Soriano in real life) has not only come to bring the stories found in the books, but also to inspire Ana to keep creating her own. The Biblioburro travels throughout Colombia bringing the library to the people in small villages and supporting literacy, and children will be fascinated with this kind of library they’ve never heard of before.
[SSHEL S-Collection SE. B8146w]

Chapin, Tom
The Library Book. 2017 (picture book)
Based on a song written by Tom Chapin and Michael Mark, this is the story of a young girl who goes to the library on a rainy day. Kids will love trying to guess which of their favorite characters she will meet next, like folktale classic Cinderella or the beloved bear Winnie the Pooh. This is a celebration of children’s literature and the way that the world expands for kids when they read.
[SSHEL S-Collection Q. SE. C3656l]

Gonzalez, Lucia M.
The Storyteller’s Candle/La velita de los cuentos. 2008 (picture book)
In this side-by-side bilingual Spanish and English picture book about New York librarian Pura Belpré, Hildamar and Santiago have just moved from Puerto Rico. Feeling lost in the Big Apple, they are soon introduced to the magic of the library by storyteller Pura Belpré. The collage-like illustrations bring to a life a true story about how a librarian brought a community together just when they needed it the most.
[SSHEL S-Collection Q. SE. G5896s]

Gourley, Catherine
Journeys: Young Readers’ Letters to Authors Who Changed Their Lives. 2017 (nonfiction)
This heartwarming and hopeful collection of letters provides ample evidence of the inspiring and healing power of books. Children have written to authors about the books that changed the way they see the world, and they just might change your point of view too. Be prepared to add a lot of books to your to-read list!
[SSHEL S-Collection S.810.8 J8269]

Grabenstein, Chris
Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library. 2013 (chapter book)
Kyle Keeley loves all games, and the eccentric genius gamemaker Luigi Lemoncello (reminiscent of Willy Wonka) has rebuilt the town library, pulling out all the stops and whistles. For the grand opening, Kyle and 11 other kids are soon thrust into a frantic race to solve the clues and untangle riddles in order to escape the locked library. Grabenstein’s love of the library is evident, and kids will enjoy playing the games along with the characters.
[SSHEL S-Collection S. G7512e]

Hopkins, Lee Bennett
Jumping Off Library Shelves: A Book of Poems. 2015 (poetry)
This enchanting book invites children to experience the magic of words as they read poems about books, stories, and reading. The watercolor illustrations are captivating and stimulate the imagination, adding to the poetry. Each entry has a different voice, and readers will love to peruse this collection. Maybe they’ll even be inspired to write a few poems of their own!
[SSHEL S-Collection Q. S.808.81 J951]

King, M.G.
Librarian on the Roof!: A True Story. 2010 (nonfiction picture book)
Librarian RoseAleta Laurell revitalized the Dr. Eugene Clark Library in Lockhart, Texas, updating the collections and technology, restoring the building, and acquiring resources for the Spanish-speaking population; she made it a place that people wanted to be. However, something was still missing – the kids! So she stayed 50 feet in the air on the roof of the library in order to raise money for a children’s section designed just for them. Children will love reading about her harrowing adventures on the roof to buy books and create a place in the library for kids like them.
[SSHEL S-Collection S.027.476433 K585l]

Mora, Pat.
Book Fiesta! Celebrate Children’s Day/Book Day; Celebremos El día de los niños/El día de los libros. 2009 (picture book)
Filled with full-page, entrancing, and colorful illustrations, this book really is a fiesta! The act of reading, children, and families are celebrated, and kids read anything, with anyone, anywhere: to puppies, in trains, floating in a hot-air balloon, and more. The side-by-side Spanish and English bilingual text highlights the history of El día de los niños/El día de los libros and more information about how you can celebrate this holiday is included at the end.
[SSHEL S-Collection SE. M79b]

Pinbourough, Jan
Miss Moore Thought Otherwise: How Anne Carroll Moore Created Libraries for Children. 2013. (picture book)
Beautiful illustrations depict the life of Anne Carroll Moore, the woman who created the first children’s room at the New York Public Library. Simple text with the refrain of “but Miss Moore thought otherwise” will keep young readers involved, and the celebration of reading is inspiring to see. Her passion for books, libraries, and children shines through, and more information about Moore is included at the end.
[Center for Children’s Books (non-circulating) SB. M8216p]

Multicultural Families

Whether you are interested in researching children’s literature on multicultural families or using these sources with your own family, literature can be used to examine current representations of families and to teach kids about the diversity of families. In 2005 the ESSL posted a guide to finding children’s books about interracial families, including a short list of sample titles, which may also be useful. Additional resources include the Cooperative Children’s Book Center’s guides to Recommended Picture Books Featuring Interracial Families, 50 Multicultural Books Every Child Should Know, 40 Books About Family, and Gay and Lesbian Themes and Topics in Selected Children’s and Young Adult Books. The CCBC is a research library at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Bibliographies and Reference Sources

East, Kathy and Thomas, Rebecca.
Across Cultures: a Guide to Multicultural Literature for Children. 2007.
This bibliography looks at all areas of multicultural literature for children. There is a specific section on families, friends, and neighborhoods.
[Education 011.62 Ea773]

Emery, Francenia L. (ed).
That’s me! That’s you! That’s us! Selected current multicultural books for children and young adults presenting positive, empowering images. 2002.
Includes bibliographies on various multicultural topics, including a section on family.
[Education Juvenile Reference S.011.62 Em364t]

Turner-Vorbeck, Tammy and Marsh, Monica Miller (ed).
Other Kinds of Families: Embracing Diversity in Schools. 2008.
This book looks at multicultural families and discusses the need to reconsider how families are represented in school curricula. The chapters on “Hegemonies and ‘Transgressions’ of Family,” “Immigrant Families and Schools,” and “Doing the difficult: schools and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered, and queer families” may be particularly helpful. Each chapter also includes a bibliography of referenced books and articles.
[Education 371.192 Ot3]

