This book is a collection of essays, which captures the complexity of children’s literature and explores how story, language, culture, and heritage come together in children’s literature and impact on young readers. As one reads the chapters of this book, a rich and multilayered picture emerges that shows the importance of literature in developing children’s intercultural understandings.

This book consists of two parts and has 12 chapters written by authors from a wide range of cultures and backgrounds. In the book, we see literacy situated in several contexts, which prompts exploration into the different ways to be literate in multilingual communities. The book’s authors propose that there is a relationship between the individual reader, the stories children read in their own language, and their developing sense of cultural identity. The authors explore how supporting home languages and engaging in culturally appropriate practices can encourage children to become fully literate in a multicultural world and develop a sense of empathy.

On the whole, the 12 chapters of this book follow three main themes. The first theme explores the role of stories and literature in supporting children to develop an understanding of their own and others’ identities. The second theme explores the role of the home language in promoting literacy, and the third theme focusses on the importance of culturally appropriate literacy education and literature to ensure that the content presented to children is meaningful to them.

This book is divided into two main parts. Part one focusses on the importance of literature mirroring children’s home environment to support the child’s developing identity. The authors suggest that children’s literature should reflect their cultural contexts and discuss how literature can help foster children’s empathy for others by reading about different cultures, people and ways of life. The chapter by Tish Brooking and Joanne Purcell, for example, discusses how a child might learn from pictures about the plight of refugee children in their new homes. We can also see how children can become experts when they are given books in their home language to read even if they have difficulty learning literacy in the language of their new home.

The chapters in part two focus on cultural awareness, the power of verbal and nonverbal storytelling and the cultures that are represented in the stories. From reading these chapters, the reader is persuaded that children’s understanding of themselves and others is enhanced when they hear stories of their own and other cultures. These chapters also help us understand how teachers can use a wide range of stories and storytelling to promote acceptance of differences while fostering a love of literacy.

I particularly appreciate the book’s multidimensional approach to learning literacy, the focus on storytelling in children’s own and other languages, while at the same time weaving together and highlighting the importance of social justice, and advocating for children’s rights as important contributions to children’s academic success. Chapter nine in part two, is significant for teachers in New Zealand as it explores how teachers can support children to read about and engage in the Māori world. This type of literacy is essential in supporting bicultural practice in New Zealand.

Key features of promoting successful and culturally appropriate literacy learning are identified in this book as well as the intentional role teachers can claim in providing opportunities for children to explore their own and other cultures through literacy. This book is a valuable resource for early childhood practitioners and student teachers and helps teachers to understand knowing the power of children’s literature in supporting the development of literacy and empathy for others.

References

• Daly, N., & Limbrick, L. (2018). Children’s literature in a multiliterate world. London, United Kingdom: UL Institute of Education Press.