Our Poverty Classroom Kit and 2019 MCBD Sponsorship Info!

September 15, 2018 by Valarie Budayr Leave a Comment

Now that the kids are back in school (or college for a few of the MCBD team) things are “full steam ahead” with getting ready for Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2019.

First, we’d like to remind everyone of the 2019 date change (and future dates for MCBD as well).

Instead of being “every January 27th,” we are shifting to a “last Friday in January” focus so we don’t interfere with International Holocaust Remembrance Day. This change just felt right and we are glad to make this positive move. So, the next Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2019 will be on January 25, 2019.

2019 MCBD SPONSORSHIPS

Medallion and Author level Sponsorships for MCBD 2019 are OPEN!

“I’m excited for this, last year I had great results with promotions after participating. It also made me feel much closer to the kidlit community and introduced me to great bloggers. Thanks for opening up the event to all publishers.”~Author Elsa Takakoka

GO HERE to view the levels, download the Sponsor Packet, and lock in your 2019 Sponsorship ASAP.

Our 2018/2019 Classroom Poverty Kit is ready for download!

Our Poverty Doesn’t Discriminate: Understanding Poverty in America kit is ready to be downloaded and enjoyed by parents, librarians, and educators. This free classroom kit includes:

~Over 2 dozen poverty in the U.S.-themed books for ages 4-12,

~Two classroom or home activities

~Our official “Poverty Doesn’t Discriminate” Classroom Poster thanks to the talents of award-winning illustrator, Mehrdokht Amini

~ Helpful Poverty Talking Points for Teachers

~ Links, resources and services available to under-served families in the U.S.A.

Link to sign up on the website: https://multiculturalchildrensbookday.com/multicultural-reading-resources/teacher-classroom-poverty-kit/

Link to Blog post: https://multiculturalchildrensbookday.com/free-downloadable-classroom-poverty-kit-understanding-poverty-in-america/

As always this non-profit thanks you for helping us to continue our mission of getting diverse books into classrooms or the hands of young readers while also helping authors and publishers shine the spotlight on their work.

Our official hashtag is #ReadYourWorld

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FREE Downloadable Classroom Poverty Kit: Understanding Poverty in America

September 4, 2018 by Valarie Budayr 2 Comments

Multicultural Children’s Book Day

Classroom Poverty Kit 2019

Poverty Doesn’t Discriminate | Understanding Poverty in America

Is ready for download!

As our sixth Multicultural Children’s Book Day holiday approaches on January 25, 2019, we are thrilled to have you as part of our amazing community of supporters! With enthusiasm, optimism, and hope, we are preparing for MCBD 2019 and hope you will, again, join our celebration of diversity through children’s books.

We are fortunate to live in a country that is a melting pot of diversity and land of opportunity. But not all those living in The Land of the Free have what they need for basic everyday living.

Current estimates in the U.S. show that the official poverty rate is somewhere around 12.7 percent, based on the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2016 estimates. That year, an estimated 43.1 million Americans lived in poverty according to the official measure.

“People come into the United States from all over the world to find freedom and to uncover enough wealth to raise their families. Many come from poor regions where they believe that the country doesn’t struggle with poverty. As one of the world’s wealthiest nations, this is simply a fallacy. And the numbers can attest to the fact that poverty is a pervasive problem America, but we don’t like to admit it. We would like to think that the poor only dwell in third-world countries, but there is no denying it, poverty is a pervasive quandary in America.”

Source: http://www.beliefnet.com/news/articles/7-facts-on-poverty-in-america.aspx#XeGtZ0e8CvWay7pd.99

But what does that mean? The official definition of poverty is “a condition where people’s basic needs for food, clothing, and shelter are not being met.” Poverty rates are highest for families headed by single women, particularly if they are black or Hispanic according to the National Poverty Center. Most of these women have children and without additional income from a spouse, are at a greater risk of poverty.

Now let’s think about what that means, feels like, and looks like through the eyes of a child. Not having enough to eat or seeing their parent(s) struggle to pay bills creates stress and trauma in a child that feels powerless to help.

How about children who don’t live in homes touched by poverty? What does poverty look like to them? How can educators, parents, and caregivers help the next generation of leaders understand and empathize with a growing issue that is likely affecting someone close to them?

This Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2018 Poverty Classroom Kit is filled with books, activities, discussion questions, resources, and a free classroom poster to help students understand that Poverty Doesn’t Discriminate.

