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Multicultural Literature in the Classroom and The Importance of All…
Multicultural Literature in the Classroom and The Importance of All Children Seeing Themselves in Literature
What is it? Multicultural literature includes: International, African-American, Native American, Hispanic/Latino, Asian/Pan Pacific, other groups of people, Inclusive (Jewish, GLBT, Arabic, disability, etc) 
Why is it important? Multicultural literature emphasizes the uniqueness of all people. It is important as our society becomes increasingly diverse to represent students in reading so they can relate and see other perspectives.
Provides oppurtunities for students to see how others go through experiences similar to theirs, develop strategies to cope with issues, and identify themselves with their inherited cultures.
Though some improvement is being seen, literature is heavily biased in topics such as race, gender, culture, etc.
Selecting multicultural literature- teachers should look for positive portrayals of characters with authentic and realistic behaviors. Avoid stereotypes, encourage diversity, historically accurate when appropriate and search for characters who properly reflect cultural values.
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Teachers can find many resources for titles: Pinterest, blogs, websites, specialized book reviewers, award lists.
The lack of multicultural literature can make kids feel alone or unacceptable. When authors try to be too politically correct in characters, they become unrelatable and boring.
Students recognizing themselves in books can inspire children to do and be what they desire. Relatable characters succeeding makes things seem possible.
Problems that teachers may face include time restrictions, policies, not inline with curriculum, censorship, and parents finding controversial topics unacceptable.
Readers will bring their own layers and perspectives to books that others may not see. These atypical connections can encourage and motivate students.
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Both videos stressed the importance of multicultural literature, one viewpoint from the classroom and another from the writer's perspective. The video on the classroom did a great job of explaining the connection for students and offered a great selection of books on a wide variety of diverse people and situations. In the Scholastic authors panel video, authors shared some information about their titles (as well as others) and their personal experiences as children unable to relate to typical book characters.