When introducing different units of measurement to a class, why not add a multicultural twist to the lesson plan? This is a fun way to introduce the topic to the students and generate awareness and understanding of measurement units used in different areas of the world.
It’s official!
As of May 1st, Read Your World’s first online auction is live. The auction will remain open through May 15th.
Have you written a children’s book and would love a professional manuscript critique? Perhaps you have a website and blog posts that need some editing? Are you a pet-lover or do you know someone who adores their pet? A custom portrait of their favorite pet will make a great gift! With teacher appreciation week around the corner, have you thought of surprising a special teacher with a virtual author visit or a book bundle? Learning español? How about a one-on-one conversational session with an award-winning author? This and much more can be found on our online auction.
You can bid on these and more wonderful items and services by simply clicking below:
Do you like what you see? Please share the auction link with friends to get the friendly bidding war started. 😊
Thank you so much to our donors for making this auction possible.
If you turn on the TV news, scroll through social media, or read/watch the news on your computer you’ll come across headlines such as “Banned in the USA: The Growing Movement to Ban Books”, “Why Book Ban Efforts Are Spreading Across the U.S.”, “Texas leads US in books banned from schools,” and “Florida school book bans: Second highest rate in the nation.”
As a result of the incredible participation we received during our virtual party, we are making the questions we asked during the giveaway into a five-part series. The participants were really engaged with these questions and gave us some great recommendations that we’ve compiled here for you. Today’s post is in response to the first question. Enjoy!
International Mother Language Day is celebrated worldwide each February 21. This year’s theme is “multilingual education – a necessity to transform education in a multilingual world.”
Let’s look at its history and ways you can celebrate at home and school!
Guest Post and Review by Jodi Murphy
Many of the people who encountered Maudie told her she had glitches. She believed them. But the real flaw is that those people look at her from a lens that says she is broken and “less than.” Even her mom wants her to act in a way she’s determined is normal, but Maudie is so much more than ordinary.
#ReadYourWorld Book Jam 2023 in partnership with Children’s Book Council is excited to present Maria Wen Adcock with her book list of Recently Released Asian Books for Young Readers!
We are also giving away a signed copy of her book, It’s Chinese New Year, Curious George! To enter, please fill out the Rafflecopter at the bottom.
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In recent years the publishing industry has seen an increase in diverse books for young readers, thanks to the efforts of many including the non-profit organization Multicultural Children’s Book Day.
When compiling a list of eight children’s books to recommend, it was challenging as there were so many books I wanted to share. The list below focuses on books by Asian authors that were released within the last six months from the publication of this post and featured Asian culture or characters. I’ve listed the books in alphabetical order.
Don’t forget to check out my giveaway for It’s Chinese New Year, Curious George where one lucky reader will win a signed copy of my book! Giveaway details are at the end of this post.
In this charming story, a young girl named Ren longs to help her family prepare for the Lunar New Year, but everyone thinks she’s too little. When she struggles to make pineapple cakes, her family shows her the way. The pride Ren feels in helping her family with traditions and food is heartwarming. [Picture Book, ages 4-8]
Ameya is an Indian American girl who attends her cousin Vaishali’s wedding in India. When her cousin Dev questions if she is really Indian, she wonders if he is right. With the support of her mother, Ameya realizes that a person can be many things and embraces her two worlds. [Picture Book, ages 5-9]
Priya, a girl from India whose family moves to the United States, notices that people in her new country are not familiar with the Indian holiday of Diwali. She misses celebrating it in the same way she did in India but learns that sharing the holiday with new people can be just as festive. The book provides a kid-friendly introduction to Diwali. [Picture Book, ages 4-8]
This Informational fiction STEAM book features an Asian girl and her father which provides the science behind immunizations. It tackles the immune system, viruses, bacteria, and more in a kid-friendly way. Young readers will also see how the main character overcomes her fear of shots. [Picture Book, ages 4-7]
It’s Chinese New Year, Curious George by Maria Wen Adcock
Follow along with Curious George as he celebrates Chinese New Year with his friend Mei and her family. With rhyming text, colorful illustrations, and sturdy tabbed pages, this book is a wonderful introduction to the holiday for young readers which they can read again and again through the early school years. [Board Book, ages 0 and up]
In this bilingual Chinese English storybook about feelings, Little Bun helps young readers to verbalize what they’re feeling inside. It’s a much-needed book that can support social-emotional skills in children while introducing children to Chinese culture. [Picture Book, ages 2-6]
Luminous by Julia KuoA young girl and her mother explore the luminous world of living things around them that light up the night. Throughout the story, there are supporting paragraphs that further explain scientific points in the storyline, thus making this book both very educational and enjoyable to read. [Picture Book, ages 4-8]
Created by the founders of Indigrow, Toco’s How We Look Playbook teaches kids to celebrate differences and provides talking points to spark conversations. Kids explore topics such as “Why do my eyes look different” or “Why is my skin darker” in an age-appropriate way. An additional digital companion InstaPlay Kit includes printables and activities. [Picture Book, ages 3-8]
We are also giving away a signed copy of It‘s Chinese New Year, Curious George. To enter, please use the Rafflecopter below. We can only mail to U.S. and A.F.O. addresses.
