Books for young children: A way to expose them to cultural diversity

Abiyoyo- Pete Seeger, Illustrated by Michael Hays

This story is adapted from an old South African folktale. The main characters are a boy who likes to play his ukulele and his troublesome father who is a magician. After playing tricks on the town’s people, they are sent to live on the edge of town. But when a big monster called Abiyoyo comes to town the boy and his father use their magic and music make him disappear and to save the people in town.

Some of the elements of this book, such as the myth of monsters defied by a weaker character, help to illustrate beliefs and values of a group of people that might be present in more than one culture. This book is also rich in language elements such as onomatopoeic sounds, and rhythmical elements. The last part contains descriptive phrases about the monster and rhythmical components, which makes a great group reading among preschoolers!

Splash (Arab and English) Flora McDonnell

This is a good resource for ELL whose first language is Arabic, it engages the audience with alive illustration of African animals and simple text. The text and the illustration convey the climate of the savannah, where the thirsty animals gather around a pond of refreshing water. The book offers repetition of words and focuses on English (onomatopoeic) sounds “squirt” “sploosh” that are widely used in the English language. The complex illustrations of the different actions give the opportunity for young readers to create their own story about the scene. The English text is accompanied by the Arabic translation.

Can you cuddle Like a Koala? By John Butler

This book offers amusing illustrations of animals of different hemispheres. It focuses on actions and names of the animals (Can you stretch like a tiger, waking from a dream?). Every time the reader turns the page will be encounter an action and a different animal. Each sentence is connected with the other by rhymes, which gives the story a thread and a flow.

This book is recommended for young children and ELLs for its focus on verbs and actions. It also focuses on phonemic awareness through the rhymes and helps to increase the vocabulary with the different names of animals and verbs. Since this book contains animals of different regions, young children might encounter animals that are familiar to them, opening opportunities to share their knowledge with others.

Peek A Thai Hide-and –Seek by Minfong Ho, Illustrated by Holly Meade

This book could be helpful to create the link with ELLs who are native speakers of Thai. It is a playful book about the dad playing the Thai version of “peek-a-boo” with his daughter Jut-Ay.

This is book can be used for preschool level. It offers colorful page-size illustrations ideal for group reading with young children. The pictures accompany the text giving a clear context of the story to young readers. This book offers the onomatopoeic sounds in Thai of different native animals throughout the story. The rhymes will help the reader develop phonemic awareness as well as the cultural aspect of the language.

Abuela by Arthur Dorros, Illustrated by Elisa Kleven

This story introduces the theme of extended families in the Hispanic community through Rosalba, a girl who travels around New York City with her grandmother. In this magic narration, the main characters fly around the city visiting different sites and people.

This book is useful for ELLs who are native Spanish speakers in 1^st or 2^nd grade for its vocabulary and the more complex grammatical structures found in the book. Amid the English text the reader finds Spanish phrases and expressions. This technique might be helpful for ELLs as it clarifies the context of the story in their native language, providing them with the key words that are later repeated in English. The language of this book helps to expand the vocabulary using abundant verbs, adjectives, comparisons and different tenses.

Click, Clack, Moo Cows that Type by Dorean Cronin pictures by Betsy Lewin

This book can be used with young children who are learning English, either native speakers or ELLs. The book starts with the onomatopoeic sound of a typewriter and the cows. This strategy let the reader infer about the context in which the story will develop. The key words that this story contains are common and familiar to children, such as cow, milk and eggs. The simplicity helps to understand and provides a basis for the comprehension of the rest of the story.

The illustration fulfill the function of strengthen the context and the style of the story. The expressions of the characters in the illustrations are lively, appropriate for young readers. This book may spark great conversations and side activities among children, such as writing letters.

Floppy’s Friend by Guido van Genechten, translated by Sujata Banerjee

This book, in English and Bengali, is about a bunny, Floppy, who at school plays with bunnies of different colors, although the rest only played with rabbits of the same color. One day a white and brown bunny comes over and tries to make friends. Other bunnies make fun of his spots, however Floppy know that he his new friend has a good idea. He introduces to the group a new game that allows them to play all together!

This book could serve as link with students who speak Bengali. This book can initiate conversations about the physical differences within a group but all the activities and games that unite children as a group. Children around 3 and 4 year olds can favor from the lesson in this book.

“Slowly, Slowly, Slowly,” said the Sloth by Eric Carle

“Anyone who has ever felt too busy will be amused by the sloth’s peaceful lifestyle. Eric Carle’s dazzling collage illustrations introduce readers to the exotic beauty of the Amazon rain forest and the unusual animals living there”

If the reader is from one of the countries that share the Amazon forest it is very likely that they have heard about these animals and this book could be a connection between something familiar and the new language. In terms of ELL support this book provides clear examples of the use of adverbs and past tense. Later in the story, adjectives that describe the slow style of the sloth are presented to the reader. This is book provides the opportunity to expand the vocabulary of ELL’s based on previous knowledge and as the story advances the vocabulary becomes more complex. Kindergarteners and first graders might be the target population for this book.

Market Day by Lois Ehlert

Market Day is story about the preparations before the people in town go to the market. The highlight of this book is the illustrations which are collages made with handcrafts of figures of people, animals and objects from different parts of the world. The culture of the market day is alive in many agricultural countries and this book offers the cultural connection for ELLs who come from those cultures. Children might be able to identify the tradition as well as the handcrafts of their countries.

At the beginning of the story the reader will find the use of the imperative form, switching later to present tense. The language and the bright illustrations frame the context so the reader understands the sequence of the events. The use of rhymes helps the reader to identify similar sounds such as “bridge/ridge”

Papa, Do You Love me? By Barbara M. Joose, Illustrated by Barbara Lavallee.

This book presents the readers the rich cultural experience of the Maasai boys in East African countries such as Kenya and Tanzania. Readers who are familiar with the culture can find the connection to the tradition described in this story, where boys receives animals to shepherd as a sign of responsibility.

In the book the boy asks his father how much he loves him. There are cultural references that might help ELLs of this particular region of the world. The book mentions native animals, plants, traditions and artifacts from the region. This book serves also as a window of east African cultures and could be used to introduce new cultural concepts to students.

Dear Primo –A Letter to My Cousin- by Duncan Tonatiuh

In this story Charlie a boy who lives in New York receives a letter from his cousin Carlitos who lives in a town in Mexico. In their correspondence children share with each other their daily experiences in the places they live -their different types of transportation to go school, their different styles of buildings in which they live, the food they eat, the games they play, etc. At the end it occurs to them that they should visit each other.

This book is great for ELLs who have gone through the transition from a rural style of life in other countries in Latin America or for the readers who have family in other countries.  The language is simple and this story has labels in Spanish that illustrate some Mexican traditions that contrast with the life style in the USA. The illustrations resemble the Mayan style of representing people that gives the book its traditional character.