Multicultural Children's Book Day

#ReadYourWorld

Booklandia: Where the World of Bilingual and Spanish Books is Closer than you Think!

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Guest post by Izzie Chea

 

From humble beginnings in the busy kitchen of an Oakland, CA home in 2016, the idea of bringing children’s Spanish and bilingual books was coming to fruition. Maceo Cabrera-Estévez, Cuban-American mom and book lady for Barefoot Books, noticed the demand for high quality, authentic, and representative Spanish and bilingual children’s literature. There was nowhere to go that would guarantee that bilingual and Spanish books were not just poor translations of English books, and so Booklandia was born.

Booklandia

Booklandia provides Bilingual and Spanish literature to children, ages infant to age 12, through an online store (tienda), a subscription box, or through book sets for teachers, schools, libraries, and organizations like hospitals and community centers. Booklandia also has a donation program giving families and organizations books for every box sold.
Booklandia

Our mission at Booklandia is to assist in creating beautiful, representative, and inclusive home libraries for children. Books from Booklandia are sourced from across Latin America, South America, México, the Caribbean, Spain, and the US and include a diverse representation of characters, stories, themes, and authors.

Part of Booklandia is the commitment to building community, and as a result, Booklandia has a presence at many festivals and events in the SF Bay Area as well as regular free bilingual storytime events in California and Texas. The success of these events is shown in the smiling faces of children when they see books and characters with similar names and features as theirs.

Booklandia

As a current challenge to keep building community, the #LEEMOS3000 Reading Challenge is live throughout the month of March. Readers of all ages and levels are encouraged to log hours all month long and contribute to the collective goal of 3000 hours reading bilingual and Spanish books.

To learn more about Booklandia, please visit www.booklandiabox.com!

To join our #LEEMOS3000 Challenge, please visit https://booklandiabox.com/blogs/news/leemos3000-challenge!

Izzie Chea is Marketing Director at Booklandia. She is a Dominican/Mexican-American writer, storyteller, music teacher, mother, and wife. She resides in ultra-diverse Houston, TX, and enjoys reading with a cafecito, her piano, and the family cat, Simon.

A Bilingual and Spanish Booklist from Booklandia

Find us on Facebook! Booklandia Books
Find us on Instagram! Booklandia Box
Visit our website! Booklandia
Browse the tiendita! La Tienda
Join the Booklandia Bilingual Kids Club! Kids Club

Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2019 Recap and Highlights

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Hard to believe it’s approaching nearly 30 days since the mind-blowing awesome MCBD 2019 (1/25/19) celebration and we can promise all of you that we are still recovering!

The MCBD team was touched and elevated by the overwhelming support and enthusiasm surrounding our diverse children’s literature online celebration. In the days following the crescendo of the event, and our crazy-fun annual Twitter Party,  we all have spent hours sifting through the amazing camaraderie, comments, reviews, classroom celebrations and touching kudos that were offered up during our on and offline global event.

“I can hardly believe this is the sixth year for MCCBD. Look what you started! It is amazing and has and will continue to have an impact on many children, families, and teachers.” Claire Noland- A Field Trip Life

Here is the Summary of Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2019.

REMINDER: MCBD will be moving from an “every January 27th” celebration date to a “last Friday in January” focus so we don’t interfere with International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

The Reason We Do What We Do

During the 2019 Multicultural Children’s Book Day celebration, we donated roughly 2,160+ books to young readers, parents, caregivers, educators and librarians!

Over the course of the last 6 years of this initiative, we’ve given away almost 6, 800 diverse kids’ and YA books to deserving readers!

Nearly 6,800!

The Educators and Librarians that Made the Event Possible

Readers and Teachers Celebrating ReadYourWorld 2019!

