Children's fiction written between 1945 and 1962 was analyzed for current stereotypes of minority Americans, and the results were compared with related studies of adult fiction and school textbooks. Two analytic instruments were applied to 114 minority characters selected from 42 children's books about American Indians, Chinese, Japanese, Negroes, and Spanish Americans currently living in the United States. In this sampling, virtually no negative stereotypes of minority Americans were found; the differences in race, creed, and customs of minority citizens were found to be dignified far more than in either adult magazine fiction or textbooks; and similarities in behavior, attitudes, and values between majority and minority Americans were emphasized rather than their differences. (Recommendations for action to be taken on the basis of the results, proposals for further experimental study, and a table ranking the verbal stereotypes of the 114 minority American characters are included.) (JB)