Multiethnic Families
Fiction

Adoff, Arnold.
Black is Brown is Tan. 1973.
Describes in verse the life of brown-skinned momma, white-skinned daddy, their children, and assorted relatives.
[Education Storage SE. AD71B]

Amado, Elisa.
Cousins. 2004.
A girl deals with having an extended family from different ethnic backgrounds.
[Education Storage S. Am12c]

Bunting, Eve.
Jin Woo. 2001.
Davey is dubious about having a newly adopted brother from Korea, but when he finds out that his parents still love him, he decides that having a baby brother will be fine.
[Education S Collection SE. B886ji]

Carlson, Nancy.
My Family is Forever. 2004.
A young Asian girl recounts how she came to be part of an adoptive Caucasian family.
[Education S Collection SE. C197my]

Cheng, Andrea.
Grandfather Counts. 2000.
When her maternal grandfather comes from China, Helen, who is biracial, develops a special bond with him despite their age and language differences.
[Education S Collection SE. C4212g]

Cox, Judy.
My Family Plays Music. 2003.
A multiracial musical family with talents for playing a variety of instruments enjoys getting together to celebrate. Each member of the family introduces his/herself, the instrument, and kind of music played.
[Education S Collection Q. SE. C839m]

Davol, Marguerite.
Black, White, Just Right! 2003.
A girl explains how her parents are different in color, tastes in art and food, and pet preferences, and how she herself is different too but just right.
[Education Storage SE.D311B]

Friedman, Ina R.
How My Parents Learned to Eat. 1984.
An American sailor courts a Japanese girl and each tries, in secret, to learn the other’s way of eating.
[Education Storage SE.F9142H]

Goble, Paul.
Buffalo Woman. 1984.
A young hunter marries a female buffalo in the form of a beautiful maiden, but when his people reject her he must pass several tests before being allowed to join the buffalo nation.
[Education S Collection S.398.2 G538B]

Hallinan, P. K.
A Rainbow of Friends. 1997.
A story in verse about how all friends are special and valuable regardless of differences or difficulties, and about how everyone is part of one big family.
[Education Storage SE. H156r1997]

Iyengar, Malathi Michelle.
Romina’s Rangoli. 2007.
When her teacher asks each student to bring in something reflecting his or her heritage to display at an open house, Romina struggles over how to represent both her father’s Indian culture and her mother’s Mexican one.
[Education S Collection SE. Iy1r]

Keller, Holly.
Horace. 1994.
Horace, an adopted child, realizes that being part of a family depends on how you feel and not how you look.
[Education Storage SE. K282HO1994]

Monk, Isabell.
Hope. 1999.
During a visit with her great-aunt, a young girl learns the story behind her name and learns to feel proud of her biracial heritage.
[Education S Collection SE. M7491h]

Wing, Natasha.
Jalapeno Bagels. 1996.
For International Day at school, Pablo, who comes from a racially mixed family, wants to bring something that reflects the cultures of both his parents.
[Education S Collection SE. W7262j]

Multiethnic Families
Non-fiction

Kindersley, Barnabas.
Children Just Like Me. 1995.
Photographs and text depict the homes, schools, family life, and culture of young people around the world.
[Education Storage Q. S.779.925 C796C]

Kuklin, Susan.
Families. 2006.
Children from diverse families share thoughts about their families and photographs.
[Center for Children’s Books Q. S.306.85 K958f]

Kuklin, Susan.
How My Family Lives in America. 1992.
African-American, Asian-American, and Hispanic-American children describe their families’ cultural traditions.
[Education S Collection Q. S.305.800973 K958H]

Gay and Lesbian Families
Fiction

Brannen, Sarah S.
Uncle Bobby’s Wedding. 2008.
Chloe is jealous and sad when her favorite uncle announces that he will be getting married, but as she gets to know Jamie better and becomes involved in planning the wedding, she discovers that she will always be special to Uncle Bobby–and to Uncle Jamie, too.
[Education S Collection SE. B7352u]

Garden, Nancy.
Molly’s Family. 2004.
While preparing decorations for Open School Night, Molly and several of her classmates draw pictures of their families. Molly is at first hurt when a classmate comments “no one has two mommies,” but she and her classmates discover that family means something different to each of them.
[Education S Collection SE. G167m]

Gonzalez, Rigoberto.
Antonio’s Card. 2005.
With Mother’s Day coming, Antonio finds he has to decide about what is important to him when his classmates make fun of the unusual appearance of his mother’s partner, Leslie. This bilingual book is in English and Spanish.
[Education S Collection and Education Storage Q. SE. G589a]

Haan, Linda de.
King & King. 2002.
When the queen insists that the prince get married and take over as king, the search for a suitable mate does not turn out as expected.
[Education S Collection SE. H111k]

Polacco, Patricia.
In Our Mothers’ House. 2009.
Three young multiracial children experience the joys and challenges of being raised by two mothers.
[Center for Children’s Books Q. SE. P756in]

Richardson, Justin.
And Tango Makes Three. 2005.
At New York City’s Central Park Zoo, two male penguins fall in love and start a family by taking turns sitting on an abandoned egg until it hatches.
[Education S Collection Q. SE. R394t]

Vigna, Judith.
My Two Uncles. 1995.
Elly’s grandfather has trouble accepting the fact that his son is gay.
[Education S Collection SE.V683MY]

Willhoite, Michael.
Daddy’s Roommate. 2000.
A young boy discusses his divorced father’s new living situation, in which the father and his gay roommate share eating, doing chores, playing, loving, and living.
[Education S Collection SE. W669d2000]

Disabilities
Fiction

Altman, Alexandra.
Waiting for Benjamin. 2008.
Alexander experiences feelings of disappointment, anger, embarrassment, and jealousy when his younger brother is diagnosed with autism.
[Education S Collection SE. Al797w]

