Religious Diversity for Young Readers: A Bibliography of Multi-Faith Informational Picturebooks

Abstract

Picturebooks about religion encourage children to be introspective about their own faith and spirituality, and facilitate conversations between children and adults. Reading picturebooks about faiths and beliefs different than their own, especially those which do not promote negative stereotypes, can also help young readers relate to others. However, books about faiths other than Christianity are underrepresented in libraries, as the majority of religious picturebooks published in the United States focus on Christian holidays and themes. This article presents a bibliography of informational picturebooks which pair words and images to explain religious and spiritual concepts. The books featured are intended for a wide audience and includes multi-faith stories, as well as stories about Judaism, Islam, and atheism/agnosticism.

Keywords:

• Children’s books
• picturebooks
• religion
• Islam
• Judaism
• atheism
• agnosticism