A HUGE “Thank You!” to Mehrdokht Amini for creating the poster for this years’ kit.

Click HERE to download your

FREE Classroom Poverty Kit 2019: Poverty Doesn’t Discriminate | Understanding Poverty in America

Our FREE Classroom Poverty Kit contains:

~27 Classroom Books that will help Readers Understand Poverty in America for ages 4 -12

~ Two Classroom or home Activities

~ “Poverty Doesn’t Discriminate” Classroom Poster thanks to the talents of award-winning illustrator, Mehrdokht Amini

~Helpful Poverty Talking Points for Teachers

~Links, resources and services available to under-served families in the U.S.A

Thank you for cultivating understanding, kindness, inclusion, and exploration of this beautiful world in your classroom.

–

Pass the Word! Sponsorships for Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2019 are now OPEN!

Medallion and Author level Sponsorships for MCBD 2019 are OPEN!

Celebrating Diversity in Children’s Literature

The 6th annual Multicultural Children’s Book Day is coming January 25, 2019

#READYOURWORLD

Our mission is to not only raise awareness for the kid’s books that celebrate diversity but to also get more of these of books into classrooms and libraries.

“I’m excited for this, last year I had great results with promotions after participating. It also made me feel much closer to the kidlit community and introduced me to great bloggers.

Thanks for opening up the event to all publishers.”~Author Elsa Takakoka

Click HERE

to download the 2019 MCBD Sponsorship Packet that outlines the benefits/perks of each level.

GO HERE to learn more about SPONSORSHIP LEVELS for MCBD 2019

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Facebook for Business and Authors – Thumbs Up or Thumbs Down?

August 29, 2018 by Valarie Budayr Leave a Comment

Guest blog post by Susan Mayfield of Reduce the Chaos

With the recent changes on Facebook and the decreased reach for business pages, a lot of business people and authors are re-evaluating keeping a business page on Facebook. Some have made the drastic decision to delete their Facebook business pages or abandon them.

Stop! Before you follow them and delete your business from Facebook, you might want some facts to help make a more informed decision. I understand the frustration of the reduced reach on Facebook unless you pay for ads. However, there are still some valid points to having a business page and a quality, active presence. There are also some things that are working for organic reach if you have an engaged community. Until there is a more viable alternative, Facebook is one of the main places where the action is going to be when it comes to prospecting for clients and customers.

We used to have the local “Yellow Pages” to look up a business and contact them by phone, or just drop by during business hours. Today, most people don’t look for businesses that way, they look for businesses online. Most of the time people look for a business from their phones.

Websites are good, however, many people also look up a business on the following social sites: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn. Will people find your business on those sites? If they don’t find your business, it’ a given they will find others who offer similar services during their search.

The crucial thing to keep in mind is: What will potential clients and customers see when they go to those social sites? Clear contact information? Service and/or product information? Interesting images? Recent posts and activity from the business?

If you have ever gone to a Facebook page and nothing has been posted since 2013, I am sure you are left wondering if the business is still around. Don’t let your business page sit stagnant and unattended.

Know the numbers to make an informed business decision!

Some stats*:

Facebook Has More Than 2 Billion Active Users on Facebook
Facebook has Over 1 billion daily active users
Demographics: 83% of Women & 75% of Men Use Facebook
People Access Facebook an Average 8 Times Per Day

Businesses:

60 million businesses have a Facebook Page
94% of businesses use Facebook
64% of businesses use Instagram

Potential Customers and Clients:

60% visit Facebook before going to your business
80% more inclined to purchase after visiting your Facebook page
62% use the information from your page to make a decision to use your services

“What happens if your business isn’t on Facebook, but other similar businesses are?”

What Facebook wants Business Pages to have:

#1 Meaningful Interaction

#2 Activity: Interaction and engagement on the page by followers and by the page.

Some things to keep in mind:

If no one is interacting, then the reach will decrease even more
Facebook gives more weight to shares and comments, then the reactions to the posts

How do you get more reach on Facebook?

Do the following:

Get people to react to the posts (great content)
Likes, comments are a good start
To ensure visibility get reactions (not just likes)
Super important: Always reply – response time and Replies to comments are tracked and rated by Facebook

When should you post content?

When the majority of your followers are online
If you post when your followers are online, then you will get more reward from Facebook by increased reach (Yes, Facebook is tracking the posts against when your people are online and this will affect your reach)
Mix it up by sometimes posting at varying times to reach people who are online when most of your followers aren’t to be sure they are served too.

