Multicultural Children's Book Day

#ReadYourWorld

January and Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2021

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Planning and implementation for Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2021 is zooooommming right along!

Can you believe that MCBD2021 is less than 30 days away? As my grandpa used to say, “We’re on the downhill slide to the finish line!”

Here’s what’s new and interesting

  • Book Matching Has Wrapped: From mid-November to the end of December, the MCBD Team worked hard to match reviewers with authors or publishers and it was no small task. As much as we want to keep going and keep assigning authors to reviewers, we know from past experience that it gets stressful and frustrating for all parties involved when review books don’t arrive on time. We do, however, have wonderful PDFs of diverse books to share and review so contact Admin (at)
  • Our Project Manager did an excellent Facebook Live Friday Chat on 1/8 about the basic format of book reviews for MCBD and how to also “Next Level” your reviews to set yourself apart from the crowd. Watch this Chat on replay HERE.
  • Sponsorships Are Closed and WOW, do are we impressed with our Medallion  Level and Author Level 2021 Sponsors!
  • TWITTER PARTY! Yes, it’s true–we can hardly contain our excitement. Our annual MCBD Twitter Party is not only crazy-fun, it’s a chance for educators, parents, readers, reviewers, authors, publishers, and literacy organizations to come together for an hour of intense discussion on relevant topics on the diverse literacy for kids world.

A Meaningful Group Chat

If you haven’t joined our private MCBD Facebook Group, please do! The group is growing like crazy and we have a nice mix of educators, parents, book reviewers, influencers, authors, and publishers.

Not only have we shared our vision for the new group rules, but we are also excited about Becky’s new Weekly FB Live called Meaningful Group Friday Chat.

Why “Meaningful Groups?”

A Meaningful Group is an engaged community that comes together for a common purpose, passion, or reason. Also, a community committed to supporting each other. Sounds like the MCBD Facebook Group, yes? Our goal with this reoccurring Facebook Live every Friday to share what’s new and upcoming for Multicultural Children’s Book Day

Then our Hostess with the Mostess, Project Manager Becky Flansburg, will talk about a topic that would appeal to the wide range of group members that we have. Weekly could include topics like blogging, social media, publishing, promotion, and marketing, or even topics from a parent’s perspective work/life balance, time management, anxious kids, etc.

We have an amazing pool of Smart People in this group, and on the MCBD Team, so we want to use our knowledge bank to make our private Facebook Group a Meaningful one.

P.S. These Lives will be archived so they can be watched at a later date too 🙂

You can watch Episode 1, Episode 2, Episode 3, Episode 4.  As of 2021, our Friday Nite Chat has shifted to a Friday DAY Chat! The topic for the January 22nd Facebook Live within the MCBD Group is more info and what to expect with our crazy-fun 1/29 Twitter Party. AND the why/how/what-the-heck Q&A about our Big Giant Linky
As always, THANK YOU ALL for your support and efforts to keep this diversity in children’s literacy blooming!

**If you have questions about Multicultural Children’s Book Day, how to get involved, or how to get free books for your school or classroom, email Admin (at) MulticulturalChildrensBookDay (dot) com **

 

SUMMARY OF THE Multicultural Children’s Book Day EVENT

FIRST, a giant blog tour —
Readers, parents, teachers, librarians, and caregivers are coming together to explore lots of books with diverse content and sharing their thoughts and feedback via book reviews, book lists, and links.

SECOND, a giant networking event —
This global event connects readers, caregivers, educators, librarians, non-profits, organizations, sponsors, co-hosts, bloggers, and thought leaders so we can all achieve a common goal of raising awareness on the importance of diversity in children’s and YA literature.

THIRD, a virtual book drive —
Through MCBD initiatives like the FREE Diverse Books for Classrooms Project, The Offline Classroom Swag Pack,  and continued outreach to underserved readers, proceeds raised during the course of this online event (and all year-long) go towards getting free multicultural books in locations where they are needed and into the hands of young readers.

 A’s to your Q’s: Answers to some Most Frequently Asked Questions about MCBD

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We know the inner (and outer) workings of Multicultural Children’s Book Day can seem complex sometimes, but we can assure you that there is a method to our madness! So to clarify some of our most commonly asked questions, here is an impromptu Questions and Answers Session with Project Manager, Becky Flansburg.

