Asian American Children

Unfortunately children of Asian descent have been portrayed inaccurately in children’s literature for decades. As a large part of the American society, Asian Americans originate from a vast selection of countries including India, China, Vietnam, Japan, Korea, and Thailand. As a result of so many different countries, children are able to learn about many different cultures originating in those countries. Young children reading stories about Asians will become exposed to different ways of life and mannerisms. Authors of children’s books are attempting to eradicate the stereotypical image of Asian Americans to a more a genuine and accurate version of Asian Americans, that children can relate to. The repercussions of having inaccurately written

Children growing up reading books like The Story of Little Black Sambo, have an inaccurate view of what it is like to be a child in India. Bannerman depicts a story about a young child growing up in a village in India, but there are many inaccuracies which lead the reader to believe the characters in this story of African descent. Children are led to believe that because, the parents are stereotypical images of an Africans with their large lips and large body frames. Moreover, the family is found to be eating pancakes with ghee, an Indian butter (Bannerman, 1899). As a result of such inaccuracies, children reading this story are under the wrong impression about Indian culture and heritage.

Just like the “writers who have grown up in a world that has long deemed them [as] inassimilable aliens,” children will also feel like aliens amongst their peers when stories such as Tikki Tikki Tembo and The Story of Little Black Sambo are read to them (de Manual, 2006). Children of Chinese and Indian heritage will feel like they do not belong with either their classmates or the characters of the book. Children will only be able to relate to the materialistic aspects of each story such clothing, food, or physical

Consequently, Asian Americans have been showcased as the model minority. However, showcasing Asian Americans as the model minority is not completely accurate, because there are many families of Asian descent that are struggling to make ends meet and adapt to American life. Asian American families have been shown to make a higher income than White families, but when you look at the number or family members and the median personal income you find Asian Americans are not significantly any better (Le, 2016). Subsequently, Asian Americans feel pressurized to portray the preconceived notions