The CoHosts that Made the Event Possible

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

 

The Medallion Level Sponsors that Made the Event Possible

Children’s Book Council, The Junior Library Guild, TheConsciousKid.org.,

Super Platinum: Make A Way Media/ Deirdre “DeeDee” Cummings

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,

 

The Author Sponsors that Made the Event Possible

2019 Author Sponsors

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, Terri Birnbaum/ RealGirls Revolution, Soulful Sydney, Queen Girls Publications, LLC

The Book Donators that Made the Event Possible

Alice Faye Duncan, Arte Público Press / Piñata Books, Authorhouse, Avant Learning, Baby Ventures Books, Beyond Words Publishing, Boystown Press, Brown Boy Brown Girl, Create Space, Crumpled Paper Publishing, David Michael Slater, Dreambuilt Books, Eifrig Publishing, Eva Harley Chiphe, Fig Factor Media, Flying Books House, Gaku Press, GIANT Graphics,  Islandport Press, Joy Sun Bear, Inc., Julia Inserro, JWS, Kar-Ben Publishing, Kidsjoy, Kind Eye Publishing, LLC, Kwill Books, Lantana Publishing, Maritza M Mejia, Mascot Books, MindView Press, MVP Kids Media, Nomad Press, Page Turner Publishing, PenMagicBooks LLC, Planting People Growing Justice, Sawaga River Press,  sHjstories, Tara Luebbe- author, Tuttle Publishing, Vision Your Dreams, Whimsical World, WOMAGIS, Write My Memoirs LLC,  Yorkshire Publishing,

 

The Book Reviewers  that Made the Event Possible

Over 500 and counting: The number of parents, caregivers, teachers, librarians, and young readers read diverse kidlit and YA books in honor of the event. These reviews can be seen on our every growing Big Giant Linky for 2019 here and here.

The MCBD Board of Advisors that Made the Event Possible

The Partnerships that Made the Event Possible:

THANK YOU Children’s Book Council (CBC) for yet another amazing CBC Book Jam filled with author visits and TONS of giveaways!

#ReadYourWorld Book Jam 2019 Cynthia Leitich Smith

Music Video! 

Thank you to Annie Lynn and Walt Wilcezewski for donating their time and expertise to create our first official Read Your World Multicultural Children’s Book Day Music Video!

Please support Annie Lynn on her website and YouTube channel!

Special thanks to the kids for their vocals on this song:  Havana Chapman-Edwards, Will, Hailey, and Amanda!

Website Support! Corey at Midstate Design is the guru who keeps the MCBD site running like a dream. We highly recommend his WordPress Care Package Extras Package.

Swag! The official supplier of our MCBD magnets is SwagChimp and they always came through for us!

SwagChimp

The Dream Team that Makes This Event (and Future MCBD Celebrations) Possible

And a final thank you to the team that makes the magic happen during the months before, during, and after each Multicultural Children’s Book Day: Co-founders Valarie Budayr and Mia Wenjen, Project Manager, Becky Flansburg, and Social Media Manager, Susan Mayfield. Thanks to lots of coffee, naps, meetings, giggles, and trust, this team continues to move mountains year after year.

Multicultural Children’s Book Day Free Resources

Throughout the months of November-January, leading up to the celebratory day, educators, librarians and parents can start planning and preparing with FREE activities available today at www.multiculturalchildrensbookday.com

FREE Classroom “Empathy” Kit:  

The free Classroom Empathy Kit focuses on empathy and compassion through shared booklists and special home or classroom activities. The kit includes 18 book recommends on the topic of Understanding Immigration and Refugees, Classroom Empathy Activities, and a very special custom printable Empathy Poster courtesy of author/illustrator Juana Medina. Educators, parents and librarians can sign-up to receive the free classroom kit here: http://bit.ly/2BGu4uQ

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

Created in 2018, this free classroom kit includes over 2 dozen poverty in the U.S.-themed book recommends for ages 4-12, two classroom or home activities, and a copy of the official “Poverty Doesn’t Discriminate” Classroom Poster thanks to the talents of award-winning illustrator, Mehrdokht Amini. http://bit.ly/2P6cXWE