A’s to your Q’s

Q: My book is about animals on an adventure, but it teaches lessons about inclusion and kindness-could that be included in Multicultural Children’s Book Day?

A: Unfortunately, no. There are occasional exceptions (if the book is bilingual and written by a BIPOC author), but for the most part, we need to follow these guidelines when accepting books/Authors/Sponsors for MCBD. 

Our Criteria for “Multicultural” or “Diverse” Children’s Books

  • Books that contain characters of color as well as main characters that represent a minority point of view.
  • Books that are written by an author of diversity or color from their perspective. Search #ownvoices to discover diverse books written by diverse authors.
  • Books that share ideas, stories, and information about cultures, race, religion, language, and traditions. These books can be non-fiction but still written in a way that kids will find entertaining and informative.
  • Books that embrace special needs or even “hidden disabilities” like ADHD, ADD, and anxiety.
  • Books that show IBPOC readers what is POSSIBLE–like a book that shows an Asian child as an astronaut 👩‍🚀, a child from Sudan as an actress, or a biracial child as a world leader.
Q: I’d like to review a book for MCBD, but I’m not a blogger. Can I still get a free diverse book to review?
A: Yes! It’s not required to be a blogger to participate in book reviewing. All reviewers are required to post their reviews on at least one (as many as possible is appreciated) of these social media channels: a blog, Facebook (Page, not a Profile), Instagram (no private accounts), Twitter (no private accounts) and YouTube. Additional reviews on Goodreads and Amazon are also very appreciated.
Q: Periodically we see FB/IG/Twitter posts from either Pragmatic Mom or MCBD where groups of books (a.k.a. booklists) are featured – usually highlighting diversity.  How can we get one of my books into those posts?   
A: MCBD has no influence over what books are chosen on other people’s sites. I’ve been asked often over the years by other authors how to get included in these lists and the best advice I can give is ASK. They typically include books that have been sent to them because that is what is on their radar. Another way is to create your own booklist on your own site and include one of your own books. Then share like crazy on social media!
Q: We also see FB/IG/Twitter posts from MCBD featuring individual books – how do we get our books considered for these features? Can we post these to your accounts ourselves?
A: MCBD does not review books, so to speak, but we do have different opportunities available for authors to shine the spotlight on their diverse books. One popular way is to do a guest post for us about their writing and publishing journey, what inspired them to write their book, and why they feel the message in this book is important for young readers to be aware of. Those guest posts are then shared on MCBD’s social media. There are examples of recent guest posts HERE and HERE.
Anyone who is interested in doing a guest post on the MCBD blog should send an email to admin@multiculturalchildrensbookday.com
Q: What is the Difference Between a Shout Out and a Multicultural Children’s Book Day Sponsorship?
A: The difference between Social Shout Outs and Sponsorship for MCBD 2021 (1/29/21) is that Shout Outs are a one-time social media push on an author/diverse book’s behalf. Our Social Shout Outs are available 365 days a year and act as a fundraiser for our Free Books for Classrooms Project.
Sponsorships, on the other hand, are directly connected to the yearly celebration itself and are a great way to tap into the hundreds-of-thousands of views our social media channels get from November to February 1.
MCBD also offers a magazine-quality interview blog post with accompanying social media called a Sponsored Post. We only do them in the “off-season” which is February-September. But it would be a great way to share a giveaway, one of your YouTube videos, and any other info about the company and the books. 
Q: How else can I promote my diverse books for kids?
A: I’m going to put on my marketing coach hat here and encourage you to really tap into online marketing opportunities that are occurring right now. Because of COVID-19 shopping and discovering new titles to read will largely happen online. Be active in book-related Facebook Groups and by “be active” I mean really engage with members as opposed to dumping your links and disappearing. 
Like I mentioned above, guest posting is a great way to gain readership and visibility and MCBD welcomes guest posts. Leverage social media by using vibrant pictures/images related to your books and even share excerpts from the pages. Check out this 10-point checklist on Leveraging the Social Buzz! MCBD’s Marketing Tips Authors & Publishers.
FOLLOW US ON TWITTER, FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM, YOUTUBE, AND PINTEREST!

Leveraging the Social Buzz! MCBD’s Marketing Tips Authors & Publishers

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The calendar just flipped to December and Multicultural Children’s Book Day Headquarters is humming right along! As we gear up for an EPIC 8th year of Multicultural Children’s Book Day, we want to remind everyone involved in this vibrant online celebration to share the excitement we work so hard to create far-n-wide.