Maria Wen Adcock is the author of It’s Chinese New Year, Curious George [January 2023] published by Clarion Books/Harper Collins. Maria is a first-generation Chinese-American writer and founder of the award-winning multicultural parenting blog www.BiculturalMama.com. She has appeared on The Dr. Oz Show< Bloomberg News, Newsday, and Huffington Post. Maria is a board member of Multicultural Kid Blogs, an organization supporting diverse parenting bloggers, and co-host of the annual publishing event Multicultural Children’s Book Day. She resides on Long Island with her husband and two children. To learn more, check out her website and follow her @BiculturalMama on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest.
It’s a wrap! Our 2023 Multicultural Children’s Book Day Virtual Party was a success! Thank you! Thank you! This celebration couldn’t have been possible without your support! It was so wonderful to see the community, parents, teachers, sponsors, authors, reviewers and our wonderful co-hosts come together to celebrate diverse books.
Congrats to last night’s winners! #ReadYourWorld Giveaway 2023 Bundle Book Lists
Looking forward to many more years of celebration, we hope everyone enjoyed the event.
ReadYourWorld Bundle Giveaways
#ReadYourWorld Book Jam 2023 in partnership with Children’s Book Council is excited to present Nora Lester Murad with her book list of Palestinian books for kids recommended by Palestinian teachers.
We are also giving away three signed copies of Ida in the Middle. To enter, please use the Rafflecopter at the bottom.
It isn’t hard to find coming-of-age stories on YA bookshelves, but it isn’t always easy to find those stories told from diverse points of view. Enter Ida in the Middle, a book that follows Ida, a Palestinian-American girl who faces backlash and ridicule from many of her classmates whenever violence erupts in the Middle East as if it were her fault. An important coming-of-age story that explores identity, place, voice, and acceptance, this unique novel is told from the largely underrepresented perspective of a young Palestinian American girl who, like all other teens, is just trying to find out where she belongs. [young adult, ages 12 and up]
Katherine Hanna is a Palestinian-American, retired Boston elementary educator who volunteers her time at the Zaharat al Yasmeen Kindergarten in Aida Refugee Camp in Bethlehem. Katherine wholeheartedly recommends Sitti’s Bird, written and illustrated by Malak Mattar. She says, “This stunning and engaging book is based on the life experiences of Malak who, as a child, lived through Israel’s 2014 “Operation Protective Edge” that bombed the Gaza Strip for nearly 2 months. Young readers will relate to the universal feelings of loneliness, loss, fear, and love of family, without being terrified by brutality. This is a great book for introducing young children to Palestine and how making art helped build Malak’s resilience. [picture book, ages 4 and up]
Mona Mustafa, a high school social studies teacher in Paterson, New Jersey recommends Baba, What Does My Name Mean? A Journey To Palestine written by Rifk Ebeid and illustrated by Lamaa Jawhari. She says, “This book is a true work of art that takes readers on a journey through Palestine’s brave and beautiful cities on the wings of a dove named Salaam. The main character, Saamidah, is told by her father that her name means one who is steadfast, a characteristic that has become synonymous with the Palestinian people. This book inspired me to take my children on the same journey through the cities that Saamidah went on while visiting Palestine this summer!” Mona can be reached on Instagram @monammustafa. [picture book, ages 5 and up]