Free Diversity Book Lists and Activities for Teachers and Parents: Curated lists of books about diverse topics including: countries, religions, holidays, ethnicities, in addition to special needs and LGBTQ. http://bit.ly/1kGZrta

Share a Classroom Celebration: Teachers who host a celebration in the classroom can send in a picture of their party to receive 3 free diverse books and a swag pack as a thank you.  Teachers and librarians can enter their event info HERE (https://multiculturalchildrensbookday.com/category/offline-classroomlibrary-event-project/)

Don’t forget to connect with Multicultural Children’s Book Day on social media and be sure and look for/use our official hashtag #ReadYourWorld.

 

Why learning a Foreign Language in Elementary School is Important

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Guest post by Judy Martialay

Learning a Foreign Language in Elementary School is Important and Foreign Language in Elementary School (FLES) is a wonderful boost for all kids. As I mentioned in my past article on MCBD, the world that we need to prepare our children for is filled with multiple languages. Regardless of their career choices or where they may live, it is more probable than ever that they will be communicating and working with people from diverse language and cultural backgrounds.

FLES programs

Foreign Language in Elementary Schools

Why begin to learn a language early? We can learn a language at any age, but starting very young has big advantages:

1.Children have more time to learn a language. It takes many years to be truly fluent in a language. Think of how long it took your child to speak English effortlessly, practicing day in and day out.

2.Children are wired to learn languages. They have the ability to repeat any sound in a foreign language and to speak with almost native pronunciation. This means that they will not only be understood but also they will be able to hear and understand better. This ability disappears at around the age of puberty, 12 years old., just when most of our

students are beginning to study a language.

Foreign Language in Elementary School | What are FLES classes like?

I recently interviewed Mr.D,  the teacher of Mandarin Chinese in our local elementary school. All the children in our district begin Mandarin in kindergarten. They can change to Spanish in grade 3 and to other languages in middle school. The Mandarin class is described here, but classes in Spanish or any other language are similar at this level.

Children address Mr. D using the Mandarin word for “teacher”, Laoshi.  The students learn with a variety of activities, games, and songs. They greet each other and ask how they are. They learn to talk about the weather, school, countries, food, and many other topics. The day I interviewed the teacher, the children were learning the body parts in Mandarin, and they played “Pin the tail on the Dragon.”

Mandarin language

The teacher reads stories to the children. He brings comic books into the older classes and encourages them to recognize characters.

Throughout the year, kindergarten children work on a book project,“All About Me”, where they write their autobiographies. Older children work on projects using technologies with IPAD and Chrome, where they can compose stories.

The children learn the pronunciation of Mandarin, including the tones, by repetition. Repetition is good when learning a foreign language!

In kindergarten, Mr. D.introduces the Chinese characters with a book called The Pet Dragon by Christoph Nieman. Children practice the strokes needed to form the characters and gain familiarity with apps.

Mandarin books for kids

At this age, children accept this new language without question. With Mandarin (and Spanish or French, etc) they are learning to think in a different way. This ability to express ideas in a different way promotes flexibility in the brain; this ability has major cognitive benefits. They are also learning to accept cultural differences.

Children are encouraged to use their Mandarin outside of class. One girl has befriended a waiter in the local Chinese restaurant and brought him a weather wheel that she made in class. Some children’s parents speak Mandarin or have colleagues who speak the language with the children.

Boys do as well as girls in FLES classes. At this age, they have not yet absorbed attitudes that are prevalent about how it isn’t macho to speak a foreign language.

Students of all abilities can succeed because there is ample time and repetition for practice to master the language.

What can parents do to encourage their children?

In our mostly monolingual country, your support as a parent can make a big difference. Point out the benefits of knowing another language. Find a relative or friend who speaks the language and is willing to have conversations with your child in the language.

You can encourage your budding bilingual children by finding opportunities for the kids to practice, with free apps, Duo Lingo,  programs on Youtube,  and movies about culture. Take the children to a restaurant where food from that country is served. Make visits to local cultural events.

