Now that we are fast becoming a multi-cultural society, the newly published A Multicultural Guide to Children's Books 0-16+ (£7.50 in UK), edited by Rosemary Stones, has that perfect-timing ring to it.
Articles in the guide examine children, books and multiculturalism. Multi-culturalism is an inevitability, an essay by Farrukh Dhondy argues; it is "essentially an act of recognition of diversity . . ."
Through children's literature it is possible to promote tolerance. "We need young people who can cope with ambiguity, understand alternatives, recognise different perspectives at the same time as feeling committed to the idea of a common humanity," contributor Beverley Naidoo says.
The guide contains a huge list of books broken up into age groups and subsections from fiction to poetry and information books. It includes authors like Benjamin Zephaniah, Caroline Binch, Alice Walker, Toni Morrison, Maya Angelou and Hanif Kureishi.
From baby hardboard books to books for young adults, it may be hard to make a choice, but it isn't difficult to find books which value and promote multi-culturalism.
