05/21/2026
May is Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month!
Did you know there are 48 countries in Asia, and 14 in the Pacific Islands?
Something I’ve noticed in the discussion of Asian heritage in literature is the emphasis primarily on East Asia: China, Japan, North & South Korea, Taiwan, and Mongolia. Central Asia almost doesn’t exist at all in western children’s literature (but shoutout to “Batu and the Search for the Golden Cup” by for Kazakh rep!) I actually saw a TikTok the other day in which someone said that people from India are not Asian because they don’t “look” Asian. This is why bringing attention to heritage months is so important—we need to tackle stereotypes, educate ourselves, and recognize the societal contributions and history of marginalized communities.
Pacific Islanders are especially left out of the conversation. It is extremely difficult to find children’s books written and/or illustrated by people who come from Pacific Island Countries as well as Hawaii. Out of tens of thousands of children’s and young adult books, you know how many we were able to find? 30. Only 30 books that are readily available from the largest book distributors for bookstores to order. I’m really happy to see people like getting published and representing Samoan heritage with her books “Filo’s Butterflies” and “White Sunday!” Let’s hope that one day, pacific island cultures will have the same amount of representation in media as others.🌺
To view our full collection for this month, check out the home page on our website rollingrabbitbooks.com!
