Analyzing Representations of Asian American Characters and Stories on the Book Covers of Newbery, Caldecott, and Printz Award-Winning Children’s and Youth Literature

Abstract

Abstract This study examined representations of Asian American characters and their stories as depicted on the covers of 18 American Library Association award-winning books for children and young adults published between 2017 and 2025. The awards focused on were the John Newbery Medal, the Randolph Caldecott Medal, and the Michael L. Printz Award. Both the visual and verbal aspects of the covers were analyzed. This study was grounded in Asian critical race theory and also drew from scholarship focused on Asian American children’s literature, literary awards, and critical visual analysis. This multimodal content analysis revealed five degrees of Asian American representation, ranging from overt visual and linguistic representation to blurry or unshown depictions of Asian American identities. Transnational border crossings were also visible within the data corpus, often indexed by the language included on the book covers but also shown through cover visuals. This study contributes to conversations about diverse, authentic representation in children’s literature and draws attention to book covers as important opportunities for peritextual literary analysis. Book covers represent, communicate, and disseminate cultural information about peoples, places, and lived realities.