Children's responses to the process of appreciating multicultural picture books

The purpose of this study is to examine how young children perceive and respond to multiculturalism during the process of appreciating multicultural picture books. To achieve this, a qualitative research approach was conducted. The participants were 35 children from two kindergarten classes for 5-year-olds in Chungcheongnam-do, South Korea. The process of appreciating multicultural picture books consisted of book exploration, predicting book content, appreciating and introducing the book, understanding and analyzing the content, and reinterpreting the book. Data collection for the study was conducted through video and photo materials capturing scenes related to picture book appreciation, participant observation records, educational plans and evaluations, children’s activity outcomes, and teacher interview records. Data analysis was done by categorizing and classifying the data based on Creswell’s (2007/2015) spiral data analysis method. The results of the study showed that the children’s responses during the multicultural picture book appreciation process were categorized into two themes: “Recognizing and expressing differences: Is it wrong? Strange? Incorrect?” and “Accepting and respecting diversity: Like trees coming together to form a forest.” This study is significant because it offers educational implications for using picture books in multicultural education and teaching approaches.