Surveying the landscape of children's and YA literature, this contributed volume shows how books have grown to include the wide range of our increasingly diverse society.

Perspectives and identity are typically reinforced at a young age, giving teachers the responsibility of selecting reading material that could potentially change how the child sees the world. This is the importance of sharing diverse literature with today’s children and young adults, which introduces them to texts that deal with religion, gender identities, racial identities, socioeconomic conditions, etc. Teachers and librarians play significant roles in placing diverse books in the hands of young readers. However, to achieve the goal of increasing young people’s access to diverse books, educators and librarians must receive quality instruction on this topic within their university preparation programs. The Handbook of Research on Teaching Diverse Youth Literature to Pre-Service Professionals is a comprehensive reference source that curates promising practices that teachers and librarians are currently applying to prepare aspiring teachers and librarians for sharing and teaching diverse youth literature. Given the importance of sharing diverse books with today’s young people, university educators must be aware of engaging and effective methods for teaching diverse literature to pre-service teachers and librarians. Covering topics such as syllabus development, diversity, social justice, and activity planning, this text is essential for university-level teacher educators, library educators who prepare pre-service teachers and librarians, university educators, faculty, adjunct instructors, researchers, and students.

This collection of original essays concentrates on the meaning of cultural aesthetics in children's and adolescent literature and uniquely tackles the particular issues teachers face today. Discusses beginning literary patterns of a particular group, stereotypic representations of American cultures, imagery in American adolescent and children's literature, and issues of literary inclusion. Theory and practice come together throughout the three sections of the text.

"Children’s literature is a contested terrain, as is multicultural education. Taken together, they pose a formidable challenge to both classroom teachers and academics.... Rather than deny the inherent conflicts and tensions in the field, in Critical Multicultural Analysis of Children’s Literature: Mirrors, Windows, and Doors, Maria José Botelho and Masha Kabakow Rudman confront, deconstruct, and reconstruct these terrains by proposing a reframing of the field.... Surely all of us – children, teachers, and academics – can benefit from this more expansive understanding of what it means to read books." Sonia Nieto, From the Foreword Critical multicultural analysis provides a philosophical shift for teaching literature, constructing curriculum, and taking up issues of diversity and social justice. It problematizes children’s literature, offers a way of reading power, explores the complex web of sociopolitical relations, and deconstructs taken-for-granted assumptions about language, meaning, reading, and literature: it is literary study as sociopolitical change. Bringing a critical lens to the study of multiculturalism in children’s literature, this book prepares teachers, teacher educators, and researchers of children’s literature to analyze the ideological dimensions of reading and studying literature. Each chapter includes recommendations for classroom application, classroom research, and further reading. Helpful end-of-book appendixes include a list of children’s book awards, lists of publishers, diagrams of the power continuum and the theoretical framework of critical multicultural analysis, and lists of selected children’s literature journals and online resources.

Understanding Diversity Through Novels and Picture Books goes beyond the usual multicultural lists and looks at the wide expanse of the diversity of cultures and lifestyles impacting children's lives in America today and identifies good books to have in library collections for them to read. Included are annotated titles with discussion questions from all of the identified cultures and subcultures and annotated teacher/librarian resources, print- and Web-based, as well as an excellent list of topical annotated journal articles. Grades 4-8. Knowles and Smith examine current research on diversity and multiculturalism. They move away from the traditional aspects of multicultural education (food, fashion, folktales, festivals, and famous people) to a focus on novels and pictures books, and realistic fiction to show children with diversity issues that there are others in similar positions. The issue of authenticity (whether the author of the book should be of that culture or merely familiar with the culture) is discussed. Topics include: Ethnicities (Asian, Latino/Hispanic, African/Black, Native American, White/European, Bi/Multiracial), Exceptionalities, Ageism, Socioeconomic Status, Sexual Orientation, Gender, and Religion. The authors provide this valuable resource for libraries, schools, and communities that wish to utilize literature to help diverse students walk in the shoes of others and to match books to children and young adults to heighten understanding and acceptance. Grades 4-8.

This innovative text addresses the most current issues in children's literature, particularly cultural diversity and multiculturalism. It seeks to define, compare, contrast and apply various genre as it can be integrated within a regular elementary curriculum setting. The emergence of children's literature that is multicultural is clearly explained while connections to theories of child development are made. Also included are various curricular applications of multicultural literature in lesson plan format, which are activity based and student-centered.