Children’s Books and Poems with Multiracial Asian characters
Our kids have a multiethnic heritage- Chinese, Dutch, English, Irish. According to the US Census' website, in 2020 almost 5 million Americans identified as Asian/Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander and another race. But when my kids were little, I didn’t know where to find picture books with people who looked like them. The first time I did it was by accident. We picked up a copy of the Fan Brother’s Where Ocean Meets Sky at the library and I was reading it to my 3 year-old. My 5 year-old walked by and said, “Hey, that kid looks ‘kinda Chinese’!” The child in the book sure did. He looked just like my kids. Then I found out the Fan brothers have a dad from Taiwan and a Caucasian mom. I tell you it made this moma’s heart full and happy to have my son see himself in a book. And a beautiful book about everyday life at that. So I wanted to share a list of the children’s books and poems we know of that have AANHPI “mixed race” characters, so that more kids and moms can have that feeling of being seen and belonging. (I don’t love the term “mixed race”. Multiraical, biracial, multithenic, hapa, Eurasian, mixed Desi, “Blindian”… what is the “right” term? That can be a discussion for another day!)
If you know of other books please comment below to share so other families can find them. This list has some gaps, espeically books featuring multiracial Pacific Islanders or Native Hawaiians. I am working on it, but if you know of some, please share!
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Poems
A Suitcase of Seaweed & More by Janet Wong -
“Manners” p.68 Korean/Chinese
“Face It” p. 70 Korean/Chinese/French/German
The Poetry Friday Anthology for Celebrations by Janet Wong -
“I Am Not A Plucot (But I Kind of Am)” Korean/Chinese read here.
Picture Books
Cooper's Lesson by Sun Yung Shin- Korean/Caucasian boy feels uncomfortable in a Korean American store, partly because his Korean language skills are limited. A great story about courage and character.
Mama's Love Language: Sometimes Love Tases Like Hainan Chicken Rice by Elisa Stad - Vietnamese immigrant mom and white dad - written by an author with just that background.
Simply Samrina: Margelously Mixed by Shamim Rupani- Dad is from Pakistan and mother from Japan, just like the author!
How My Parents Learned to Eat by Ina Friedman - Japanese/white
The Favorite Daughter by Allen Say - Japanese/white
Take Me Out To the Yakyu by Aaron Meshon - Japanese/White - a boy enjoys baseball with his Japanese and Caucasian American granddads.
Hands Say Love by George Shannon and Taeeun Yoo Asian mom, Caucasian dad, 3 kids who don’t all look the same. And that is completely not what the book is about! (Yeah!). It is a sweet book for young children about how acts of service and helping are love languages too.
Fried Rice and Marinara by Mike Yam - A dad of Chinese heritage and a mom of Italian heritage.
The Tray of Togetherness by Flo Leung - East Asian mother, white dad. A grandmother and granddaughter prepare for a Lunar New Year celebration.
Ocean Meets Sky by the Fan Brothers - Chinese or Taiwanese/white (authors have a dad from Taiwan and a white mother from North America). This is the first book my kids saw themselves in.
The Truth About Dragons by Julie Leung - Caucasian grandma and Chinese grandmas both share about dragons in their cultures.
Shanghai Messenger by Andrea Chong and Ed Young - A girl with Chinese and European heritage goes by herself to visit her family in Shanghai. She is insecure about it, partly because she doesn’t speak Chinese.
Two New Years by RIchard Ho -A family celebrates Chinese New Year and Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year.
Grandfather Counts by Andrea Cheng - Chinese mother, white father. They call grandpa “Gong Gong”.
Maxwell’s Mountain by Shari Becker and Nicole Wong - A white mom and East Asian dad. The exact heritage isn’t mentioned because it is not about that, it is just about regular life!
You Were the First by Patricia Maclachlan - Asian Mom, white dad enjoy their baby’s milestones.
Fussy Freya by Katharine Quarmby - Indian/white
I Can Be All Three by Salima Alikhan - an American girl with Indian and German heritage realizes that all three places are a part of who she is.
Olu’s Dream by Shane W. Evans - Black father, Asian mother
Dum Dum Dum Bōgi by Kelir Books - Black/South Asian (Tamil) *bilingual Tamil/English
Kamala and Maya's Big Idea by Meena Harris - Black/Indian About Kamala Harris as a girl.
Kamala Harris: Rooted in Justice by Nikki Grimes - Black/Indian
Finding Om by Rashimi s. Bishar - Black/Indian
I Love Masala Me by Nikita and Sachin Gupta - Black/Indian *bilingual Hindi/English
Chyna’s Doll by Schertevear Q. Watkins - African American dad, Asian American mom
Spicy, Spicy Hot! by Lenny Wen- Chinese Indonesian dad and white mom
Nana, Nenek, and Nina by Liza Ferneyhough- English grandma and Malaysian grandma
I am Flippish! by Leslie V. Ryan - Filipino and Irish boy
Dumpling Soup by Jama Kim Rattigan- Set in Hawai’i, the family has Asian, Native Hawaiian, and European heritage.
Grandpa is Here by Tanya Rosie - Grandpa is from West Asia (probably Iran) and the family also has British heritage.
Coloring Books
These unique coloring books feature real people around the world who have South Asian and another heritage. In addition to pictures to color, there are short bios of the featured trailblazers. Both by Nikita and Amaya Gupta
Mixed South Asians: The Coloring Book for Kids
Mixed Desi: The Coloring Book for Kids
Chapter Books
The first three are about kids specifically processing their multiethnic heritage, the others not as much or not at all. Please preview for appropriateness for your family.
Half and Half by Lensey Nemioka- A Chinese/Scottish girl is the main character.
Dream on, Amber by Emma Shevah. The main character is Japanese/Italian, the author is Thai/Irish.
The Whole Story of Half A Girl by Veera Hiranandani- Jewish and Indian American girl. Her father is Hindu from India.
Step Up To The Plate, Maria Singh by Uma Krishnaswami- families of Mexican and Indian heritage. Mostly Sikh fathers and Mexican mothers, but one family has a Muslim Indian father.
The Vanderbeekers of 141st St (a 7 book series) by Karina Yan Glaser- biracial Chinese
Cilla Lee-Jenkins: Future Author Extraordinaire by Susan Tan, a 3 book series -Chinese/White I think the dad is Chinese because she calls her grandparents “Ye Ye” and "Nai Nai”, the names for paternal grandparents.
Calvin Coconut: Trouble Magnet by Graham Salisbury - I am not 100% sure of the ethnic heritage of our hero Calvin, but he is a local boy on Oahu, Hawai’i. He and his band of friends certainly have a very “mixed plate” feel - Native Hawaiian, East Asian, Caucasian, Filipino, etc. with The author grew up on Oahu and so he knows the ropes.
Tell us what multiracial children’s literature you know of that should be on this list so parents can find it! We want kids to have libraries that reflect them and all of their friends!