Chaconas, Dori.
Dancing with Katya. 2006.
In the late 1920s, Anna tries to help her younger sister Katya regain her strength and joy in life after she becomes crippled by polio.
[Education Storage Q. SE. C344d]

Emmons, Chip.
Sammy Wakes His Dad. 2000.
Sammy’s father, who is in a wheelchair, is reluctant to join Sammy in going fishing, until his son’s love finally moves him to action.
[Education Storage SE. Em67s]

Glenn, Sharlee Mullins.
Keeping Up with Roo. 2004.
Gracie has always had a special bond with her Aunt Roo, who is mentally disabled, but that relationship starts to change when Gracie begins school.
[Education S Collection SE. G487k]

Millman, Isaac.
Moses Goes to the Circus. 2003.
Moses, who is deaf, has a good time with his family at the circus, where they communicate using sign language. Includes illustrations of some of the signs they use.
[Education S Collection SE. M623m]

Stuve-Bodeen, Stephanie.
We’ll Paint the Octopus Red. 1998.
Emma and her father discuss what they will do when the new baby arrives, but they adjust their expectations when he is born with Down syndrome.
[Education S Collection Q. SE. St98w]

Celebrate Dia !

El Dia de los Ninos/El dia de los libros
Children’s Day/Book Day

Children’s Day/Book Day, also known as El día de los niños/El día de los libros (or simply Día), is a celebration of children, families, and reading held annually on April 30. The celebration emphasizes the importance of literacy for children of all linguistic and cultural backgrounds.

According to the Association for Library Service for Children (ALSC), Día is an enhancement of Children’s Day, which began in 1925. Children’s Day was designated as a day to bring attention to the importance and well-being of children. In 1996, nationally acclaimed children’s book author Pat Mora proposed linking the celebration of childhood and children with literacy to found El día de los niños/El día de los libros.

The S-collection presents a selection of Pat Mora’s charming books for children in honor of Día, and in honor of her constant efforts to improve literacy for Spanish and English speaking children alike.
Abuelos. 2008.
Young Ray and Amelia move to a new village and experience the fright and fun of “los abuelos” for the first time.The tradition of “los abuelos” comes from northern New Mexico. In the cold months of midwinter, village men disappear to disguise themselves as scary old men and then descend on the children, teasing them and asking if they’ve been good.
[Education S-Collection Q. S. M792a]

The Bakery Lady. 2001.
Monica, who wants to be a baker like her grandmother, finds the doll hidden in the bread on the feast for the Three Kings and thus gets to bake cookies for the next fiesta. Text is in both English and Spanish.
[Education Storage Q. SE. M79ba]

Dona Flor: A Tale About a Giant Woman With a Big Heart. 2005.
Dona Flor, a giant lady with a big heart, sets off to protect her neighbors from what they think is a dangerous animal, but soon discovers the tiny secret behind the huge noise.
[Education S-Collection Q. SE. M79d]

Join Hands! The Ways We Celebrate Life. 2008.
A pantoum, a Malaysian poetic form, captures the joys of children playing together.
[Education S-Collection S.811 M79j]

Marimba! Animals from A to Z. 2006.
Rhyming text reveals the antics of an alphabet full of zoo animals as they enjoy a night of singing, dancing, feasting, and playing musical instruments while their keepers sleep. Includes pronunciation and translation guide to Spanish words that appear throughout the text.
[Education S-Collection Q. SE. M 79m]

The Rainbow Tulip. 1999.
A Mexican-American first-grader experiences the difficulties and pleasures of being different when she wears a tulip costume with all the colors of the rainbow for the school May Day parade. Text is in English and Spanish.
[Education Storage SE. M79r]

The Race of Toad and Deer. 1995.
This Guatemalan folk tale is retold by Pat Mora, with illustrations by Maya Itzna Brooks. With the help of his friends, Tio Sapo, the toad, defeats the overconfident Tio Venado, the deer, in a race.
[Education S-Collection S.398.2 M79R]

Tomas and the Library Lady. 1997.
While helping his family in their work as migrant laborers far from their home, Tomas finds an entire world to explore in the books at the local public library. Text is in both English and Spanish.
[Center for Children’s Books SE. M79t]

Uno, Dos, Tres: One, Two, Three. 1996.
Pictures depict two sisters going from shop to shop buying birthday presents for their mother. Rhyming text presents numbers from one to ten in English and Spanish.
[Education Storage Q. SE. M79u]
ALSC leads the way in forging excellent library service for all children by supporting the profession of children’s librarianship through education, advocacy and collaboration. For more information about ALSC awards, projects and events, visit www.ala.org/alsc, or contact the ALSC office at 800-545-2433, ext. 2163, alsc@ala.org.

For more information on Día, and to find a celebration and events at a library near you, please visit the ALSC/ Día website at http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/alsc/initiatives/diadelosninos

Books about Adoption

Adoption is often a difficult subject to discuss with children. Picture books can be used to explain the concept to younger children and novels for older readers are helpful in showing the universality of family life. The following books explore international adoption, fitting into a new family, and making contact with birth parents.
Picture Books
Bunting, Eve
Jin Woo. 2001.
Davey is dubious about having a new adopted brother from Korea, but when he finds out that his parents still love him, he decides that having a baby brother will be fine.
[Education S Collection: SE. B886ji]

Carlson, Nancy.
My Family Is Forever. 2004.
A young girl recounts how she came to be part of an adoptive family.
[Education S Collection: SE. C197my]

Curtis, Jamie Lee
Tell Me Again About the Night I Was Born. 1996.
A young girl asks her parents to tell her again the cherished family story of her birth and adoption.
[Education Storage: SE. C944t]

Lewis, Rose A.
Every Year on Your Birthday. 2007.
Each year on the birthday of her adopted Chinese daughter, a mother recalls the moments they have shared, from the first toy to the friends left behind in China.
[Education S Collection: SE. L5852e]

