I had the pleasure of reviewing three books in celebration of Multicultural Children's Book Day!We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga - written by Traci Sorell, illustrated by Frané Lessac.
This beautiful picture book is about celebrating the importance of traditions and community. The author takes us through the different seasons to learn about the role gratitude plays in the daily life of the Cherokee Nation. As the seasons are celebrated we learn about family life, foods, and even reflecting upon challenges. The flowing text felt poetic tied to the charming illustrations. I loved how you could linger on the pages to practice a Cherokee word, or find people of different generations in the illustrations. I can imagine a child wanting to point out all of the things they found in the pictures, like I did as a child with Good Night Moon. The tie in between nature and gratitude also allows for sparking further questions about how other cultures celebrate. This book seems destined to be part of holiday celebrations year after year to remind us all to take time to reflect on what we are grateful for in our own lives. The book also contains pronunciation guides, and a Cherokee syllabary.
Mermaids on a Mission to Save the Oceans by Janet Balletta
Everyone knows I'm a big fan of teachers but boy when they find the time to write a book that really puts me over-the-top. Author and teacher, Janet Balletta crafted a story about mermaid sisters working together to save the oceans. The tale imparts a lot of valuable messages for young readers. From how to take care of our oceans and planet, to the value of teamwork. The teachers guide and vocabulary is a very useful tool for classrooms. I especially liked the thought questions that can help children dive deeper into ecological issues and to get them thinking about what they might do to help the planet. It really brought awareness to such a serious issue in a way that can engage young children. I also loved the clamshell-lounger, it was very clever and children will enjoy these playful touches throughout the book. The images made me think of a coloring book and I would've loved to have of seen a page available for kids at the end of the book, but happily found them on the authors blog, which is a wonderful resource for any teacher!K is for Kindergarten is another teacher written book by author Erin Dealey. From the minute you open the book with its vibrant illustrations by Joseph Cowman, you'll have any child's attention. Children will be able to spot themselves in the illustrations as they are representative of many backgrounds and cultures. Rhyming verse is used throughout, which is a fun way to engage early readers. Readers or listeners will be learning letters of the alphabet, and have many new words to practice. There is a lot humor which can also help kids who are anxious about heading off to school. The interactive nature of the book with its side bar activities of Countdown and Challenges is useful for parents in helping little ones face new challenges. The goal setting activities are a nice tool to come back to the book and revisit, reflect and share. This aspect of the book seems very useful for sparking a dialogue about how school is going once they have started. With this book children can have fun while learning.Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2019 (1/25/19) is in
its 6th year and was founded by Valarie Budayr from Jump Into A Book and Mia Wenjen from PragmaticMom. Our mission is to raise awareness of the ongoing need to include kids’ books that celebrate diversity in homes and school bookshelves while also working diligently to get more of these types of books into the hands of young readers, parents and educators.
MCBD 2019 is honored to have the following Medallion Sponsors on board!
*View our 2019 Medallion Sponsors here: https://wp.me/P5tVud-
*View our 2019 MCBD Author Sponsors here: https://wp.me/P5tVud-2eNMedallion Level Sponsors
Honorary: Children’s Book Council, The Junior Library Guild, TheConsciousKid.org.
Super Platinum: Make A Way Media
GOLD: Bharat Babies, Candlewick Press, Chickasaw Press, Juan Guerra and The Little Doctor / El doctorcito, KidLitTV, Lerner Publishing Group, Plum Street Press,
SILVER: Capstone Publishing, Carole P. Roman, Author Charlotte Riggle, Huda Essa, The Pack-n-Go Girls,
BRONZE: Charlesbridge Publishing, Judy Dodge Cummings, Author Gwen Jackson, Kitaab World, Language Lizard – Bilingual & Multicultural Resources in 50+ Languages, Lee & Low Books, Miranda Paul and Baptiste Paul, Redfin, Author Gayle H. Swift, T.A. Debonis-Monkey King’s Daughter, TimTimTom Books, Lin Thomas, Sleeping Bear Press/Dow Phumiruk, Vivian Kirkfield,
MCBD 2019 is honored to have the following Author Sponsors on board
Honorary: Julie Flett, Mehrdokht Amini,
Author Janet Balletta, Author Kathleen Burkinshaw, Author Josh Funk, Chitra Soundar, One Globe Kids – Friendship Stories, Sociosights Press and Almost a Minyan, Karen Leggett, Author Eugenia Chu, CultureGroove Books, Phelicia Lang and Me On The Page, L.L. Walters, Author Sarah Stevenson, Author Kimberly Gordon Biddle, Hayley Barrett, Sonia Panigrah, Author Carolyn Wilhelm, Alva Sachs and Dancing Dreidels, Author Susan Bernardo, Milind Makwana and A Day in the Life of a Hindu Kid, Tara Williams, Veronica Appleton, Author Crystal Bowe, Dr. Claudia May, Author/Illustrator Aram Kim, Author Sandra L. Richards, Erin Dealey, Author Sanya Whittaker Gragg, Author Elsa Takaoka, Evelyn Sanchez-Toledo, Anita Badhwar, Author Sylvia Liu, Feyi Fay Adventures, Author Ann Morris, Author Jacqueline Jules, CeCe & Roxy Books, Sandra Neil Wallace and Rich Wallace, LEUYEN PHAM, Padma Venkatraman, Patricia Newman and Lightswitch Learning, Shoumi Sen, Valerie Williams-Sanchez and Valorena Publishing, Traci Sorell, Shereen Rahming, Blythe Stanfel, Christina Matula, Julie Rubini, Paula Chase, Erin Twamley, Afsaneh Moradian, Lori DeMonia, Claudia Schwam, Terri Birnbaum/ RealGirls Revolution, Soulful Sydney, Queen Girls Publications, LLC
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, Agatha Rodi Books, All Done Monkey, Barefoot Mommy, Biracial Bookworms, Books My Kids Read, Crafty Moms Share, Colours of Us, Discovering the World Through My Son’s Eyes, Descendant of Poseidon Reads, Educators Spin on it, Growing Book by Book, Here Wee Read, Joy Sun Bear/ Shearin Lee, Jump Into a Book, Imagination Soup,Jenny Ward’s Class, Kid World Citizen, Kristi’s Book Nook, The Logonauts, Mama Smiles, Miss Panda Chinese, Multicultural Kid Blogs, Raising Race Conscious Children, Shoumi Sen, Spanish Playground
TWITTER PARTY Sponsored by Make A Way Media: MCBD’s super-popular (and crazy-fun) annual @McChildsBookDay Twitter Party will be held 1/25/19 at 9:00pm.E.S.T. TONS of prizes and book bundles will be given away during the party ( a prize every 5 minutes!). GO HERE for more details.
FREE RESOURCES From MCBD
Free Multicultural Books for Teachers: http://bit.ly/1kGZrta
Free Empathy Classroom Kit for Homeschoolers, Organizations, Librarians and Educators: http://multiculturalchildrensbookday.com/teacher-classroom-empathy-kit/
Hashtag: Don’t forget to connect with us on social media and be sure and look for/use our official hashtag #ReadYourWorld.
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