Cultural Characters: Or Why My Color Doesn't Wash Off - Book & Instruction Suggestions

Collection of Cultural Characters based on picture books.

A former college student of mine working in a "ritzy daycare in midtown" recently wrote to me asking for some book suggestions and lesson ideas she might use with  preschoolers in order to celebrate (and perhaps better understand) racial diversity.  She wrote: "to give you an idea of the mindset of the children, one asked me if I painted myself brown every morning and why doesn't it come off when I wash my hands."

In addition to privileged youngsters who often are represented in the stories featured in classrooms, the inclusion of high quality multicultural books and the use of characters from those books can provide important opportunities for all children to come to know self and other.  One only has to think of visual artist, Daryl Wells who recounts what she needed to do no in order to find herself in the books in school. Wells (Rohmer, 1997) writes: “When I was growing up, I didn’t understand why the crayon labeled ‘flesh’ in my crayon box wasn’t the color of my skin. As a way of proving that my color was also beautiful and real, I went through all my favorite storybooks and colored in the characters with brown crayon. In this way I was able to relate to them as if they really were a part of my world.”

In thinking about the challenges my former student faces in helping privileged children expand their understanding of the world, I thought of the idea of cultural characters. It is an instructional technique I routinely used in early primary grade classes and directly taught preservice teachers.

What is Cultural Characters?

Cultural characters is a book extension literacy practice based on Janice J. Beaty's and Linda Pratt's (2006) Early Literacy in Preschool & Kindergarten:A Multicultural Perspective (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson). Teachers select a collection of global multicultural children's literature for read aloud and then extend the literature experience through different engagements focusing on the characters from the texts.  In creating cultural characters I scan images of the characters from the books and then use these images in centers.  I may make (or have children make) stick puppets (using self-adhesive craft sticks) and adhere fasteners in order for children to be able to use the images in a felt story.   Additionally, students "recreate" the characters through their own visual, musical, and movement art.

Cultural characters are characters taken from high quality global multicultural children's picture books that feature cultural characters that young children can identify with and interact with by:

• Drawing/painting pictures of the characters and interpretations of the characters
• Telling their own stories about the characters ( using book images and student created images made into stick puppets)
• Building block structures/homes for the characters 
• Pretending to be the characters 
• Making make-believe meals for the characters 
• Making costumes for the characters 
• Rereading the books featuring the characters 
• Painting scenes for the characters 
• Writing, dancing, singing, rapping about the characters 
• Using iPods to make and record sound effects related to the characters 

Cultural character, Danilito, from When The World Was New

D.H. Figueredo's When this World Was New, tells the moving story of Danilito who has come from the Caribbean to the New York City area. Scared at being new, the child awakes the next day to a snow field landscape and sets out with his Papa to explore their new home. Using an image created by the illustrator Enrique Sanchez or a student-created one, students could retell the story, extend the story (what next adventure might Danilito experience)or interrupt the story (blow out a section of the story not told). The physical prop would help students to create stories.

The work with cultural characters across a school year allows for students to come to know themselves through the development of characters and character situations, as well as come to better understand characters who are different from themselves.

To help you get started with cultural characters in the preschool and early primary grades I have compiled a chart that lists the name, gender, culture, title of book and author, and have suggested some possible activities and potential learning center locations for each character. 

Examples of Cultural Characters from Children's Literature

Compiled by Mary Ann Reilly

Name (Gender)	Culture	Title of Book	Author	Possible Activity	Learning Center
African American  (M)	African American	Summer Sun Risin	Nikola-Lisa, W.	Farm chores	Dramatic Play Center
unnamed narrator (M)	African American	Yesterday I Had the Blues	Frame, Jeron Ashford	Metaphor Making	Art center (paint)
Unnamed boy	African American	Yo! Yes!	Raschka, Chris	Perform Text	Dramatic Play Center
Cassie (F)	African American	Tar Beach	Ringgold, Faith	Conversation	Block Center
Clover (F),	African American	The Other Side	Woodson, Jacqueline	Create jump rope rhymes	Writing center/recording center
Rashaad (M)	African-American	The Barber’s Cutting Edge	Hest, Amy	Harvesting Words from the Room	Writing Center
George (M)	African-American	Mr. George Baker	Hest, Amy	Making Own Books	Art Center
Girlpie (F)	African-American	Homemade Love	hooks, bell	Retell story through paintings	Art Center
Joe-Joe (M)	African American	Joe-Joe’s First flight	Tarpley, Natasha Anastasia	Story Retelling	Art Center
Lena (F)	African American	The Color of Us	Katz, Karen	Painting	Art Center
Marcenia (F)	African American	Catching the Moon: The Story of a Young Girl’s Baseball Dream	Hubbard, Crystal	Ball playing	Large Motor Center
Max (M)	African-American	Max Found Two Sticks	Pinkney, Brian	Drumming (rhythm)	Music Center
Quinnie (F)	African American	Quinnie Blue	Johnson, Dinah	Questioning	Dramatic Play Center
Anna (F)	Anglo-American	Building a Bridge	Begaye, Lisa	Building a bridge	Block Center
Annie (F)	Anglo-American	The Other Side	Woodson, Jacqueline	Create jump rope rhymes	Writing center/recording center
Boy	Anglo	Dream Weaver	London, Jonathan	Recording observations	Science Center
Granddaughter (F)	Anglo-American	Thunder Cake	Polacco, Patricia	Cooking	Dramatic Play Center
Harry (M)	Anglo-American	Mr. George Baker	Hest, Amy	Making Own Books	Art Center
Lucy (F)	Anglo-American	Grandpa’s Corner Store	DiSalvo-Ryan, DyAnne	Build a neighborhood	Block Center
Mark (M)	Anglo-American	Night of the Moonjellies	Shasha, Mark	Working at a seaside hot dog stand	Dramatic Play Center
Max (M)	Anglo	Where The Wild Things Are	Sendak, Maurice	Dancing (rhythm)	Music center