As we always say, we’ve created the buzz, what YOU do with that energy is up to YOU!

Marketing Tips & Ways to Leverage Your MCBD2021 Participation

  1. Tribe Build: Click over to the Author Sponsor and Medallion Level Sponsor Pages and take the time to Like, Follow, Visit, and Connect on social media with all of our Sponsors.
  2. Connect with Influencers like our CoHosts: Our MCBD CoHosts are picked for a reason–they are “heavy-hitters” in the online world and VERY passionate about literacy and children’s books. As with the Sponsor Pages, take the time to Like, Follow, and connect with our CoHosts.
  3. HASHTAG!: Multicultural Children’s Book Day’s official hashtag is #ReadYourWorld and we encourage everyone to only use that hashtag (and #MCBD2020 as well) when sharing and connecting. On the flip side, searching this hashtag on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest will give everyone a front-row seat to all that is happening with this online celebration. Like, Share, Comment, and RePin whenever possible and the favor will be returned with your information!
  4. Get the Swag: If you are a CoHost, Sponsor, Book Donator or Reviewer, we have special social-media-ready badges/images that you can add to your website and social media efforts. If you don’t have one, email me (Becky) and I will hook you up 🙂 Becky (at) MulticulturalChildrensBookDay (dot) com. These images can also be found in the Files section of the MCBD Facebook Group.
  5. Network: Our private MCBD Facebook Group is 1400+ strong and comprised of reviewers, parents, teachers, authors, publishers, caregivers, and librarians. It’s an amazing place to meet like-minded folks, participate in our weekly sharing prompts, and get/give advice and support to others.
  6. Spread Your Brand: As we enter our 7th season of MCBD, I can tell you with complete honesty that the months leading up to the 1/31/20 event are vibrant, buzzing, exciting, and an exceptional way to gain visibility for your work (whether it’s a review, an award, the fact you are a Sponsor or participant, or just diverse book-related news). TAP INTO THAT BUZZ by PARTICIPATING!!
  7. Be Loud-n-Proud about MCBD: We ask that everyone does their part to spread the #ReadYourWorld news and event details whenever possible. If you would like a list of pre-made social media updates that you can just copy-n-paste, we have that! Just let me know and I will email you that info. Becky (at) MulticulturalChildrensBookDay (dot) com. **Don’t forget about sharing on Goodreads! It’s the only social platform 100% dedicated to book lovers! Read this article on KidLitTV about the Good Things About Goodreads.
  8. Amazon: If you are an Author or Publisher, make sure your Amazon Author Profile is up to date and invite folks to follow your page. That way, when you add a new title or run a sale, those who “follow” your Author Profile on Amazon will get an email update.
  9. Guest Posts: All of our MCBD participants have such a deep passion for diversity in children’s literature and there are some amazingly knowledgeable people involved in this event (including YOU). Guest posts are an excellent way to share your knowledge and work with a fresh audience. MCBD is always looking for book/education/language-related guest posts on our site.
  10. Follow MCBD on Social Media: FOLLOW US ON TWITTER, FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM, YOUTUBE, AND PINTEREST!

 

Oh, How Far we Have Come! (And the Places We Have Yet to Go!)

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Flash Back Time!

On January 27th, 2012 over 100 parenting, education, and children’s book bloggers showed up for the very first time to review diverse books for kids and teens on their respective blogs. These posts and shares ultimately reached over 2 million eyeballs across Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google+.

As I was sifting through old files, I came across this statement and it made me pretty darn proud as to how far this non-profit has come.

It was almost a decade ago when two moms were concern by some statistics that revealed that 37% of the US population consists of people of color, but only 10% of children’s books published have diversity content. Those two forward-thinking, book-loving moms were Valarie Budayr and Mia Wenjen.

Valarie and Mia not only discussed these findings at great lengths, they decided to work on being a solution to the problem. Together, this dynamic duo used their desire for change to create the first Multicultural Children’s Book Day; a children’s literacy initiative with a mission is to not only raise awareness for the kid’s books that celebrate diversity but to get more of these types of books into classrooms and libraries.

Fast forward eight years and the Multicultural Children’s Book Day Team wants to take a moment to marvel/applaud/give thanks for how far we have come and to celebrate the places we have yet to go!