Parr, Todd.
We Belong Together: a Book About Adoption and Families. 2007.
Aimed at young children, this book celebrates the variety of families touched by adoption.
Education S Collection: SE. P246w

Thomas, Eliza
The Red Blanket. 2004.
Tells the story of a single woman who goes to China to adopt a baby.
[Education S Collection: SE. T362r]

Turner, Anne Warren
Through Moon and Stars and Night Skies. 1989.
A boy who came from far away to be adopted by a couple in this country remembers how unfamiliar and frightening some of the things were in his new home, before he accepted the love to be found there.
[Education Storage: SE. T851T]
Middle Grades
Caldwell, V.M.
Tides. 2001.
While spending the summer with her new siblings and cousins at their grandmother’s house by the ocean, Elizabeth begins to feel that she belongs to her adoptive family.
[Education Remote Storage: S.C1271t]

Cummings, Priscilla
Saving Grace. 2003.
“After her family is evicted from their Washington, D.C., home in 1932, eleven-year-old Grace is sent to a mission and taken in by a well-off family who wants to adopt her.” — Description from the Horn Book Guide
[Education S Collection: S.C9124s]

Hicks, Betty
Get Real. 2006.
Destiny, a thirteen-year-old control freak who feels alienated in her messy, haphazard family, helps her adopted best friend when she finds her birth mother and decides to have a relationship with her.
[Center for Children’s Books: S. H529g]

Johnson, Angela
Heaven. 1998.
Fourteen-year-old Marley’s seemingly perfect life in the small town of Heaven is disrupted when she discovers that her father and mother are not her real parents.
[Education S Collection: S. J6313h]

Little, Jean
Emma’s Yucky Brother. 2000.
Emma finds out how hard it is to be a big sister when her family adopts a four-year-old boy named Max.
[Center for Children’s Books: S.L724e]

McKay, Hilary
Saffy’s Angel. 2002.
After learning that she was adopted, thirteen-year-old Saffron’s relationship with her eccentric, artistic family changes, until they help her go back to Italy where she was born to find a special memento of her past.
[Education Storage: S.M1922s]
Young Adult
Alvarez, Julia
Finding Miracles. 2004.
Fifteen-year-old Milly Kaufman is an average American teenager until Pablo, a new student at her school, inspires her to search for her birth family in his native country.
[Center for Children’s Books: S. Al866f]

Kearney, Meg.
The Secret of Me. 2005
While trying to find her place within her adoptive family and within the wider world, fourteen-year-old Lizzie reveals her secret wishes and fears in a collection of blues poems, list poems, sonnets, sestinas, and free verse.
[Center for Children’s Books: S. K214s]

Leavitt, Caroline.
Girls in Trouble. 2004.
Abandoned by her boyfriend and at odds with her parents for choosing open adoption, Sara, a sixteen-year-old honor student, is sustained by her relationship with her daughter’s adoptive parents until they become threatened by her increasing obsession with the baby and make a decision that has devastating consequences for everyone. (For mature readers)
[Main Stacks: 813 L489g]

Lowry, Lois
Find a Stranger, Say Goodbye. 1978.
Seemingly a girl who has everything, Natalie, at seventeen, goes in pursuit of her birth mother.
[Education Remote Storage: S.L9551f]

Pennebaker, Ruth
Don’t Think Twice. 1996.
Seventeen years old and pregnant, Anne lives with other unwed mothers in a group home in rural Texas where she learns to be herself before giving her child up for adoption.
[Education Storage: S. P381d]

Reinhardt, Dana.
A Brief Chapter in My Impossible Life. 2006.
Sixteen-year-old atheist Simone Turner-Bloom’s life changes in unexpected ways when her parents convince her to make contact with her biological mother, an agnostic from a Jewish family who is losing her battle with cancer.
[Education S Collection: S. R275b]

Bilingual Books for Youth

September 15 – October 15 marks the 20th Anniversary of National Hispanic Heritage Month which honors the histories, cultures and contributions of American citizens who trace their ancestry to Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean, and the Spanish-speaking countries of Central and South America. With today’s growing Hispanic population, many children often speak Spanish as a first language. The following English-Spanish bilingual books celebrate the Hispanic experience and can be used with English language learners.
Contemporary Hispanic Life
Americanos: Latino Life in the United States (La Vida Latina en los Estados Unidos). 1999.
More than 200 black-and-white and color photographs accompany description of Latino life in the United States. (age 13 to adult)
[Modern Languages: Q. 305.868076 Ol5a]

Argueta, Jorge
Moony Luna (Luna Lunita Lunera). 2005.
Five-year old Luna doesn’t want to go to school, but when her parents assure her that she will have a wonderful time playing and learning, she decides to give it a try.
[Education S Collection: SE. Ar38m]

Campos, Tito
Muffler Man (El Hombre Mofle). 2001.
Chuy works hard at the muffler shop to earn enough money to join his father in America, where together they create an army of “muffler men,” statues made from old muffler parts, that they scatter around the city.
[Education S Collection: Q. SE. C157m:SP]

Reiser, Lynn
Margaret and Margarita, Margarita y Margaret. 1993.
Margaret, who only speaks English, and Margarita, who only speaks Spanish, meet in the park and have fun playing together even though they have different languages.
[Education S Collection: SE. R277M]
Folklore, Poetry, and Traditions
Ada, Alma Flor
Half-Chicken (Mediopollito). 1995.
A Mexican folk tale which explains why the weather vane has a little rooster on one end that spins around to let us know which way the wind is blowing.
(Spanish and English on opposite pages.)
[Education Storage: Q. SE. Ad11me]