Layla Hijab Cable is a retired reading specialist and kindergarten teacher in the Boston Public Schools. She helped develop the Boston Focus on K2 which has been adopted in 100 kindergarten classes in Boston and in many other systems, helped organize Ethnic Studies Now practices and volunteered for the Boston Teachers Union doing antiracism work with teachers. Layla recommends the Palestinian folk tale Sitti and the Cats: A Tale of Friendship by Sally Bahous, illustrated by Nancy Malick. She says, “Children enjoy the fantastical and magical world of talking cats as they learn about companionship, generosity, and community values without preaching or scolding. They learn about Palestinian culture and life through native plants, foods, and clothing. I used it with my own kindergarten classes and with my older reading students in 1st to 3rd grades.” [picture book, ages 6 and up]
Hadeil M. Abdelfattah, Ed.D. is a lifelong educator and administrator in the Chicago Public Schools with over 25 years of experience. Hadeil recommends Sitti’s Secrets by Naomi Shihab Nye with illustrations by Nancy Carpenter. Hadeil says, “The book offers vivid images of the bond between a grandmother and her grandchildren, which is stronger than any language barrier. A little girl meets her grandmother for the first time and sees all the things that the land of Palestine has to offer. From getting bread from the traditional taboun bakery or walking the fields or sitting in the shade of the lemon tree in the courtyard, Sitti’s Secrets reminded me of my childhood!” Hadeil can be reached on Instagram at @hadeilsopener. [picture book, ages 5 and up]
Kefah Ayesh, a high school English teacher and department chair, recommends Does My Head Look Big in This? by Randa Abdel Fattah. She says it is “A beautiful, well-written story about a young girl navigating the nuances of hyphenated identities without sacrificing pride in her religious beliefs. The main character attends a prep school in Australia where she is shunned and ridiculed for wearing her hijab. The story highlights the complexities of self-worth, identity, and teenage love. Relatable enough for both hijabis and non-muslim readers who need insight into the experience of women who wear hijab. Overall a fun read and a well-developed story line.” [middle grade, ages 9 and up]
Abeer Ramadan-Shinnawi is an ed consultant for Altair Education Company in Maryland and a veteran middle school social studies teacher. She recommends Balcony on the Moon: Coming of Age in Palestine by Ibtisam Barakat. She says, “This story shows how young navigate growing up in a region fraught by political strife and how important it is for young people to have key masters who help them develop their dreams.”Abeer can be reached on Instagram at altairedconsult or on Twitter at @ed_altair. [young adult, ages 12 and up]
Dr. Sawsan Jaber is a Chicago-based high school English teacher, a consultant with Education Unfiltered, and a scholar/activist with many organizations. Sawsan recommends They Called Me a Lioness: A Palestinian Girl’s Fight for Freedom by Ahed Tamimi and Dena Takruri. She says, “I love the fact that the story is told from the perspective of an adolescent female. I love how the authors weave information throughout the story. People generally know so little about Palestine. Integrating the definitions of words and explaining the historical context helps to contextualize the memoir so that it has a greater impact on readers, helping them to understand Palestine and Palestinian perspectives. Sawsan can be reached on Twitter at @SJEducate. [young adult, ages 14 and up]
We are also giving away three signed copies of Ida in the Middle. To enter, please use the Rafflecopter below. We can only mail to U.S. and A.F.O. addresses.
Nora Lester Murad is a writer, educator, and activist. She co-authored Rest in My Shade: A Poem About Roots, and edited I Found Myself in Palestine: Stories of Love and Renewal From Around the Globe. From a Jewish American family, Nora moved from California to study in the Middle East. She married a Muslim Palestinian, and raised three daughters in the West Bank and in the US. To learn more visit her website and follow her on Twitter @NoraInPalestine, Instagram @nora_lester_murad, and Facebook noralestermurad.
9:00 – 10:00 pm EST
We will be giving away 14+ book bundles!
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0qfuitrD4sGNbYdoYtet-LmApWC71XBMpY
