Hear Diversity Here: The Importance of Using Multicultural
Books and Audio with Young Children

While it may be difficult to find, diversity in children’s books does exist and Live Oak Media can help in several ways. Children benefit from listening to rich language and readalongs provide that experience, especially for those children who do not have adults in their lives with time or ability to read to them. Our collections of award-winning readalongs include many books that not only provide authentic cultural experiences for children, but also encourage literacy skill-building for emergent readers across a broad age spectrum, particularly in the areas of vocabulary, fluency, comprehension, print awareness, and visual literacy.

Why do culturally diverse readalongs from Live Oak Media benefit young readers?

• Because our children are growing up in a global society and they need to experience what happens around the world
● Because our children come in a variety of colors
● Because our children live in many different types of families
● Because all of our children need to be able to recognize themselves in the mirror of the books they read, the images they see, and audio they hear
● Because our children need to see the world through the window of the books they read, the images they see, and the audio they hear

Live Oak Media readalongs reinforce for children that words (in English) are read from left to right, that words on the page represent the spoken language they are hearing, and that sentences are read with inflection and are set apart by capitalization and punctuation. In addition, picture book readalongs support the Common Core State Standards’ directive that primary students use illustrations to describe details of the text, such as characters, settings, or events. Check our website to discover more about the many ways in which picture book readalongs foster literacy growth.

At Hear Diversity Here Live Oak Media’s lists of culturally authentic picture book read-alongs offer accurate accents by narrators, as well as culturally authentic music and sound effects to enhance the listening experience. The thematic lists will help you get started with readalongs that augment your lessons plans as well as provide your students with many hours of pleasurable reading/listening.

Live Oak Media is the award-winning audio publisher of distinctive read-along recordings of classic and popular children’s literature for ages 3-12. Our recordings have received three Odyssey Awards, the American Library Association’s (ALA) award for Excellence in Audiobook Production, including the inaugural award in 2008; the Audie Award for Distinguished Achievement in Production; three Grammy® Awards; and numerous Audie Awards, ALA Notable Children’s Recordings, and outstanding reviews. As a small, family-owned company, we are dedicated to providing our young listeners with meaningful reading and listening experiences.