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January 31, 2020

Multicultural Children's Book Day 2020



Each year I am grateful to participate as a book reviewer for Multicultural Children's Book Day and this year marks the 7th year. 

What is Multicultural Children's Book Day?

Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2020 (1/31/20) is in its 7th year! This non-profit children’s literacy initiative was founded by Valarie Budayr and Mia Wenjen; two diverse book-loving moms who saw a need to shine the spotlight on all of the multicultural books and authors on the market while also working to get those book into the hands of young readers and educators.  

Seven years in, MCBD’s mission is to raise awareness of the ongoing need to include kids’ books that celebrate diversity in homes and school bookshelves continues.

Language Lizard

Last year I was introduced to this amazing woman owned, small business. They offer a wide range of children's books in multiple languages. This is important to me because I believe in exposing my students to the world around them and that includes introducing them to different languages. In my classroom we use both sign language and Spanish in our day, and my kindergarten students love hearing new languages! I find these books extremely valuable to all, but especially if you are a multilingual home. I strong feel that a 2nd language should be encouraged as it is part of a persons culture, as well as has scientific benefits. 

This year I was gifted The Children of Lir to review. I love fairy tale stories and this Celtic tale did not disappoint. I am currently teaching kindergarten and this book may not be entirely appropriate for that age range, I agree with the suggestion of ages 7-11 that is recommended on the website. This particular book would be perfect for comparing and contrasting with Snow White. Both will showcase an evil stepmother and magically elements. 


The books of Language Lizard are offered in English and then you can select the 2nd language that will be utilized. The options for this book are Albanian, Arabic, Bengali, Chinese-Traditional, Czech, Farsi, French, German, Irish, Italian, Panjabi, Polish, Portuguese, Somali, Spanish, Tamil, Turkish, Urdu, Vietnamese.


 East-West Discovery Press

East West Discovery Press is an independent publisher and distributor of multicultural and bilingual books in 50+ languages. Their website offers so many wonderful books that would be wonderful to supplement our lacking social studies curriculum. What is even better is that they will compose a list of literature for your topic!

I was very excited to be gifted this book as I am on a mission to include more literature that features Pacific Islanders into my classroom library. Earthwaves is set in the 1500s and is a fascinating journey of traditional navigation. I instantly wished that I had this book when I talked about European explorers with my 5th graders. This would have given some amazing discussions on navigation as well as what it was like to visit an area that was unknown to you. Imagine the courage that it must have taken to set out on these journeys! I believe that the best diverse literature is written by an own voices author, however, I appreciate that Michael Smith visited the Wacholab Maap Island to experience the traditional navigation methods first hand. Earthwaves is a wonderful book that shows the knowledge that our elders have to impart on us, the question is if we are willing to listen. 



MCBD 2020  is honored to have the following Medallion Sponsors on board


Super Platinum
Platinum
Gold
Silver
Bronze

Author Sponsor Link Cloud
Jerry Craft, A.R. Bey and Adventures in Boogieland, Eugina Chu & Brandon goes to Beijing, Kenneth Braswell & Fathers Incorporated, Maritza M. Mejia & Luz del mes_Mejia, Kathleen Burkinshaw & The Last Cherry Blossom, SISSY GOES TINY by Rebecca Flansburg and B.A. Norrgard, Josh Funk and HOW TO CODE A ROLLERCOASTER, Maya/Neel Adventures with Culture GrooveLauren Ranalli, The Little Green Monster: Cancer Magic! By Dr. Sharon Chappell, Phe Lang and Me On The Page, Afsaneh Moradian and Jamie is Jamie, Valerie Williams-Sanchez and Valorena Publishing, TUMBLE CREEK PRESS, Nancy Tupper Ling, Author Gwen Jackson, Angeliki Pedersen & The Secrets Hidden Beneath the Palm Tree, Author Kimberly Gordon Biddle, BEST #OWNVOICES CHILDREN’S BOOKS: My Favorite Diversity Books for Kids Ages 1-12 by Mia Wenjen, Susan Schaefer Bernardo & Illustrator Courtenay Fletcher (Founders of Inner Flower Child Books), Ann Morris & Do It Again!/¡Otra Vez!, Janet Balletta and Mermaids on a Mission to Save the Ocean, Evelyn Sanchez-Toledo & Bruna Bailando por el Mundo\ Dancing Around the World, Shoumi Sen & From The Toddler Diaries, Sarah Jamila Stevenson, Tonya Duncan and the Sophie Washington Book Series, Teresa Robeson  & The Queen of Physics, Nadishka Aloysius and Roo The Little Red TukTuk, Girlfriends Book Club Baltimore & Stories by the Girlfriends Book Club, Finding My Way Books, Diana Huang & Intrepids, Five Enchanted Mermaids, Elizabeth Godley and Ribbon’s Traveling Castle, Anna Olswanger and Greenhorn, Danielle Wallace & My Big Brother Troy, Jocelyn Francisco and Little Yellow Jeepney, Mariana Llanos & Kutu, the Tiny Inca Princess/La Ă‘usta Diminuta, Sara Arnold & The Big Buna Bash, Roddie Simmons & Race 2 Rio, DuEwa Frazier & Alice’s Musical Debut, Veronica Appleton & the Journey to Appleville book series  Green Kids Club, Inc.
We’d like to also give a shout-out to MCBD’s impressive CoHost Team who not only hosts the book review link-up on celebration day, but who also works tirelessly to spread the word of this event. View our CoHosts HERE.
Co-Hosts and Global Co-Hosts

A Crafty Arab, Afsaneh Moradian, Agatha Rodi Books, All Done Monkey, Barefoot Mommy, Bethany Edward & Biracial Bookworms, Michelle Goetzl & Books My Kids Read, Crafty Moms Share, Colours of Us, Discovering the World Through My Son’s Eyes, Educators Spin on it, Shauna Hibbitts-creator of eNannylink, Growing Book by Book, Here Wee Read, Joel Leonidas & Descendant of Poseidon Reads {Philippines}, Imagination Soup, Kid World Citizen, Kristi’s Book Nook, The Logonauts, Mama Smiles, Miss Panda Chinese, Multicultural Kid Blogs, Serge Smagarinsky {Australia}, Shoumi Sen, Jennifer Brunk & Spanish Playground, Katie Meadows and Youth Lit Reviews

FREE RESOURCES from Multicultural Children’s Book Day
·         Free Multicultural Books for Teachers
·         Our New FREE Teacher Classroom Physical and Developmental Challenges Kit http://ow.ly/kcbZ30p3QWz
·         Free Empathy Classroom Kit for Homeschoolers, Organizations, Librarians, and Educators
TWITTER PARTY! Register here!


Hashtag: Don’t forget to connect with us on social media and be sure and look for/use our official hashtag #ReadYourWorld.