ABSTRACT
Multicultural children’s literature has the power to perpetuate or disrupt biases and stereotypes, depending on how authentically it reflects the culture depicted. Many teachers struggle with determining whether a multicultural children’s book is culturally authentic or whether it is appropriate to use in the classroom. As a literacy professor born and raised in China, the author examined 87 fiction picture books about Chinese/ChineseAmerican culture in this study, hoping to offer an insider view about the books for classroom teachers. Analysis found that nearly 50% of the books reviewed in this study reflect Chinese/Chinese-American culture highly authentically. However, inaccurate cultural facts and stereotypes are still present in 20% of the books, including several recently published titles. The author suggests that if the purpose of using multicultural children’s
literature is to develop healthy cultural identity and dispel stereotypes, it is important for teachers to not only expose students to books with a high level of cultural authenticity but also to teach them what to look for and why a book is not authentic so as to foster critical literacy skills and multicultural awareness.