Gonzalez, Lucia M.
The Bossy Gallito (El gallo de bodas). 1994.
In this cumulative Cuban folktale, a bossy rooster dirties his beak when he eats a kernel of corn and must find a way to clean it before his parrot uncle’s wedding. Includes a glossary of Spanish words and information about the different birds in the story
[Education Storage: Q.S. 398.21 G589B]

Levy, Janice.
The Spirit of Tio Fernando: a Day of the Dead Story (El Espirito Del Tio Fernando: Un Cuento Del Dia de la Muerto). 1995.
As he prepares to celebrate the Day of the Dead, a young boy remembers all the things he liked about his favorite uncle.
[Education S Collection: S. L5796s]

MacCracken, Joan.
Trisba & Sula: a Miskitu Folktale From Nicaragua. 2005.
A young Miskitu man loses his father and must provide for his mother. Initially, he hunts too many deer. With a magical twist, his love for a beautiful young woman helps him realize his unwise practice.
[Education S Collection: Q. S.398.2 M137t]

Mora, Pat
The Desert Is My Mother (El Desierto Es Mi Madre). 1994.
A poetic depiction of the desert as the provider of comfort, food, spirit, and life.
[Education S Collection: Q. S.811 M792d]

The Tree Is Older Than You Are: a Bilingual Gathering of Poems & Stories From Mexico With Paintings By Mexican Artists. 1998.
Bilingual collection of more than 60 Mexican poems and stories with illustrations.
[Education Storage: S.860.81 T714]
Biographies and Autobiographies
Brown, Monica
My name is Gabriela : the life of Gabriela Mistral = Me llamo Gabriela : la vida de Gabriela Mistral. 2005.
Gabriela Mistral loved words, sounds and stories. Born in Chile, she would grow to become the first Nobel Prize-winning Latina woman in the world. As a poet and a teacher, she inspired children across many countries to let their voices be heard.
[Education S Collection: SB. M678b]

Garza, Carmen Lomas.
Family Pictures: Stories & Pictures (Cuadros de Familia: Cuadros y Relatos). 2005.
The author describes, in bilingual text and illustrations, her experiences growing up in a Hispanic community in Texas.
[Education S Collection: Q.S.306.8508968 L837f2005]

Griswold del Castillo, Richard.
Cesar Chavez: the Struggle For Justice (Cesar Chavez: la Lucha Por la Justicia). 2002.
A simple biography of the man who worked to win fairer treatment of the migrant farm workers in California in the 1960s and to establish the United Farm Workers union.
[Undergrad: Q. 331.8813092 C398g:E]

Herrera, Juan Felipe
The Upside Down Boy (El Nino de Cabeza). 2000.
The author recalls the year when his farm worker parents settled down in the city so that he could go to school for the first time.
[Education S Collection: S.811 H433u]
Tip: To Find more bilingual titles in the online catalog use the Subject Heading “Spanish language materials –Bilingual” and choose the heading type “LC subject headings for children.”

The National Education Association Web site offers additional reading lists of bilingual material and other related resources.

Fact or not, this is a question — a few misrepresentations of Chinese culture in English-language children’s books

It is a delight to see the growing number of English children’s books that reflect the culture, history, and experiences of different ethnic groups, including but not limited to people of various racial, national, tribal, religious, linguistic, and cultural backgrounds. For those who need to be reassured of the value of multicultural children’s books, here is what I witnessed in an undergraduate class this spring. The class was introduced to picture books that portray Asian or Asian American cultures. Among the students were first-, second-, and third-generation Asian American immigrants, who found it a pleasant surprise to see their own cultures reflected in children’s books. Except for The Five Chinese Brothers and Tikki Tikki Tembo, they said, not many such books reached them when they were young. Looking back, they wished they could have seen themselves in picture books in their childhood.

Similar to the development of African American children’s literature, early multicultural books have been created mainly by authors and illustrators that are “cultural outsiders” – such as in the case of Ezra Jack Keats, a white artist, telling stories of African American protagonists. Then increasing “cultural insiders” joined in, picking up pens and brushes to tell stories of their own people and to present images that are culturally sensitive. Bishop observes in 1991, for example, “unlike the 1970s, most of the books about African-Americans currently being published are written and/or illustrated by African-Americans.” (p. 34) The purpose of this posting is not to join in the debate on whether cultural outsiders can create work that are culturally authentic, but to point out a couple of cultural, historical, and factual issues I have observed in a few new children’s fiction or non-fiction of Chinese topics. At least two of them are highly acclaimed, award-winning books. To people who are outside a particular culture, some of the confusions may seem minor and not even worth clarifying, but to those who have been nurtured by that culture and have a sense of ownership about it, it is important to see any misrepresentation of or misunderstanding about it cleared.

As will be shown, neither cultural outsiders nor insiders are exempt from cultural errors. Some inaccuracies exist probably because creators have taken artistic liberty, misrepresented fact, but not offered any explanation. So far as I know, no book reviewers have bothered to point out these errors or misleading information in them. I hope educators and librarians who may use these books with children will find clarifications in this posting helpful.

A list of reference books is given at the end for further information.

Young, Ed.
Beyond the Great Mountains: A Visual Poem about China. Chronicle Books, c2005.
(Best Children’s Books of 2005, Publishers Weekly)

In this picture book that features paper collage illustration, Young introduces the beauty, richness, and imagination of the Chinese hieroglyphic language system. Pictorial characters in seal style, which has a history of 2500 years and is still in use by calligraphers, are given at the bottom of every page. Readers, young or old, will be challenged to compare the images and the hieroglyph-based characters, and to find the connection between them.

