C & I 111: Multicultural Resources for Early Childhood

Books

Using the Milner Catalog

The Milner Catalog can be used to identify appropriate children's books.   Placing some Limits before you start searching will save you time.  On the initial search screen, click on the More Limits button located in the lower right hand corner, and then use the down arrow to change the Location to Teaching Materials Center.  Note that it is also possible to change the Primary Format to Books, although you may not want to set this limit since you will be able to use other formats for part of your assignment.  Titles most appropriate for PK-3 students will have call numbers that start with TMC EASY.  You will not be able to limit your search to Easy books, but will need to scan the list of titles you retrieve and look for books that have Easy as part of the call number.

Suggested Subject Words:

For books about African  Americans
african americans fiction
for other ideas, see the the list of Coretta Scott King Award Winners

For books about Migrant Workers, Immigrants, and Hispanic Americans
mexican americans fiction
immigrants fiction
migrant labor fiction

For books related to Gender
sex role fiction

For books about Native Americans
indians of north america fiction
Note: also use the names of individual tribes (e.g., pawnee indians)

For books about Exceptional Needs/Special Education
mentally handicapped fiction
physically handicapped fiction
note: also use individual disabilities (e.g., blind, deaf, down syndrome, autism, etc.)

For books about Low Socioeconomic Status/Poverty
homeless persons fiction

Using Bibliographies

Bibliographies are lists of sources or titles.  Persons compiling bibliographies will organize titles differently than they are organized in library catalogs, and they can provide a much deeper level of indexing.  Bibliographies will help you to identify titles you might not be able to locate by using the Milner Catalog.

Titles in the following alphabetical lists are linked to the Milner Catalog record.  All are located in the Reference section of Floor 1.  They may not be taken from the library.

Bibliographies for Multicultural Children's Books

Against Borders: Promoting Books for a Multicultural World

The Best of Latino Heritage 1996-2002: a Guide to the Best Juvenile Books about Latino People and Cultures  

Black Books Galore!--Guide to Great African American Children's Books about Girls

Black Books Galore! Guide to More Great African American Children's Books

Children's and Young Adult Literature by Latino Writers: A Guide for Librarians, Teachers, Parents, and Students

Children's and Young Adult Literature by Native Americans: A Guide for Librarians, Teachers, Parents, and Students

The Coretta Scott King Awards, 1970-2004

Kaleidoscope: A Multicultural Booklist for Grades K-8

Multicultural Friendship Stories and Activities for Children Ages 5-14

Bibliographies for Children's books

A to Zoo: Subject Access to Children's Picture Books

Best Books for Children: Preschool through Grade 6

The Elementary School Library Collection: A Guide to Books and Other Media

Picture Books for Children

Teacher Resources

To locate books with suggestions for teaching techniques, use the Milner Catalog.  One strategy is to use the subject words multicultural education activity programs.  This search will not limit to early childhood information, but limiting to an age group may exclude books that include relevent information, even if the focus is not the primary grades.  Another source you might want to consult if the Multicultural Projects Index.

Journal Articles

The two major databases for the field of education are ERIC and Education Abstracts.  ERIC is available from several different sources, but one possible strategy is to use the FirstSearch interface, which will allow you to search both ERIC and Education Abstracts at the same time.  When searching both databases at the same time, keep in mind that they do not use the same subject headings.  You will need to rely more on key word searching. 

Your first step will be to go to the Education Abstracts database.  Notice that there is a tab with the word Databases. If you click on this tab, you will be presented with a list of databases.  Place a check in front of the box for ERIC and then scroll back up and click on Select. Now, you can type in search terms. 

One possible strategy is to type in teaching methods combined with another term.  After examining the results of this search,  type in teaching strategies combined with another term.  It is probably better to use a more specific term in addition to multicultural.  Keep trying different possible key words.  Remember to take advantage of the   button.  This service indicates when full text is available and links to the record in the Milner Catalog. 

Another strategy might identify key journals (note that journals are usually called Sources in the databases) and search within those journals for relevant articles.  Following are some suggested journals:

Young Children

Early Childhood Research Quarterly

Educational Leadership

Phi Delta Kappan

The Reading Teacher 

If you have any questions about how to locate specific articles, contact sknaylor@ilstu.edu.