My son is 5. He is currently very into fairly tails. Cinderella, Repunzel, etc. Think lady bird picture books.
We are POC.
I’m a bit disturbed by the fact that all the books he reads just have white faces. TV same thing.
I’d love for him to see characters who look like him represented in the books he reads.
Does anyone know of illustrated fairy tales with POC characters? The story should be the original. Just with POC characters.
by Altruistic_Club_2597
4 Comments
Beneath the Moon by Yoshi Yoshitani is a collection of fairytales.
Each page is a new story and POC art to go with it. The art is beautiful but I was disappointed by each story only being one page long. Maybe that’s an okay length for a 5yo though.
The Little Mermaid by Jerry Pinkney- it’s a retelling that takes place in the Caribbean with a mermaid to match.
Beauty and the Beast by H. Chuku Lee- retelling set in Mali.
Not a trad fairy tale, but with FT elements- Magick Hoodoo Child by Amber Mcbride
Crowned by Kahran and Regis Bethencourt
La Princesa and the Pea by Susan Middleton Elyr
Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters by John Steptoe
Hanzel and Gretel by Rachel Isadora
Rapunzel by Chloe Perkins
Goldy Luck and the Three Pandas by Natasha Yim
Snow White by Chloe Perkins
Cendrillon by Robert D. San Souci
Federico and the Wolf by Rebecca J. Gomez
The Little Mermaid by Hannah Eliot
Jack and the Beanstalk by Carly Gledhill
Liang and the Magic Paintbrush by Demi
Mangoes, Mischief, and Tales of Friendship by Chitra Soundar
The Rough-Face Girl by Rafe Martin
Yeh-Shen by Ai-Ling Louie
If you want books of traditionally European fairytales to be illustrated with characters that are POC, specifically that look like your son, it would be helpful to know what your son looks like.
For example It might be easier to find Cinderella illustrated as black than Arab. But if your son is Arab then obviously a black Cinderella wouldn’t be what you are looking for.
If you want your son exposed to non-European folktales then of course there are books like Arabian Nights, Sinbad the Sailor, Arrow to the Sun, Why the Sky is Far Away, etc.