MULTICULTURAL TEXT
SET
I choose to focus on learning to accept our differences and
also being open to the fact that everyone is not the same.
Whitney Hawkins
ELED 308
Just the Way You Are
Marcus Pfister
■ This book focuses on accepting the fact
that you are different and being satisfied
with your unique being. In this story the
lion refused to go the party because he did
not have characteristics such as the lion,
toucan and chameleon. His friends
insisted that he was perfectly fine the way
he was. After much deliberation the lion
ended up going to the party and having a
good time. When he told his friends that
he wish he had the traits that they had,
they were flattered that lion admired things
about him. They laughed at the thought of
trading traits, and had a fantastic time at
the party.
I believe this book will be a good read aloud
because it uses language that can be easily
understood by elementary age children. It is
also somewhat a popup book, so the
illustrations will also keep the children
interested. This book will probably work best for
Kindergarten- 2nd grade. The activities you
would do for each would be extremely different
being that the developmental stage for a Pre-K
student and Kindergartner is completely
different.
The Colors of Us
Karen Katz
■
In this book an artist explains to her daughter
that she is mixing colors so she can create the
shade of brown that matches her skin
tone. The daughter is shocked and says that
brown is brown. Her mom explains to her that
people are all different shades of brown and
they go through town comparing people’s skin
tones, while the mother emphasizes the fact
that everyone is unique. The daughter
understands the point that the mother is trying
to make, and when they go to the park the
daughter tells the mother to look at the
children’s legs and notice how all of them are a
different shade. When they return home, the
daughter begins to paint picture of her friends,
using the right paint to match their complexion
because she now has an understanding of how
everyone’s skin tone is unique to them. This
book allows for great arts and crafts activities
that could allow children to mix colors to create
new colors, whether it be their skin tone or a
new color.
This story has bright illustrations that
would capture the student’s attention.
It also has very few words on each page
so you can read it aloud without losing
the children’s focus. This book would
work best for Pre-kindergarten and
Kindergarten.
Sneetches
Dr. Seuss
■ This story provides a subtle message about how
you should not look down, or judge others
because they are different from you. In this book
there are star belly Sneetches who look down on
Sneetches that do not have stars on their
bellies. The star belly Sneetches are saddened
by the fact that they aren’t accepted until
Sylvester McMonkey McBean comes and shows
them his invention of the star on star off
machine which gives stars to the non star bellied
Sneetches and takes away stars from the star
bellied Sneetches. The roles are reversed and
the previous Sneetches who had stars on their
belly are unhappy and insist that Sylvester
remove all of their stars. Eventually they are
unable to remember who had star bellies and
who didn’t, but this allows them to realize that it
doesn’t matter whether they have star bellies
because at the end of the day they are all same.
This book uses a lot of rhyming, which
children often times enjoy, this balances
out the fact that the pages consist of a lot
of words per page. For read aloud this book
would work for Kindergarten and First
grade, but being that the book is extremely
wordy with some made up words it is a book
maybe meant for 2nd and 3rd grade
concerning books to be read outside of
read alouds.
It’s A Small World
Richard M. Sherman
■ This book allows children to travel to
different countries, continents
through the illustrations. It is based
off the childhood song It’s a small
world that many people learn in
elementary school. This song and
book allow children to realize that
no matter where children are
located around the world, that all
children have something in common
that they enjoy playing and having
fun. After reading the book you can
then teach the children the song
and partake in a classroom
singalong.
This book is a good read aloud,
because of the fact that it can either be
read aloud or sung as a song. Children
love interactive learning so they would
love the fact that this story can be
converted to a song. This is a book that
would work best for Pre-Kindergarten or
Kindergarten being that is a sing along
book.
Mostly Monsterly
Tammi Sauer
■ Bernadette who is a monster, enjoys
doing things that aren’t necessarily
monsterly such as pick flowers and
pet kittens. Bernadette has reached
the age where it is now time to go to
Monster Academy, but she is nervous
because of the fact that she does not
act the same way the monsters at the
Monster Academy act. By the end of
the story Bernadette finds a way to fit
in without changing who she is. This
book focuses on the fact that just
because you are different does not
mean that you have to accommodate
to fit the way others believe you
should be, but instead continue to be
yourself and allow others to adjust.
This is an amusing read aloud book
with funny illustrations. Although the
illustrations are of monsters, the
monsters are not frightening, and can
be enjoyed by children of all ages. This
book can work well as a read aloud for
st
Pre-Kindergarten - 1 grade, and as an
individual read for ages up until 3rd
grade.
Elliot Jones Midnight Superhero
Anne Cottringer
■ This book focuses on looking beyond outward
appearance, and not forming judgement based on
people’s outward appearance. Elliott Jones is a
very quiet boy who spends majority of the day
reading, feeding his goldfish and watching Mr.