What can you do if your district doesn’t offer FLES classes?

In the U.S., only about 25% of elementary schools, public or private, offer any form of FLES program. If your school district doesn’t have FLES classes, what can you do?

The benefits are so important, you don’t want your child to lose this opportunity. Go to the school principal and/or superintendent and ask that they begin these programs. If possible, go with like-minded parents; there is strength in numbers.

Meantime, find a program that you can use at home with your child, like ¡Hola! Let’s Learn Spanish or Bonjour! Let’s Learn French. These books are designed for parents to use with their children, 6-10, whether or not they know the language. The audio program is free and downloadable on the website http://www.polyglotkidz.com, along with lots of resources. The books are easy and fun to use for the whole family. There may be private classes available in your area, summer camps, and lots of resources online.

Every child should have the opportunity to begin to learn a second language early and to continue learning that language until he or she is proficient.

For free downloadable infosheets about the benefits of learning a language other than English, please visit http://polyglotkidz.com/benefits_of_knowing_another_language/

Please make sure that your child has the early language advantage enjoyed by their peers around the world. Request a FLES program for your school. Find alternatives for your child if necessary, and learn or review the language yourself. Enjoy!

About the Author

Judy Martialay

Judy has taught languages on Long Island and is an active member of the Public Advocacy Committee of the New York State Association of Foreign Language Teachers. She lives on Long Island with her husband. Has two daughters and a granddaughter. Her missions are have let every child have the opportunity to learn a world language at an early age, and she wants parents, everyone to have fun with a language and appreciate the beauty of the cultures of our world. Judy is the author of ¡HOLA! Let’s Learn Spanish  and her newest book, Bonjour! Let’s Learn French will be published in October

“Language study promotes tolerance for diversity.”
Visit: http://www.polyglotkidz.com
¡HOLA! Let’s Learn Spanish

 

NABE Pinnacle Book Achievement Award Winner Winter 2017

Judy Martialay
Honorable Mention Educational Purple Dragonfly Book Award 2017
Available on Amazon.com
softcover printed:
http://amzn.to/29Hu1hn
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http://amzn.to/2ey4yhV
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http://bit.ly/2eNNi6o
Like me on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/AuthorJudyMartialay/
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Judy Martialay@judyruth10
Lead with languages

 

Bridging the Past with the Present | Guest Post from Author Kathleen Burkinshaw

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Guest Post from Author Kathleen Burkinshaw

Why does a book about an event that happened 50 plus years ago have anything to do with today?

Well, I believe that using historical fiction books for children/young adult readers illuminates a time period and a culture that may only be mentioned briefly in one paragraph of a history textbook. Historical fiction highlights some similarities that the main character may have in common with today’s readers and hopefully, they will empathize with that person, that culture.

Being able to spotlight an ethnicity that we may only know as the ‘enemy’ or immigrants from ‘other countries’, ensures that such important stories will not be forgotten. If we know the decisions that were made at that time period, but now have the full story from various points of views, perhaps future outcomes may be different.

I know that as years pass technology, political views, and yes, even climate changes. Yet one factor remains constant-our emotions with a strong need for connections (whether it is in person, online, or in a book). I believe that historical fiction serves this purpose by shining a light on the bridge from the past to the present.

Historical fiction can help a reader develop an understanding of another civilization, their way of living, and their mindset during a specific period of time.  If people’s stories from the past fade away, it could be all too easy to desensitize past gruesome events. The voices from the past need to be heard. We can learn from them, stand up for them, and vote so that the similar events are NEVER repeated.   Fear can stem from what we don’t know. If it is then fed with false information or assumptions, well, we have seen all too often how quickly fear escalates into hateful actions.

My mother refused to speak about her horrific experience and all that she lost in the atomic bombing of Hiroshima because she didn’t want the attention. Her devastating memories were beyond painful to discuss, but she also had been a victim of so much prejudice and racial slurs, she didn’t think her story would matter.

