Using African Children's Literature in Elementary General Music Classes By Akosua Obuo Addo Akosua Obuo Addo is assistant professor of music at the University of Minnesota Minneapolis. E-mail: addox002@umn.edu Introduction One goal of multicultural music education is to introduce a variety of musical cultures in a manner that goes beyond clever or unusual class activities. To do so requires that music educators grapple with questions about what is being presented, how presentations unfold, and why particular presentations are more effective than others. My goal is to show how African children's literature can support the presentation of music and other social processes associated with a particular culture. I will specifically focus on how the structures and themes associated with oral and published African children's literature can be used as springboards for captivating, interdisciplinary experiences in elementary general music classrooms. The entire March 2002 issue of Music Educators Journal was devoted to the subject of literature and music. Three articles in particular resonated with my own interest and experience in the subject: McDonald and Fisher's description of linking literature with stringed instrument education, Hansen and Bernstorf's discussion of comparative skills for reading and music, and Calgero's survey of children's books. In previous writings, researchers have promoted the idea of representation that is, presenting images that accurately depict cultures (Davis 1998), cultural heritages (Bishop 1994; Davis 1998; Schafer 1998), and the experiences of various cultural groups living in America (Bashir 2001; Davis 1998; Roethler 1998). The information offered in these articles can help teachers create lesson plans and units that meet the National Standards for Music Education (Consortium of National Arts Education Associations 1994), including Standards 8 (Understanding relationships between music, the other arts, and disciplines outside the arts) and 9 (Understanding music in relation to history and culture). Additional information can be found in several journals outside the field of music education, including Reading Teacher, African American Review, and Multicultural Education. However, few researchers have looked at the specific use of African children's literature in general music classrooms. This particular area of children's literature is a rich source of material for classroom activities that reflect a teaching practice based on purposeful cultural exploration. In this article, I will describe a method for evaluating African children's literature for classroom use in terms of literary structures, themes, and illustrations under three headings: storytelling within a culture, transforming oral culture into print, and selecting African children's literature for use in elementary general music classes. Why African Children's Literature? Children's books provide information on what is real, ideal, and fictional about a particular culture, which partly explains the large number of adult consumers of these books note the success of the Harry Potter series. In the case of African children's literature, authenticity is perhaps the best reason for its use in general music classes. Especially valuable are stories that clearly state an author's position within the culture being described. From such a position, the best authors draw their readers into a culture, pique their interest, and challenge their preconceptions. An author's position as an insider, outsider, or