Smith wash his car. Many of his classmates taunt
him because of the fact that he is so quiet and
reserved. Although he is quiet during the day, at
midnight Elliot becomes a superhero who saves
the town by flying around rescuing people and
saving the day. The superhero Elliot is admired by
many people within the town including the same
students who make fun of the quiet Elliot while in
school. Later in the book we learn that being a
superhero is extremely hard work, and during the
day Elliot is oftentimes tired which is why he is so
quiet.
This is a great read aloud because all
children love stories about super hero’s.
A great lesson can also easily be
created using this book. This book can
be read to Kindergartners – 2nd grade.
Good Little Wolf
Nadia Shireen
■ Oftentimes in children’s books we hear stories of the big
bad wolf, where the wolf is normally the antagonist. In
this story the the wolf is a good wolf who lives with a
lady named Ms. Boggins. Ms. Boggins constantly tells
the wolf how he is such a good little wolf, and he took
pride in that until he met a large ferocious wolf who tried
to convince him that he wasn’t a real wolf because real
wolves aren’t little and good. The good little wolf tries to
prove that he is real wolf by doing things he normally
wouldn’t do, until the big bad wolf ask him to do
something very mean to Ms. Boggins and her
house. The good little wolf then stands up for himself
and refuses to be bullied by the big bad wolf. This book
reiterates the fact that just because you are different
from someone else, do not allow them to pressure you
into becoming something you are not.
Because the illustrations aren’t very
vivid in this book, the illustrator used a
lot of pastel colors I’m not sure if the
students would find this as interesting
as the previous books. It is an
interesting book with vocabulary that
could challenge an elementary school
student, which is good for read alouds.
This book may work best for 1st and 2nd
graders.
I’m Special, I’m Me
Ann Meek
■ This book helps students to gain confidence and to learn
to love the differences that make them unique from
others. Milo, the main character in this story, always
plays pretend with his friends. Overtime Milo ask to be
certain character in their pretend game his friends tell
him that he can because of the fact that he isn’t tall
enough to be captain or strong enough to be a lion.
Discouraged, when Milo goes home after school he tells
his mom what happened and his mom explains to him
that he is special and able to be whatever he wants to
be. The next day at school rather than asking his parents
what character he can be during the pretend game, he
instead tells his friends what he is going to be. His
friends like the idea, and Milo realizes that his mother
was right, he has the ability to be whatever he wants to
be.
The message of this book is very
interesting, and I also feel like children
would be able to easily relate to this book.
Every child has been in the predicament
where they were unable to be the character
they wanted to be during playtime. This
book also consist of good illustration and a
wide variety of new words. This book would
work best for 1st or 2nd graders being that it
is very text heavy.
The Cow that Laid an Egg
Andy Cutbill
■ Marjorie, a cow who is the main character in the story is
discouraged because of the fact that she does not have
a special talent such as being able to ride a bike or do a
handstand like the other cows. Marjorie’s friends, the
other cows and chickens trick Marjorie and the other
animals into thinking that Marjorie laid an egg. All the
animals are amazed, including Marjorie. The chicken’s
plans worked for a bit, and Marjorie was extremely
happy to be the center of attention. The other cows
then become jealous of the attention that Marjorie is
receiving being that an egg laying cow is more
interesting than a cow that rides bicycles or does
handstands and they then force her to convince them
that she laid the egg. This book focuses on the fact of
ensuring that you know you’re worth and do not make
up things to earn the approval of others.
I feel as if this book would be a good read
aloud because of the fact that the book
uses a lot of dialogue, so when reading it
you will be able to adjust your voice to
match each character. Children love when
you are able to do this, because it adds
extra fun to the read alouds rather than
simply reading word for word in a monotone
voice. I feel as if this book could be read to
Kindergartners or 1st graders.
A Color of His Own
Leo Linni
■
Chameleon’s have no specific color of their own,
and one day has the brilliant idea of staying on a
green leaf for forever until he realizes that in fall
the leaf will change colors. Once the color of the
leaf changes, the chameleons color also
changes. After meeting another chameleon, they
decide that they will become friends and travel
together and end up becoming really good
friends. Throughout their travels, the chameleons
realize that it does not matter what they look like,
but instead that they have good friends to help
them through life. This book emphasizes the fact
that you do not need to fit in and be like everyone
else to enjoy life, but to instead find someone who
accepts you and your “flaws”
This book would be a better read aloud
for an older group of children, maybe
nd
2 grade. For the younger children,
they would lose interest quickly mainly
because of the fact that the illustrations
on each page are very much so the
same. There’s also very little words per
page.