But a simple question from my daughter asking me to speak about “the people under the now famous mushroom clouds that day”, granted me an opportunity to tell my mother’s story for her. While honoring my mother for entrusting me with her precious memories, I could also give that sense of connection of people living in Hiroshima Japan during WWII to these students.

As a byproduct, I connected to the family members that I never got to meet because they died that day or within years of the bombing. I came to terms with the knowledge that the illness I have today most likely is related to the radiation my mother was exposed to on August 6th.

I want to make clear that I am not saying to remember the past for the sake of blaming some person or country. We are remembering so that the use of atomic bombs, the injustices, and atrocities of the past will NOT happen to any family, in any country again.

By using historical fiction as light on our and our children’s journey through life, not only are we giving voices from the past meaning; but we are showing our readers, that their story will matter as well.

Once we cross that bridge, steps toward peace may be waiting on the other side.

About Author Kathleen Burkinshaw

The last cherry blossom

 

Kathleen Burkinshaw

Kathleen Burkinshaw is a Japanese American author residing in Charlotte, NC. She’s a wife, mom to a daughter in college, and owns a dog who is a kitchen ninja. She has presented her mother’s experience in Hiroshima to middle and high schools for the past 9 years. The Last Cherry Blossom (Sky Pony Press,2016), is now a United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs Resource for Teachers and Students. And is recently nominated for NC School Library Media Association YA book award and 2019-2020 VSBA, 2018& 2016 Scholastic WNDB Reading Club selection, and Finalist for NC Sir Walter Raleigh Fiction Award, 2018 Sakura Medal, Japan, and SCBWI Crystal Kite Award(southeast region)

Connect with Kathleen via her Website www.kathleenburkinshaw.com  or on social media: Twitter @klburkinshaw1 Instagram @kathleenburkinshaw Facebook @authorKathleenBurkinshaw

SUPERHERO SECRETS Guest Post by Author Jacqueline Jules

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What happens when you get your wish?

That’s the question the students in my library inspired me to answer. I was working as an elementary school librarian in a Title I school in Northern Virginia. Every day, students came in asking for books on superheroes. There were not enough on their reading level to go around. Or even available on the market to purchase. It frustrated me. Like any school librarian, I wanted to meet my students’ needs.

Zoom! Zoom! Zapato Power!

In the Zapato Power series, a boy named Freddie Ramos lives out a fantasy many elementary school students secretly imagine. What if you had superpowers? What would you do? Would you keep them a secret? Would you use them for your own benefit or help others?

Freddie faces many dilemmas. His super speed is a thrill to use when he is alone. But when he is playing basketball with his friends, he feels like he is cheating. The most recent title, Zapato Power #7: Freddie Ramos Hears It All, shows Freddie managing the new power of super hearing. What should he do when he overhears information? Should he act on it? Can he use his super hearing without being a super snoop?

The Zapato Power series invites students to consider what it would be like to have a superhero dream come true. While I was writing it, I imagined my own students and how they would handle having a superhero secret at our elementary school. How would you get away with running in the hallways? How could you help others without revealing your superpowers? I quickly realized that my character would need to be enveloped in Zapato Power smoke, making him invisible every time he ran. Invisibility was a practical solution for Freddie Ramos. He still had social-emotional issues to consider. How would Freddie feel about being an anonymous hero? Would his superpowers make him feel isolated? And could they complicate the problems he faced in everyday life?

Zapatow Power

All of the characters in the Zapato Power series are named after children I taught as a school librarian. Freddie lives in an apartment complex behind his school, just as many of my students did. When I began the Zapato Power series, I wanted to do more than simply write a story for my students, I wanted to write about them. These kids were special to me for many reasons.

