Newbery Award Books Quality books for children

Students prefer to read a story about different cultures rather than reading facts about culture from a history book.  Stories let children relate to the characters who have different backgrounds than their own. Multicultural includes geographic area, gender, race, handicaps, and social class.  Lack of understanding of different cultures can be a springboard of fear and hatred toward a group of people.  Quality multicultural books help children realize many children have similar struggles, conflicts and emotions.  

Using appropriate literature in the reading curriculum may help children see they have more in common with other children in different communities and countries than what they previously thought.  After family, books are the second most significant way children learn about

their own culture (Gillespie, 1994). Multicultural literature may be the event that transforms a child into wanting to read, not because they have to read.

Educators are encouraged to make available children's literature that focuses on people of cultures different from their own. For example, if the classroom consists mostly of African- American students, the books should certainly not all be about black people. Students, no matter their background, should learn about other cultures as well. In books we can celebrate people’s differences. (Ricksecker, 2009)

Below indicates the first year a new culture was highlighted in the Newbery Award stories.  

Chinese Culture:  1926 Shen of the Sea (and again in 1933 Young Fu of the Upper Yangtze)

Indian Culture:  1928 Gay Neck, the Story of a Pigeon

Polish Culture: 1929 The Trumpeter of Krakow

Navajo Culture: 1932 Waterless Mountain

Bulgarian Culture: 1935 Dobry

Italy Immigrants: 1937 Roller Skates

Polynesian Culture:  1941 Call it Courage

Dutch Culture:  1942 The Matchlock Gun

Moroccan Culture:  1949 King of the Wind

African American: 1951 Amos Fortune: Free Man (true story)

Hispanic Character:  1954 …and Now Miguel

Inca Indians: 1953, Secret of the Andes

Israeli Culture:  1962 The Bronze Bow

Multicultural:  1966 I, Juan de Pareja, 1961 Island of the Blue Dolphins and 1965 Shadow of a Bull

Prejudices African-Americans face: 1970 Sounder; 1974 The Slave Dancer; 1977 Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry

Eskimo Girl:  1973 Julie of the Wolves

Multicultural themes continue with recent winners:

African-American: 2000, Bud, Not Buddy

Korean Culture: 2002 A Single Shard

Japanese-American Culture:  2005 Kira-Kira