Bringing Multiculturalism Into the Classroom

Author/Illustrator: Patricia Polacco
Publisher: Philomel Books, 1972
ISBN: 039921366

My first trip to the Todt-Hill/Westerleigh branch of the New York Public Library was met with locked doors thanks to a broken HVAC system. The next day I headed over to the Richmondtown branch. There, I had a nice girl help me look up titles, but was unable to offer any suggestions as she is normally not placed in the Children's Section. This project was not going to be as easy as I thought.

Luckily, I had written a paper last semester on multicultural picture books that gave me a good idea where to start. I knew author's names like Patricia Polacco, Pat Mora, Gary Soto, Kadir Nelson and Eve Bunting, so I just started hunting among the hundreds of picture books. I did not find any Coretta Scott King Award winning books. No Caldecott or Newbery Metal winners, either. Instead, I brought home a pile of books and was left to decide which of these books would be considered "quality" multicultural literature.

I had a good start with my list of authors. These were men and women who were writing about his or her personal background providing an authentic and accurate representation of the cultures they were portraying.

Next, I began reading the books looking for stories that would allow readers see past the differences of race and religion and instead to simply imagine the lives of others who just happen to be of a different religion or have skin colored in a different hue.

Last, I examined the illustrations for authenticity as they should reflect the reality of the differing cultures instead of perpetuating stereotypes or historical distortions.

I found a Patricia Polacco book, Chicken Sunday, to be a stand-out among the others. Chicken Sunday offers an authentic representation of cultures in its story of a young Jewish girl's friendship with her African-American neighbors. Children from each of these cultures can read words that accurately reflected their heritage in the pages of this book. Whether it be in the description of the Sunday dinners of fried chicken, collared greens and fried spoon bread (yum!) or the way the children "decorate eggs the way my bubbie taught us", Polacco gives the readers the sense of these differing cultures. Polacco successfully represents the meshing of two religious groups in such a way that differences are naturally accepted and instead the commonalities between the religions becomes the focus.

Through her vivid watercolor illustrations, Pollacco visually reflects both cultures. From the accuracy of the traditional garb of the Jewish store-keeper, right down to his numbers tattooed on his forearm, to the depiction of life inside a Baptist church with women wearing their "Sunday Best" singing and dancing to the choir, Polacco successfully illustrates the reality of Jewish-American and African-American life.

I chose this book, Chicken Sunday by Patricia Polacco, as a "quality" multicultural picture book as it is an accurate textual and visual representation of differing cultural and religious backgrounds. Chicken Sunday offers a representation of literature that help students of all cultural and religious backgrounds develop an understanding of the similarities that can cross cultural lines.