The last two characters Young presents are the “middle kingdom,” or the Chinese word for “China.” The character “kingdom” that Young shows us consists of a character, which he explains is for “jade (on King’s crown),” encircled by a square that represents boundary. This, however, is not how the character “kingdom” appeared in seal style 2500 years ago. Somehow, Young has replaced it with a newer and simpler form that became popular much later. The older “kingdom” consists of a character that has its origin from a weapon name – lance or spear, encircled by a boundary. In Chinese, the etymology of “kingdom” is national defense. The character that is given in the book and its explanation do not match, either. Without further ado, I simply point out that the author has “stir fried,” likely with deliberation, the forms and explanations of three “kingdoms:” one that is 2500 years old and faithfully represents its etymology, one that became popular later because it has fewer strokes and thus is easier to write, and one that is in Chinese Simplified style, the current official form in use in Mainland China since the 1950s.

Muth, Jon J.
Zen Shorts. Scholastic, 2005.
(2006 Caldecott Honor Book)
[Education S Collection; CCB] Q. SE. M983z

This picture book cleverly adapts stories of Japanese and Chinese religions and philosophies for a young audience. The stories are eloquently told, and the watercolor illustration captures the Zen spirit of meditation. The cultural issue with the book is that Muth takes pleasure in blending cultural symbols of different countries. A giant panda puts on a loose kimono, holds a traditional Japanese-style umbrella (wagasa) under cherry blossoms (or sakura, Japan’s unofficial national flower), and tells two tales about Japanese Zen Buddhas and one tale that represents the Chinese philosophy of Taoism. Even though animals do not usually assume nationality, it is a poor decision to employ a giant panda, the national treasure and peace symbol of China, to act as the spokesman of Japanese culture. Since the author makes little effort to clarify the distinct cultural and national origins of his tales, readers are also left wondering why a story of Taoism is classified as Zen. The author may have decided to mix all these elements of “oriental” cultures on the ground of Japanese and Chinese cultures being related. The two cultures have influenced each other and still do. Buddhism, for example, has traveled first from India to China, then from China to Japan, where it prospered, became known as Zen, and later was introduced to Western countries. The two cultures – as any other two cultures in the world, however, do not identify with each other. It is disrespectful and confusing to mix cultural elements from them.

Two other children’s books that use these three stories have paid due respect to their cultural origins and sources. Heather Forest includes them in Wisdom Tales from around the World (1996) and provides detailed source information for each. A succinct explanation of the Japanese Zen Buddhism and its Indian and Chinese origins can be found in the book. The third story in Muth’s book tells about an old man and his lost horse. It is recorded in Huai Nan Zi edited by Liu An, a Chinese Taoist who lived approximately between 178 B.C.E. and 122 B.C.E. The story is well-known in China and is the basis of a popular Chinese saying, whose message is that you never know what will happen next in your life. Ed Young has illustrated the same story in The Lost Horse: A Chinese Folktale (1998). At the beginning of the picture book, he provides the original Chinese text from Liu An’s work.

Cole, Joanna.
Ms. Frizzle’s Adventures: Imperial China. Scholastic, c2005.
[Education S Collection] Q. S. C675m

Ms. Frizzle and her students time travel to ancient China on Chinese New Year’s eve, after they go under a cloth dragon dancing on the street of Chinatown. The issue in this book is similar to that in Zen Shorts. The illustrator Bruce Degen appears unaware of the distinction between Japanese and Chinese culture. The picture book is an odd blending of Japanese and Chinese cultural motifs throughout. Pictures of clothes that resemble traditional Japanese kimonos, shoes that show features of Japanese geta sandals which have a separate heel, people whose countenance and hairstyle look more Japanese than Chinese, abound. When the book introduces kung fu, the Chinese martial art, two barefoot men were shown practicing in the typical white Japanese karate uniform. As to the umbrella that appears a few times on Ms. Frizzle’s sandal, one only needs to look at a book about Japan (See, for example, the title page of Japan by Harlinah Whyte, 1998, in Countries of the World series) to know that the umbrella (wagasa) is a favored visual motif in Japanese culture. The only time I would recommend this book to anybody is to provide an excellent example of juvenile books that try to teach young readers about a culture that the author does not know much about.

Freedman, Russell.
Confucius: The Golden Rule. Scholastic, 2002.
(2003 Skipping Stones Honor Awards; 2003 Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People)
[Education S Collection; CCB] SB. C748f

In this biography of Confucius, the French Canadian artist Frédéric Clément contributes exquisite ink drawings that well convey an ancient Chinese atmosphere. In one picture, however, he gives Qilin, a Chinese legendary creature, exactly the same look as that of the unicorn in Western folklore. (Freedman & Clément, p. 32) Qilin, or Kylin as it is sometimes spelled in English, exists in Chinese folklore just like Chinese dragons do. Typical of folklore, variant depictions of Qilin are found in text and artistic work. Ci Yuan, a Chinese dictionary, defines Qilin as an auspicious creature in the legend. Male ones are called Qi, and female ones Lin. Qilin has the body of a deer, the tail of an ox, the hooves of a wolf, and a single horn in the forehead. (1979) In fact, Qilin has been conveniently translated into “Chinese unicorn” in English. But the single horn is not always mentioned in descriptions of Qilin. In a photo taken by a tourist from the Summer Palace of Beijing, the statue of Qilin seems to have two horns on its dragon head. A nearby board explains to tourists that it was cast during the reign of Emperor Qianlong (1736-1795). These variants come as no surprise for an animal that exists only in people’s imagination and artistic creation. Evidence shows that Chinese themselves may not be sure what Qilin looks like. A painting of Qilin, now stored in the National Palace Museum of Taiwan, was completed in year 1414, when a giraffe was brought to China for the first time and touted as Qilin. Since Qilin was said to appear in the greatest time only, the emperor Zhu Di was flattered and willingly convinced. He asked his royal artist to draw a picture of this “auspicious creature,” and a member of the Imperial Academy to write a poem about it extolling his brilliant governance. (Zhang, 1997)

Given such a variety of Qilin’s possible form, I cannot argue that it is a cultural error to give Qilin the look of a unicorn, generally depicted with the body and head of a horse, the hind legs of a stag, the tail of a lion, and a straight spiraled horn growing from its forehead. The only person who knows better may be Confucius, who, as the story goes, saw a Qilin not long before his death.

