| According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Latinos are the largest and fastest growing ethnic minority in America. The Census Bureau also indicates that nearly 7.5 million Latino children are enrolled in U.S. nursery schools, kindergartens, or elementary schools. These children represent a heterogeneous group of people celebrating diverse perspectives, origins, and cultures. Research indicates that it is important for Latino children as well as non-Latino children and educators to encounter accurate and positive representations of the Latino subcultures in children's literature. Positive and accurate representations of the Latino culture in this literature improve the self-esteem and ethnic identity of Latino children while assisting non-Latino children and educators in developing an appreciation and understanding of the diverse Latino culture.; The Americas and Pura Belpre awards are presented to children's books that exemplify literary quality and authentic portrayal of the Latino culture. Latino and non-Latino children and educators frequently encounter the visual and textual messages embedded in these award-winning picturebooks. An analysis of these picturebooks is necessary to determine the social and cultural messages they transmit about the Latino subcultures.; To discern the social messages of the picturebooks, this investigation is framed within the quantitative inquiry of visual and textual content analyses, as well as a qualitative inquiry of semiotic analysis. Through a research design based upon visual reader response theories and analyses of past Latino representation in children's books, these methods of inquiry focus on exposing the overt and subtle messages of Latino representation in the Americas and Pura Belpre picturebooks.; Based upon the results of this study, picturebooks winning the Americas and Pura Belpre awards do not represent the social and cultural mosaic of the Latino people. While some subcultures are overrepresented, such as the Mexican subcultures, others, such as the Cuban and South American subcultures, receive little recognition. Latino characters with physical or mental disabilities and Latino children of mixed race are tremendously underrepresented, while gay and lesbian Latinos are nonexistent in these picturebooks. Future research is needed to discern how Latino children respond to alternative representations of their specific Latino subculture in the Americas and Pura Belpre picturebooks. |