First off, as a school librarian, I had the pleasure of seeing them grow up and visit me each week in the library from their days as Head Start students all the way through sixth grade. Secondly, my students connected me to my own memories of childhood. I was a child of an immigrant myself. I understood when my students said they didn’t eat turkey on Thanksgiving because I had not either, as a child. And I understood when they looked at the floor, listening to a parent speak to a teacher in a heavy accent, because I did, too, as a child. Some things about being a child of an immigrant are universal.

Freddie Ramos is Latino, just like the majority of my students were.

How could I have created a character inspired by my students (and literally named after them) and ignore their cultural heritage? However, Freddie’s family and economic circumstances are the backgrounds of his story. As a school librarian, I was tired of the books on my library shelves which only presented the lives of minority children in the context of the problems they faced. Who wants their existence to be solely portrayed as a problem to be overcome?

When we write about minorities, we can’t limit their stories to the hardships they face. We need to write about who they really are. Loving, happy kids who have the same desire to be a superhero as anyone else.

Looking for some Zapato Power Activities? I have a bunch on my website HERE~!

author Jacqueline JulesBIO: Jacqueline Jules is the award-winning author of 40 children’s books, including the Zapato Power series, the Sofia Martinez series, Unite or Die: How Thirteen States Became a Nation, Duck for Turkey Day, Never Say a Mean Word Again, Feathers for Peacock, The Hardest Word, and Pluto is Peeved. Also a poet, Jacqueline is the author of three poetry chapbooks. Her poems have appeared in over 100 publications, including Cricket, Cicada, Germ Magazine, YARN, The Poetry Friday Anthologies, and One Minute Till Bedtime. She lives in Northern Virginia, just outside Washington, D.C. Visit her website www.jacquelinejules.com. Connect on Facebook at www.facebook.com/BooksbyJacquelineJ/ Twitter @jacquelinejules

International Holocaust Remembrance Day 2019

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International Holocaust Remembrance Day is not a traditional holiday of any culture, but rather a day of remembrance designated by the United Nations in 2005.

International Holocaust Remembrance Day

International Holocaust Remembrance Day

Some have asked why MCBD shifted from a consistent “every January 27th” model to a “last Friday in January” model.  We originally innocently thought MCBD and IHRD could “co-celebrate” on the same day. But Karin Fisher-Golton, a long-time MCBD book reviewer, children’s literacy advocate, and author of, My Amazing Day: A Celebration of Wonder and Gratitude, was the wise soul who pointed out to us that this line of thinking was actually hurting both observances. But first, here’s some backstory on IHRD.

About International Holocaust Remembrance Day

Below is an excerpt of the UN statement about their designation of that day, which can be found in full here: http://www.un.org/en/holocaustremembrance/.

Rejecting any denial of the Holocaust as a historical event, either in full or in part, the General Assembly adopted a resolution (A/RES/60/7) by consensus condemning “without reserve” all manifestations of religious intolerance, incitement, harassment or violence against persons or communities based on ethnic origin or religious belief, whenever they occur.

The resolution declared that the United Nations would designate 27 January — the anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz death camp — as an annual International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust, and urged Member States to develop educational programmes to instill the memory of the tragedy in future generations to prevent genocide from occurring again.

As Karin revealed to us, “In the big picture, if the UN is going to make a statement encouraging people all over the world to use education to help prevent future genocides, let’s make it easy for people to support that all the way one day and support diverse books all the way another day.”

Though the ultimate goals of MCBD and Holocaust Remembrance Day are in some ways the same,  Karin helped us realize and acknowledge that they are actually quite different. Having these two events on the same day pulls bloggers and teachers in two different directions when we know that many of them would like to be able to give their full attention to both.

After working with Karin, and discussing how to effectively honor both initiatives, we all agreed that MCBD should pick a day of the week that would be most effective for us(Fridays for example) and keep a consistent theme in January for future years to come.

We all agreed that the side benefit is that a consistent day of the week would in many ways make planning easier for bloggers and teachers, plus giving International Holocaust Remembrance Day the full spotlight that it deserves.

