Multicultural Children’s Book Day
Multicultural Children’s Book Day is on January 27, 2018 this year. It is to celebrate and raise awareness of cultural diversity in children’s books and also to spread more multicultural books in schools and libraries.
My children and I reviewed two wonderful multicultural children’s books as part of Multicultural Children’s Book Day:
A Morning with Grandpa by Sylvia Liu, illustrated by Christina Forshay
and
When God Made You by Matthew Paul Turner, illustrated by David Catrow
A Morning with Grandpa Review
This children’s story is a beautiful story about a grandfather and granddaughter who teach each other a bit about their culture through forms of exercise. Gong Gong, the grandpa, teaches his granddaughter, Mei Mei, the Chinese form of exercise called tai chi. There is an adorable playfulness between the two as he teaches her the art of tai chi. Mei Mei, in turn, teaches her grandfather yoga, which he also is unsure about at first, but they both are good sports about learning new exercise moves and about each other’s culture. It is wonderful to see their loveable bonding time with each other.
My daughters and I enjoyed reading the story together. We learned more about the Chinese culture and my daughters learned about tai chi, which they had never heard of before. I really liked how they incorporated the moves within the story, and how they even describe how to do both the tai chi and yoga positions. My children and I exercised along with the book and it became a nice whole family reading and exercise time in our home.
This is a story that can be read all year long and an inspiring way to get families to move and exercise together.
When God Made You Review
This month, my children are learning about diversity and what makes each person unique. When God Made You fit perfectly in our unit as it teaches the message that each person was made to be special. Even before we were born, God was already thinking and planning how beautiful and unique his children would be.
My children and I love the vivid colors and illustrations of this book. We adored the images that went along with the beautiful language and rhyme that the story presented. My daughters were so enamored by the illustrations and the progression of the story that the pictures showed as well. It was a very positive book, and it really made my kids feel proud of themselves and their unique personalities and skills. There were times I have heard them compare themselves to their siblings or other friends, so the book presents a refreshing message that God loves them and made them the way they are and encourages them to go out there and put their skills to good use as part of the bigger world around them.
Information about Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2018
Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2017 (1/27/18) is in its 5th 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 home and school bookshelves while also working diligently to get more of these types of books into the hands of young readers, parents and educators.
Current Sponsors: MCBD 2018 is honored to have some amazing Sponsors on board.
2018 MCBD Medallion Sponsors
HONORARY: Children’s Book Council, Junior Library Guild
PLATINUM:Scholastic Book Clubs
GOLD:Audrey Press, Candlewick Press, Loving Lion Books, Second Story Press, Star Bright Books, Worldwide Buddies
SILVER:Capstone Publishing, Author Charlotte Riggle, Child’s Play USA, KidLit TV, Pack-n-Go Girls, Plum Street Press
BRONZE: Barefoot Books, Carole P. Roman, Charlesbridge Publishing, Dr. Crystal Bowe, Gokul! World, Green Kids Club, Gwen Jackson, Jacqueline Woodson, Juan J. Guerra, Language Lizard, Lee & Low Books, RhymeTime Storybooks, Sanya Whittaker Gragg, TimTimTom Books, WaterBrook & Multnomah, Wisdom Tales Press
2018 Author Sponsors
Honorary Author Sponsors: Author/Illustrator Aram Kim and Author/Illustrator Juana Medina
Author Janet Balletta, Author Susan Bernardo, Author Carmen Bernier-Grand, Author Tasheba Berry-McLaren and Space2Launch, Bollywood Groove Books, Author Anne Broyles, Author Kathleen Burkinshaw, Author Eugenia Chu, Author Lesa Cline-Ransome, Author Medeia Cohan and Shade 7 Publishing, Desi Babies, Author Dani Dixon and Tumble Creek Press, Author Judy Dodge Cummings, Author D.G. Driver, Author Nicole Fenner and Sister Girl Publishing, Debbi Michiko Florence, Author Josh Funk, Author Maria Gianferrari, Author Daphnie Glenn, Globe Smart Kids, Author Kimberly Gordon Biddle, Author Quentin Holmes, Author Esther Iverem, Jennifer Joseph: Alphabet Oddities, Author Kizzie Jones, Author Faith L Justice , Author P.J. LaRue and MysticPrincesses.com, Author Karen Leggett Abouraya, Author Sylvia Liu, Author Sherri Maret, Author Melissa Martin Ph.D., Author Lesli Mitchell, Pinky Mukhi and We Are One, Author Miranda Paul, Author Carlotta Penn, Real Dads Read, Greg Ransom, Author Sandra L. Richards, RealMVPKids Author Andrea Scott, Alva Sachs and Three Wishes Publishing, Shelly Bean the Sports Queen, Author Sarah Stevenson, Author Gayle H. Swift Author Elsa Takaoka, Author Christine Taylor-Butler, Nicholette Thomas and MFL Publishing Author Andrea Y. Wang, Author Jane Whittingham Author Natasha Yim
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.
TWITTER PARTY Sponsored by Scholastic Book Clubs: MCBD’s super-popular (and crazy-fun) annual Twitter Party will be held 1/27/18 at 9:00pm.
Join the conversation and win one of 12-5 book bundles and one Grand Prize Book Bundle (12 books) that will be given away at the party! http://multiculturalchildrensbookday.com/twitter-party-great-conversations-fun-prizes-chance-readyourworld-1-27-18/
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.