Mah, Adeline Yen, 1937-
Chinese Cinderella and the Secret Dragon Society. HarperCollins, c2005.
[Education S Collection] S. M277c

This fantasy story is set in China during World War II, when U.S. allies helped China in fighting Japanese invaders. Of well over one thousand English-language juvenile books about the Second World War, this is one of the few that brings readers to the Pacific theatre of the war. In the story, several teenagers practice martial arts and rescue American pilots who bombed Tokyo under General Jimmy Doolittle’s command in 1942. The author has taken artistic liberty with a few historical and factual details, some of which she clarifies in the “Historical Note” at the end, others she does not. For example, readers may cry out loud for an explanation why a Muslim, a Jew, and a pious Buddhist never find it a problem to make, cook, and eat dumplings filled with “minced pork.” Interestingly, inaccuracy is found in the “Historical Note,” too. Citing a source published in 1971, it gives somewhat outdated information about the Japanese germ warfare in China, where lethal and endemic diseases such as cholera, dysentery, typhoid, plague, anthrax, and paratyphoid were spread, killing inestimable number of Chinese soldiers, civilians, and even accidentally infecting Japanese troops. The commencement of the Japanese germ warfare, as new evidence is being discovered, has been pushed earlier to the year of 1940, when fleas and grain contaminated with plague were dumped to a city called Ningbo in the eastern Chinese province of Zhejiang. (Dear & Foot, 2001; Harris, 2002, p. 100; Wolf, 1998)

DuTemple, Lesley A.
The Great Wall of China. Lerner, 2003.
[Education S Collection]: S.951 D951g

Two funny mistakes are found in this nonfiction book on the history of the Great Wall. The painting of book burning on page 27 is reversed, an error betrayed by the four reversed Chinese characters on the top-left corner. If you look at page 28 against strong light, the painting that comes through is in the correct position.

On page 72, a photo shows President Nixon visiting the Great Wall on Feb. 24, 1972. The Chinese man standing beside him, the book tells us, is Chairman Mao Tse-tung. Chairman Mao, at the age of 78, was actually too feeble to climb up the Great Wall with Nixon. The man’s name was Li Xiannian, who became the Chinese President in 1983. This web page at the George Mason University Library provides 59 photos that record President Nixon’s trip to China, and No. 40, slightly different from the one in the book, also shows the Nixons, Secretary of State William Rogers, Li Xiannian and his wife, at the Great Wall.

Other cultural misrepresentations

Finally, I take this opportunity to point out that Tikki Tikki Tembo is not a Chinese folktale, even though the author Arlene Mosel notes so and the library catalog uses “Folklore–China” as its subject. A heated discussion and full clarification of the tale’s origin can be found at Child_lit Listserv Discussion Archive. Note that a posting submitted by Ariko Kawabata on June 7, 1998 says, “This kind of a story, of a child who has a long long absurd name, is a Japanese old folk tale. We are very much familiar with this funny story, which is made into a ‘Rakugo,’ the traditional story telling by a professional to make people laugh.”

References

Bishop, R. S. (1991). Evaluating Books by and about African Americans. In M. V. Lindgren (ed.), The Multiculored Mirror: Cultural Substance in Literature for Children and Young Adults. (pp. 33-44). Fort Atkinson, WI: Highsmith.

Child_lit listserv discussion archive: Tikki Tikki Tembo and cultural accuracy in folktales. (2004). Retrieved April 30, 2006 from http://www.fairrosa.info/disc/tikki.html

Ci yuan. (1979-1983). (Rev. ed.). Beijing: Shang wu.

Dear, I. C. B., & Foot, M. R. D. (Eds.). (2001). The Oxford companion to World War II. Oxford University Press. Retrieved March 24, 2006, from http://www.oxfordreference.com/views/ENTRY.html?subview=Main&entry=t129.e186

Devloo, E. (1969). An etymological Chinese-English dictionary. Taibei: Hua Ming Press.

Forest, H. (1996). Wisdom tales from around the world. Little Rock: August House.

Harris, S. H. (2002). Factories of death: Japanese biological warfare, 1932-1945, and the American cover-up (Rev. ed.). New York: Routledge.

Lindgren, M. V. (1991). The multicolored mirror: Cultural substance in literature for children and young adults. Fort Atkinson, Wis: Highsmith.

Mosel, A., & Lent, B. (1968). Tikki Tikki Tembo. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.

Whyte, H. (1998). Japan. Milwaukee, WI: G. Stevens Pub.

Wolf, M. (1998, April 6). Bubonic warfare: Denver couple survived 1940 biological attack on China. [Electronic version]. Denver Rocky Mountain News, pp. 3d. Retrieved March 24, 2006, from NewsFile collection database.

Young, E. (1998). The lost horse: A Chinese folktale. San Diego: Silver Whistle/Harcourt Brace.

Zhang, Z. (1997). Qilin of the Ming dynasty. Retrieved April 28, 2006 from http://book.tngs.tn.edu.tw/database/scientieic/content/1997/00050329/0005.htm
Prepared by:
Minjie Chen
Doctoral Student
Graduate School of Library and Information Science, UIUC

Children’s Books – Interracial Families

Finding children’s books about interracial families:

This guide suggests four ways to find children’s books about interracial families. Interracial families include those where family members have differing ethnicities due to adoption, and those in which the biological mother and father have different ethnic backgrounds.You can search for book titles in

a) the library online catalog
b) bibliographies
c) the NoveList database
d) the Children’s Literature Comprehensive Database (CLCD).

a) Search the library online catalog

Tip 1: Use “juvenile” as a subject word to restrict your search to children’s books
OR
Tip 2: Use “Search Limits” (click on the button that says “more limits” to get to the limiting page) to restrict your search within children’s books.There are cases where children’s books don’t have the word “juvenile” assigned to their catalog records. In order not to miss these books, you can use “Search Limits” as an alternative approach. Hold the “Ctrl” key, and in the “Location” box, click:

• Center for Children’s Books
• Education & Social Science
• University High School

The majority of the University Library’s children’s literature is kept in these three libraries, though not all books in the Education Library are children’s books.