Books That Help to Honor International Holocaust Remembrance Day

Where We Once Gathered by Andrea Strongwater

Holocaust remembrance books

Only Passionate Curiosity has a great Picture Books for Teaching Children about the Holocaust Booklist

Such a hard subject to teach- blog post with book suggestions and how one family used them to teach conversationally

Pragmaticmom also has a great list of 20 Books About Poland For Kids

chapter books about poland for kids, picture books about poland for kids, kids books about poland, poland and books for kids

About Karin Fisher-Golton

Karin Fisher-GoltonKarin’s board book, My Amazing Day: A Celebration of Wonder and Gratitude, winner of the 2015 BAIPA Award: Children’s Picture Book, features a biracial toddler. Karin became even
more passionate about diversity in children’s books when she saw how very meaningful the book’s images were to families that are not well-represented in picture books. She became
passionate about Holocaust remembrance when, through studying her own family history, she became familiar with the faces and stories of her family members, including children, who were murdered in the Holocaust. On this day she hopes their memories will be a blessing and that we will never forget. Karin is an author, poet, and freelance children’s book editor living in the San Francisco Bay Area. More information about her work can be found at karinfisher-golton.com.

Readers and Teachers Celebrating ReadYourWorld 2019!

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It makes our team’s hearts burst with happiness when we see all of these examples of #ReadYourWorld love. We truly appreciate our supporters showing the world their own commitment to diversity in kids’ literature. We appreciate everyone’s support and passion!

Celebrating ReadYourWorld 2019

 

Even classrooms in Greece got involved!

The MCBD2019 Diverse Book Link Up is OPEN #ReadYourWorld

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Welcome to our 6th annual Multicultural Children’s Book Day! Here’s how to celebrate:

  1. Link up your diversity book reviews below.
  2. Join us tonight at our 6th annual Twitter Party! Follow @McChildsBookDay to join in on the diverse book discussions, discover new titles and authors and for a chance to win one of our twelve book bundles. Party time is 9 pm to 10 pm EST. RSVP here. Use hashtag: #ReadYourWorld.
  3. Get your copy of our diverse kidlit book recommend-packed ebook, Read Your World: A Guide to Multicultural Children’s Books for Parents and Educators. It’s FREE today through January 31st!
  4. We want to extend a huge THANK YOU to all of the Sponsors, Authors, Publishers, Organizations, Book Reviewers, Book Donators, Parents, Caregivers, Educators and Librarians who devote their time and energy to helping us to achieve our mission of getting multicultural children’s and YA books into the hands of readers. We appreciate you!

​​Inlinkz Link Party

Inlinkz Link Party

Multicultural Travel Adventure Books & 5 Book Bundle GIVEAWAY!

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#ReadYourWorld Book Jam 2019 Cynthia Leitich Smith
We are so excited to present our #ReadYourWorld Book Jam 2019 in conjunction with Children’s Book Council! This year we have 10 amazing authors with unique book lists to share. Each author is also doing a book giveaway!

Please welcome author Lisa Travis, one of the authors of Pack-n-Go Girls with her list on Multicultural Travel Adventure Books. We are giving away a book bundle of five Pack-n-Go Girls books.

Mystery of the Secret Room (Austria)
Mystery of the Thief in the Night (Mexico)
Mystery of the Golden Temple (Thailand)
Mystery of the Troubled Toucan (Brazil)
Mystery of the Min Min Lights (Australia)

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Pack and Go Girls Giveaway Multicultural Children's Book Day

Pack-n-Go Girls early chapter book adventures are packed with spooky mysteries, international friendships, and lots of fun and easy multicultural learning. Tour haunted castles in Austria, catch thieves in Mexico, save dolphins and turtles in Brazil, search for lost golden temples in Thailand, and chase aliens in Australia. AND at the same time, inspire kids to embrace adventure, be curious, value what unites us, and celebrate the differences that make us unique. Inspire them to take on our boundaryless world. Check out the Pack-n-Go Girls website for more learning fun and FREE learning activities.

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