Cultural Characters

Name (Gender)	Culture	Title of Book	Author		Possible Activity	Learning Center
Sophie (F)	Anglo-American	When Sophie Gets Angry…Really, Really Angry	Bang, Molly		Painting Center: What I Can Do When I Get Angry	Art Center
Monique (F)	Anglo	Unique Monique	Rousaki, Maria		Painting	Art Center
Unnamed boy	Anglo-American	Yo! Yes!	Raschka, Chris	Perform Text		Dramatic Play Center
Little girl	Asian	Tracks in the Snow	Yee, Wong Herbert		Questioning	Dramatic Play Center
Anu (F)	Asian American	Closet Ghosts	Krishnaswami, Uma		Phone Conversation	Dramatic Play Center
Emma(F)	Asian American	Emma’s Rug	Say, Allen		Painting	Art Center
Hannah (F)	Chinese	Hannah is My Name	Yang, Belle		Retell the Story	Book Center
Xiao Ming (M)	Chinese	At the Beach	Lee, Huy Youn		Write 10 Chinese Characters	Sand Table
Henry (M)	Chinese-American	Henry and the Kite Dragon	Hall, Bruce Edward		Kite Making & Decorating	Art Center
Ling Sung (M)	Chinese-American	Cleversticks	Ashley, Bernard		Using chopsticks	Dramatic play center
Narrator (B)	Chinese-American	Big Jimmy’s Kum Kau Chinese Take Out	Lewin, Ted		Making Food Preparing Menus	Dramatic Play Center
Helen (F)	Chinese & Anglo American	Grandfather Counts	Cheng, Andrea		Counting in English & Chinese	Math Center
Nim (F)	Chinese-American	Nim and the War Effort	Lee, Milly		Build a neighborhood	Block Center
Chavi (F)	Cuban	Drum, Chavi, Drum	Dole, Mayra L.		Drumming (Rhythm)	Music Center
Ahmed (M)	Egyptian	The Day of Ahmed’s Secret	Heide, Florence		Writing Name	Writing Center
Lakas (M)	Filipino	Lakas and the Manilatown Fish/Si Lakas at ang Isdang Manilatown	Robles, Anthony D.		Flannel Board Story	Book Center
Esperanza (F)	Guatemalan	Abuela’s Weave	Castaneda, Omar S.		Weaving	Dramatic Play Center/Art Center
Pascual (M)	Guatemalan	Pascual’s Magic Pictures	Gage,  Amy		Writing Captions	Writing Center
Marisa (F)	Hawaiian	Dumpling Soup	Rattigan, Jama Kim		Making Food	Dramatic Play Center
Carlitos (M)	Hispanic	¡Si, Se Puede! Yes, We Can!	Herrera, Juan Felipe		Flannel Board Story	Book Center
Chico (M)	Hispanic	First Day in the Grapes	Perez, L. King		Role Play Resolving Conflicts	Dramatic Play Center
Danilito (M)	Hispanic	When This World Was New	Figueredo, D.H.		Pastel Snow Drawings	Art Center