IMPORTANT DOES:

Fill out your business page profile completely, especially your contact info!
Sharing trending stories is a plus.
Use targeted audiences for shares
Schedule posts directly in Facebook**
Upload videos to Facebook, not from a Youtube link for better reach
Use posting to Nessenger to share content (if your followers are receptive to this)
Use sub titles ON THE VIDEO so the video can be viewed with sound off and it will usually get move viewers watching to the end. (Videos with higher completion rates get more reach)

**Note, Facebook is giving preference for authentic posts (not scheduled)

The stats from before the changes showed very little difference between the reach of scheduled posts using a third-party scheduler and using the scheduling option in Facebook. This may change. We encourage you to experiment using a scheduler mixed with authentic posts and posts scheduled in Facebook to see which is working best for your business.

Things to Avoid doing on Facebook:

Avoid sharing questionable stories (those that might be fake, but you aren’t sure)
Avoid frequent promotional posts
Avoid links outside of Facebook like your website. Facebook wants people to stay on Facebook and they don’t want OUTBOUND LINKS!!!
Posting things that cause people to hide your posts, marking posts as spam or as inappropriate, or “unliking” your page

What about advertising on Facebook?

Boosted posts are not recommended in general: this can be a waste of money, especially if you don’t have targeted audiences for the posts set up before boosting.

Use ads. Cost per click has dropped so they are more cost effective.

*************************************************

How TO USE FACEBOOK to GROW YOUR BUSINESS or Author Platform

First, you need to know who your customer IS – this helps you to find them in a variety of ways and to create a message that appeals to them (where are they hanging out? Then hang out there too)

Grab their Attention with these:

– How to Videos

– Offer something of value for free/Special Offers or Discounts

– PDF guides/cheat sheets (downloads from your website)

– Giveaways

IMAGES: use them to get attention by using images that draw attention with **Emotion/Motion/Color** on your images. This means eye catching and interesting images.

Build Relationships

– collect emails through your website

– use an ad linked to Messenger (don’t be spammy with messenger ads)

– nurture: give them more contact with your business to get sales

Followup – this leads to more sales, referrals

Customer Service – have great customer service so your clients/customers come back and refer others to you.

The best way to get people from being just “on your Facebook page” is to lead the contact off Facebook and onto your website then to sign up for your email list. Through your email list is where you can contact them on a regular basis, no matter what Facebook is doing with your page visibility.

If you want to know if Facebook is worth your efforts, look at the analytics for your website and where your leads are coming from.

Most important of all, if you have a page on Facebook, make the best possible use of it with consistent and engaging content.

The one thing you can be certain of, there will continue to be changed on social media. Those who adapt will continue to benefit from being on social media.

Still unsure how to get more out of your social media or make Facebook work for you? You can find more information at Reduce the Chaos Virtual Assisting and Social Media Management

*Stats were taken from a combination of sources:

Sprout Social

Tech Crunch

Top Dog

About Susan Mayfield and Reduce the Chaos:

My goal is promoting growing Business Owners, Entrepreneurs, Authors, and Organizations, to increase their visibility to their prospective clients and their current clients. The goal is for this increased visibility to result in more client satisfaction and increased revenue for you, the client.

Reduce the Chaos supports Businesses and Authors to reach more of their ideal clients and customers through Facebook/Social Media: creating business accounts; content creation and scheduling, managing multiple social accounts and monitoring. Email Marketing Services: Set up and use Mailchimp, Aweber, Get Response or other marketing email programs to send emails and email newsletters.

Find me on Facebook

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Your child’s choice of career + proficiency in a foreign language = success!

August 21, 2018 by Valarie Budayr

**guest post from author, Judy Martialay**

Foreign language skills will open doors for your child, regardless of his or her career choice.

Language is about life. Wherever there is communication with people who speak another language, in our country or abroad, knowing another language is an asset or is required. This is why languages are one of the top 8 skills required of all occupations. In many countries, students study the language along with their career preparation.

Native English speakers comprise 5% of the world’s population. Although millions speak or study English, the majority have limited skills, and many prefer to communicate in their language.

The old adage for business is “Buy in your language but sell in the buyer’s language.” Solid lasting business relations are based on trust, friendship, and cultural affinity.

Foreign language skills will open doors

Students of another language can develop appreciation and respect for other cultures, and develop skills to work with people from diverse backgrounds. The ability to communicate in the language of the customer plays a big role in establishing friendship and trust.

