Danielle Medeiros

I recently shared on Instagram (@projetobrasilaustin) the importance of multicultural literature in the lives of children and adolescents.

If you watched the video click here to the list of books cited during the video. If you have not watched, worth reading below the summary of what I talked about in the video.

What is multicultural literature?

It is literature in which the protagonist is part of a minority group such as blacks, indigenous people, Latinos, Asians. It also includes women and people with physical disabilities. The story takes place within the cultural context of the minority group and often involves interaction with other minority groups or the majority.

What are the benefits?

• Children and adolescents learn empathy. Through multicultural books, children come to understand other points of view, other cultures and ways of living. They follow the protagonist's trajectory, being able to read his thoughts, feel his pains; generating a connection with the characters who then transfer to real experiences.
• In the classroom, empathy helps students to relate better and to trust each other more.
• Children and teenagers from minority groups, and this group includes our children growing up outside of Brazil, need to see each other in the stories they are reading so that they can connect with the character more deeply. Multicultural literature creates self-worth and helps these children to know themselves, understand their roots and culture.
• It helps to shape values ​​and perspectives. Children and teenagers start to see situations with a new vision, because with books they learn that each culture thinks and acts differently so they learn to respect and appreciate these differences.
• Multicultural literature exposes children to situations they may not experience in their lives such as racism or prejudice. And as they “live” the situation through the character, they become aware of the problem and open to fighting for change. 
• Multicultural literature helps children to know and appreciate other life experiences and cultures and to expand their knowledge of the world around them.
• In the classroom, these books arouse critical knowledge and the search for different perspectives of a situation.

 When to introduce multicultural books?

Since childhood, baby. I don't remember exactly when I started introducing these books, but if I was starting now I would start from a baby.

Why? Babies are discovering the world and they learn by images. So when you read books in which different cultures and races are present, your baby will already learn that there is diversity in the world and that everyone is important.

If your child is part of a minority group (and if you are Brazilian living outside Brazil, your child is part of this group), and she sees only the white children's books living in a context that does not represent its context, in the case bicultural and bilingual, she will not be seen in the characters and will not have that deeper connection.

On the other hand, if the child is part of the majority group and does not read multicultural books can develop negative attitudes towards minority groups. And this is also true of a minority group to another.

How I choose quality books?

Go beyond the cover or description to make sure the book is not perpetuating stereotypes. The best tip I can offer is to choose books written by people belonging to race or culture. These writers open the window to their world, as they are writing about their own context, their race and / or culture. 

Choose a variety of books. 

For example: Should you read books that talk about slavery, segregation, racism, the civil rights movement? Of course, it is super important for children and adolescents to understand history from the perspective of blacks in order to develop critical knowledge when learning the version of the colonizers at school. 

 But it is important to introduce books that tell current stories, with characters the age of their children, living in similar and different contexts, because it is with these characters that their children will really connect. It is also important to read books that speak of the resilience, strength and contributions of people of different races and cultures.

There are some literary awards that are specific to multicultural books. These books are usually excellent. Look for award stamps like Coretta Scott King, Tomás Rivera Award, Pura Belpré that specific to multicultural literature. Scott-O'Dell Award for fiction based on historical facts and Newberry and Caldecott are best known for children's literature and encompass all books. 

Danielle Medeiros is an educator of Portuguese as a heritage language with over 20 years of experience in the field. He is a master in Education with a focus on language acquisition and STEAM and in Education Technologies. Among his great passions are literature, the maker movement, and the use of technology in the classroom. © Our content is protected by copyright. Share only with the link, citing: Projeto Brasil - Cultura Brasil Austin.