 Cultural Characters

Name (Gender)	Culture	Title of Book	Author	Possible Activity	Learning Center
Francísco (M)	Hispanic	La Maríposa	Jiménez, Francísco	Drawing	Art Center
Luna (F)	Hispanic	Moony Luna: Luna, Lunita, Lunera	Argueta, Jorge	Retell the Story (Sequence)	Book Center
Pablo (M)	Hispanic	Pablo’s Tree	Mora, Pat	Cutting Decorations	Art Center
Rosa (F)	Hispanic	A Chair for My Mother	Williams, Vera B.	Counting coins	Math Center
Rosalba (F)	Hispanic	Abuela	Dorros, Arthur	Conversation	Block Center
Tomasito (M)	Hispanic (spina bifada)	Featherless/Desplumado	Herrera, Juan Felipe	Flannel Board Story	Book Center
Girl(F)	Indian	Monsoon	Krishnaswami, Uma	Making Cityscapes	Block Center
Eva (F)	Inuit	Very Last First Time	Andrews, Jan	Story Retelling	Book Center
Ida (F)	Jamaican	The Tangerine Tree	Hanson, Regina	Planting Seeds	Science Center
Mariko (F)	Japanese	Flowers from Mariko	Noguchi, Rick & Jenks, Doreen	Planting Seeds	Science Center
Sesshu Toyo (M)	Japanese	The Boy Who Drew Cats	Hodges, Margaret	Drawing	Art Center
Kiri (F)	Japanese-American	Butterflies for Kiri	Falwell, Cathryn	Origami	Art Center
Sang-hee (M)	Korean	The Firekeeper’s Son	Park, Linda Sue	Flannel Board Story	Book Center
Yoon (F)	Korean	My Name is Yoon	Recovits, Helen	Write Name	Writing Center
Unnamed Narrator (F)	Korean-American	The Trip Back Home	Wong, Janet	Retell the Story with Story Artifacts	Book Center
Mike (M)	Korean-American	The Have A Good Day Café	Park, Frances & Ginger Park	Running a Business	Dramatic Play Center
Cooper (M)	Korean, Anglo-American	Cooper’s Lesson	Shin, Sun Yung	Paint Self-Portrait	Art Center
María (F)	Mexican	Too Many Tamales	Soto, Gary	Making tamales	Dramatic Play Center
Mateo (M)	Mexican	Dream Carver	Cohn, Diana	Painting Wooden Toys	Art Center
Esmeralda (F)	Mexican	Hairs/Pelitos	Cisneros, Sandra	Metaphor writing	Writing Center
Esmeralda (F)	Mexican	Super Cilantro Girl/La superniña del cilantro	Herrera, Juan Felipe	Create a Super Hero/Heroine	Art Center
John Cloud (M)	Mohawk	Sky Dancers	Kirk, Connie Ann	Making Cityscapes	Block Center
Dear One (F)	Native Alaskan	Mama, Do You Love Me?	Joosse, Barbara M.	Questioning	Dramatic Play Center
Jenna (F)	Native American	Jingle Dancer	Smith, Cynthia Leitich	Dancing (Rhythm)	Music Center

Name (Gender)	Culture	Title of Book	Author	Possible Activity	Learning Center
Juanita (F)	Navajo	Building a Bridge	Begaye, Lisa	Building a bridge	Block Center
John (M)	Navajo	The Unbreakable Code	Hunter, Sara Hoagland	Create a code	Math center/art center
Allie (F) & Alex (F)	Ojibway	Skysisters	Waboose, Jan Bordeau	Conversation	Sand table Art center
Mona (F)	Palestinian-American	Sitti’s Secrets	Nye, Naomi Shihab	Write/dictate a letter	Writing center/recording center
Sister Girl (F)	Plains Indian	The Star People: A Lakota Story	Nelson, S.D.	Imitate Ledger Art	Art center
Young Wolf (M)	Plains Indian	The Star People: A Lakota Story	Nelson, S.D.	Imitate Ledger Art	Art center
Flying Cloud (M)	Plains Indian	Gift Horse: A Lakota Story	Nelson, S.D.	Retell using Ledger Art	Art center
Zola, et al.	South African	At the Crossroads	Isadora, Rachel	Continuing the story	Book Center
Hannah (F)	Taiwanese	Hannah Is My Name	Yang, Belle	Making Food	Dramatic Play Center
Shay-yu (F)	Taiwanese	On My Way To Buy Eggs	Chen, Chin-Yuan	Retell story events	Art Center
Elizabeti (F)	Tanzanian	Elizabeti’s School	Stuve-Bodeen, Stephanie	Dancing and/or Counting	Dramtic Play Center/Math Center
Kiki (F)	Tiwa Indian	Kiki’s Journey	Orona-Ramirez, Kristy	Cooking	Dramatic Play Center
Kukamba (F)	Zimbabwean	Gugu’s House	Stock, Catherine	Painting	Art Center

  

Work Cited: 

Rohmer, Harriet, Ed. (1997). Just Like Me: Stories and Self-Portraits by Fourteen Artists. San Francisco: Children’s Book Press, p. 24.