These are some of the benefits that proficiency in a second language has for your child and his or her career:

• In the competition for jobs, all things being equal, the candidate who is bilingual has the advantage.
• Bilinguals are needed to interact with employees and customers abroad and in our country.
• Bilinguals can discover and attract more potential customers or clients than monolinguals. They can access important information which is unavailable to monolingual English speakers.
• Employees who are proficient in another language can receive a bonus.

Proficiency in a foreign language = success

The military needs people who are competent in other languages. Every soldier accepted by the Green Berets must know a foreign language. These soldiers are sent to other countries to advise and train local troops. Armed services are just one of the many careers where knowing a language is either required or an asset: health, social services, police, corrections, journalism, foreign service, politics, sports, hospitality, engineering, sales, the arts, travel, and tourism.

Can you think of more? I just read in the newspaper that radio sports announcers need to know how to pronounce the baseball player’s names. There are many players from foreign countries, mostly Spanish-speaking.

Encourage your child to start and/or continue the study of a language along with his or her major subject. Where possible, he or she should strive to earn the Seal of Biliteracy which is awarded upon graduation in many states.

He or she will be able to put this on his or her resumé. This will not only set him or her apart from the crowd; it will also open the door to exciting opportunities.

About Judy

Author Judy Martialay

“Children absorb languages like sponges.” Elementary school teacher
Visit: http://www.polyglotkidz.com
Bonjour! Let’s Learn French:

NABE Book Achievement Award Winner Winter 2018 Children’s Bilingual

Honorable Mention Cultural Diversity Purple Dragonfly Award 2018

order now on Amazon.com

https://amzn.to/2m3WgyX

kindle: https://amzn.to/2mersvn

B&N.com: https://goo.gl/W7y2dT

Bookbaby: https://store.bookbaby.com/book/Bonjour-Lets-Learn-French

¡HOLA! Let’s Learn Spanish

NABE Pinnacle Book Achievement Award Winner Winter 2017 Children’s Bilingual
Readers’ Favorite Bronze Award Children’s Educational 2017
Honorable Mention Educational Purple Dragonfly Book Award 2017

Judy’s books on Amazon.com

Softcover printed

https://amzn.to/2mizrYw

Kindle:
https://amzn.to/2ujRTEs
B&N:
http://bit.ly/2eNNi6o

Bookbaby: https://store.bookbaby.com/book/¡hola-Lets-Learn-Spanish
Like me on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/AuthorJudyMartialay/
follow me on Twitter
Judy Martialay@judyruth10
Lead with languages

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A Walk in Nature, Une Promenade en Nature {An English/French Picture Book}

July 18, 2018 by Valarie Budayr

Guest Post By Author Jesica Nkouaga

So What Do Nature and Children Have in Common?

They grow! They grow especially when they are nurtured and cared for by someone who loves them.

Nature and children are two things that author Jesica Nkouaga loves. Jesica’s love for nature inspired her to draw pictures of the natural surroundings around her, both at home and abroad during her ESL teaching adventures overseas.

Author Jesica Nkouaga

Although not an artist by training, Jesica took deep comfort in drawing the countryside landscapes that she saw around her, especially while teaching English abroad in Thailand, Jordan, and Honduras. Many of the drawings in this book are a result of over ten years of traveling and drawing. The book also includes drawings of the countryside near the farm where Jesica grew up in Minnesota.

It also includes drawings of hobbies that Jesica and her family members engage in such as riding a unicycle and playing guitar.

After ten years of collecting drawings, Jesica came up with a way to put all of the things she loves together. She put the nature drawings together to create a basic language learning book for children.

As an ESL teacher, language teaching and learning are something that Jesica does daily, so it made sense to create a book about language learning for children.

Why include the French language, you might ask?

French connects with Jesica’s love for learning new languages, and it is one of her lifetime goals to learn French— the native language of her husband who is from Cameroon. By including a French translation in her book, it not only helps her learn and practice French, but it aids others who are learning and practicing French especially children! She is grateful to her husband, Abel, who enthusiastically and patiently helped to translate the book into French.

It is Jesica’s hope that children and parents will be inspired by the colorful and vibrant drawings of nature depicting different settings around the world, and hopefully, some French can be learned along the way. In this book, enjoy learning French and enjoy a walk in nature— une promenade en nature!

Connect with Jesica on her Facebook Page.

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