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Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities have a long history in the United States, from Filipino sailors arriving as early as the 1750s to the present day, with AAPIs who have origins in more than 30 countries and number 22 million, nearly 6 percent of the U.S. population. Despite this growing presence, there remains a gap in curricula regarding AAPI communities and their experiences in our schools.
Children’s literature offers one way to close this gap. Multicultural education experts, including Emily Style and Rudine Sims Bishop, developed the idea of children’s literature serving as “windows” into others’ realities and “mirrors” for children from backgrounds that have been historically excluded to see themselves and their families reflected in texts.