“Together the MCCBD team hopes to spread the word and raise awareness about the importance of diversity in children’s literature. Our young readers need to see themselves within the pages of a book and experience other cultures, languages, traditions, and religions within the pages of a book. We encourage readers, parents, teachers, caregivers, and librarians to follow along with the fun book reviews, author visits, event details, a multicultural children’s book linky, and via our hashtag (#ReadYourWorld) on Twitter and other social media.”

As We Enter Our 8th Year, Here are Some “Then and Now” Victories

As this global day of celebrating diversity in children’s literature keeps getting bigger and bigger, here are some specific differences that show how far we have come:

MCBD Event: Year One
  • 100 Book reviewers
  • 14 sponsors
  • 9 CoHosts
  • Instagram was barely a year old and MCBD didn’t have a presence there…YET 😉
  • Books donated to classrooms and deserving readers: roughly 100
  • Free Classroom Kits (Downloadable “kits” that focus on a relevant topic, a diverse booklist that supports that topic, and classroom-friendly activities that allow for deeper discussion and learning): ZERO

MCBD Event: Year EIGHT

What’s Next for Multicultural Children’s Book Day

Through each multicultural book a child reads, it creates a new level of understanding and empathy. When we can see through the eyes of another, when we can share a loved book with a friend regardless of religion, culture, race, etc., we create a sense of belonging not only in our classrooms and homes but more importantly in our communities. The world outside our window becomes ours to shape and create.

This year, as with every year, we are striving more persistently than ever to place as many books into children’s hands as possible. Our unwavering mission is to share our love of reading from a multicultural perspective while also sharing the storytelling talents of authors and publishers alike.

THANK YOU for sharing this wonderful journey with us!

Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2021 Book Reviewers-Deadline Looming

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It’s not too late to sign up to review a diverse children’s or YA book on social media in honor of the 8th annual Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2021 event!

The option to sign up as a reviewer will close in early December so please pass the word to anyone you know who would like to receive a free diverse book to review in honor of our 2021 (1/29/21) event.

GO HERE to sign up.

Also, due to shipping costs and time delays, physical copies of books cannot be guaranteed to our overseas reviewers…but we will make digital copies are available to you!

Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2021 Recap

Multicultural Children’s Book Day (MCBD) is an online and offline celebration that attracts thousands of supporters, educators, parents, caregivers, book reviewers, and quality authors and publishers who join forces to shine the spotlight on diversity in children and YA literature.

Celebrated annually on the last Friday in January, this global non-profit offers a plethora of free resources, teaching tools, booklists, downloads, and a year-around initiative to get multicultural and diverse books into the hands of young readers. To date, they have donated over 8,000 books to underserved kids, classrooms, and organizations, and that number continues to climb. To learn more about MCBD, visit them on the web and be follow their official hashtag #ReadYourWorld on social media.

SO…if you love diverse books for kids and have a social media platform to share a review on, we want to give you a FREE diverse kidlit or YA book to review!

AND, you don’t have to be a blogger to review multicultural children’s books for our MCBD 2021 online event. You just need to have a love of diversity in children’s literature and be willing to share on your social media platforms such as:

Facebook (Pages only-no Facebook profiles)

Twitter (Private Accounts are not Eligible)

Pinterest

Instagram (Private Accounts are not Eligible)

YouTube

Blogs

Goodreads

Amazon

**Please note, not everyone is guaranteed to receive a book! We will do our best, but sometimes demand exceeds our supply of available diverse books**

GO HERE to sign up.

 

SUMMARY OF THE Multicultural Children’s Book Day EVENT

FIRST, a giant blog tour —
Readers, parents, teachers, librarians, and caregivers are coming together to explore lots of books with diverse content and sharing their thoughts and feedback via book reviews, book lists, and links.

SECOND, a giant networking event —
This global event connects readers, caregivers, educators, librarians, non-profits, organizations, sponsors, co-hosts, bloggers, and thought leaders so we can all achieve a common goal of raising awareness on the importance of diversity in children’s and YA literature.

THIRD, a virtual book drive —
Through MCBD initiatives like the FREE Diverse Books for Classrooms Project, The Offline Classroom Swag Pack,  and continued outreach to underserved readers, proceeds raised during the course of this online event (and all year-long) go towards getting free multicultural books in locations where they are needed and into the hands of young readers.

Go HERE to read one of our recent blog posts, How to Tap Into the Buzz of a Multicultural Children’s Book Day Celebration.