Tip 3: After either putting “juvenile” in the subject field as directed in Tip 1, or limiting your search as directed in Tip 2, use the following subject terms in the Guided Keyword Search.
• Interracial marriage
• Interracial adoption
• Intercountry adoption
• Racially mixed children
• Racially mixed people

If following Tip 1: you can try these separately (in different searches) in the second subject line.

If following Tip 2: You can put at least three of them in separate boxes and “OR” them together.

Tip 4: Use specific words for regions, ethnic groups, etc.There are cases where books about racially mixed families don’t get the above subject terms assigned to their catalog records. In order not to miss these books, you can use more specific words to dig some of them out – use these strategies in combination with either Tip 1 or Tip 2.

Example: adopt? Korea? – all of these – Any Words
Example: adopt? – all of these – Any Words ANDChina Chinese – any of these – Any Words)

b) Locate book titles in bibliographies

The following web site: http://www.library.uiuc.edu/edx/edkclass.htm#gen was developed by the Education and Social Science Library (ESSL) and provides references to books that enable the search of children’s books by topic. For example:

• That’s me! That’s you! That’s us! : selected current multicultural books for children and young adults presenting positive, empowering images, 5th ed.Call No.: S.011.62 Em364tLocation: Education Juvenile Reference

• A to zoo : subject access to children’s picture books (6th ed.)Call No.: S.011.62 L628a2001;Location: Education Juvenile Reference & LIS Library

• Best books for children : preschool through grade 6 (7th ed.)Call No.: S.011.62 G412b2002; S.011.62 G412b2003(supplement)Location: Education Juvenile Reference

• Multicultural literature for children and young adults : a selected listing of books by and about people of color. V. 2 (1st ed.)Call No.: Q.S. 011.62 K945mLocation: Education Juvenile Reference & Education Storage

• Kaleidoscope : a multicultural booklist for grades K-8Call No.: S.016.3058 K1242003Location: Education Juvenile Reference & Center for Childrens Books

• Adoption literature for children and young adults : an annotated bibliography Call No.: S. 016.362734 M597ALocation: Education Juvenile ReferenceYou can use their subject indexes and look for book titles listed under such terms as “Interracial families,” “Interracial marriages” or “Marriage, interracial,” “Biracial children,” “adoption,” etc.

• Children’s interracial fiction : an unselective bibliography. 1969. 124p.Call No.: S. 016.813 G458CLocation: Education Remote Storage (For those who want to do historical research, this may be worth a look.)

c) Search the NoveList database

NoveList, which is accessible through the “Online Research Resources” page, is a fiction database that provides subject heading access, reviews, annotations, etc. for fiction books for all ages. Go to the “New Search” page and click on “Boolean Search.” You can search fiction titles by subject terms or keywords. This page also offers a convenient way for you to define age range of the books you are looking for.To browse subject terms this database uses on books about interracial families, go to the “New Search” page and click on “All Authors, Titles, Series Names and Subjects.”

d) Search the Children’s Literature Comprehensive Database (CLCD)

The useful thing about CLCD is that it offers quick access to book reviews, as well as easy ways to distinguish between fiction and non-fiction, and to define age and grade level of the books you are looking for.“Interracial marriage,” “Interracial adoption,” “Intercountry adoption” are all good terms to use here. You can also try specific words that relate to regions and ethic groups in your search.

• To conduct a broad search, choose the default “singular and plural forms” and search within “All Fields;”

• To do a narrow search, choose “exact phrase” or “exact words” and search within “Subject Hdgs.”First-time users of the database can consult the tutorial document at http://clcd.odyssi.com/member/chelp2.htm for more guidance.

Finally, here are a few sample titles of children’s books in the University Library, fiction or non-fiction, concerning interracial families:

1. An Mei’s strange and wondrous journey / by Stephan Molnar-Fenton. 1998. 1v.[Call No.: SE. M7381a, Education S Collection]

2. Black is brown is tan / by Arnold Adoff. 1973. 31p.[Call No.: SE. AD71B, CCB & Education Storage]

3. Black, white, just right / Marguerite W. Davol. 1993. unpaged.[Call No.: SE. D311B, Education Storage]

4. Interracial marriages / by Paul Almonte and Theresa Desmond. c1992. 47 p.[Call No.: S. 306.846 AL68F, Education Storage]

5. Living in two worlds / by Maxine B. Rosenberg. c1986. 46 p.[Call No.: S. 306.846 R723L, CCB & Education Storage]

6. Loving v. Virginia : interracial marriage / Karen Alonso. c2000. 112 p.[Call No.: S.346.73016 Al72l, Education S Collection]

7. Mommy far, Mommy near : an adoption story / written by Carol Antoinette Peacock. 2000. 1v. [Call No.: S.P3131m 2000, Education S Collection]

8. The rainbow effect : interracial families / Kathlyn Gay. 1987. 141 p.[Call No.: 306.846 G252R, Main Stacks]

9. Trevor’s story : growing up biracial / Bethany Kandel. c1997. 40 p.[Call No.: S. 306.846 K131T, Education Storage]

10. Two Mrs. Gibsons / story by Toyomi Igus. 1996. 30p.[Call No.: SE. Ig8t, CCB & Education S Collection]

11. We adopted you, Benjamin Koo / Linda Walvoord Girard. 1989. 32p.[Call No.: S. 362.734 G441W, Education Remote Storage]

12. We don’t look like our Mom and Dad / by Harriet Langsam Sobol. 1984. 32p.[Call No.: S.362.7340973 So12w, Education Remote Storage]