Multicultural Children's Book Day

#ReadYourWorld

Surrounded by Superheroes: Diverse Book Celebrations from MCBD2021

by

We did it! Another wildly successful Multicultural Children’s Book Day is complete. Once again, 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.

As we all scroll through the social media posts, book reviews, and images of happy kiddoes reading diverse books during their classroom celebration, we really, REALLY, feel blessed to be so passionately supported.

We are, indeed, surrounded by superheroes!

The following is just a sample of all of the amazing book recommendations, diverse booklist, diverse book reviews, authors, publishers, educators, librarians, and young readers. Search #ReadYourWorld on any social media platform and see even MORE reasons to smile and books to add to your “must-read.” pile/

Also, be sure and visit our Big Giant Linky to see hundreds of diverse children and teen book reviews in honor of the event. Enjoy!

Media Mentions

Celebrate Multicultural Children’s Book Day with the BWG Library  

Multicultural Children's Book Day

Lake Oswego Public Library Read Alouds!

AND, Multicultural Books for Teens Printable Booklist!

 

News15 link Thanks to Aly:

https://www.kadn.com/content/news/KidLit-Pick-of-the-Week–573684761.html

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Tressie Lee (@aoandtauri)

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Faith Pray (@faith.pray)

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Glenelg Country School (@glenelgcountry)

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by @stylishmodernmotherhood

 

 


Follow us on Pinterest!

 

The MCBD2021 Music Video is READY!

by

A huge THANK YOU goes out to Annie Lynn. Walt and Alex Wilczewski for donating their time and expertise to create our newest Read Your World Multicultural Children’s Book Day Music Video for 2021!

GO HERE to watch on YouTube.

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!

Here are the lyrics to the MCBD Theme song to sing along:

The MCBD Theme Song by Annie Lynn & Walt Wilczewski

Video production courtesy of Alex Wilczewski

 

MULTICULTURAL BOOK DAY THEME SONG (a.k.a #ReadYourWorld)

 

INTRO:

Annie: Hey Everyone! Glad you’re here! Did you bring your books with you?

KID #1: (AMANDA) Yeah! I’ve got a great Multicultural Book to share!

KID#2: (WILL): Me TOO!

KID #3 (HAILEY): “Me THREE!”

KID #4: (HAVANA) “Me FOUR!”

Annie: Well then let’s get started. Listeners, do you have your books ready?

Here we are,
On this most auspicious day,
Wanna hear what you have to say,
So won’t you share a good read, a multicultural good read?

When you look in a book (KIDS: YEAH YEAH YEAH)
Tell me, tell me what do you see?
Are there protagonists that look like you (KID #4: HAVANA): “I think so?”
Are the some that look like me?

We each deserve adventure we can relate to
So share your book, don’t be shy,
That’s why we’re here today, cause it’s

CHORUS: (ALL KIDS SING WITH ANNIE)

Multicultural Children’s Book Day
MCBD if it’s too hard to say.
Multicultural Children’s Book Day,
Read Your World, Hashtag Read Your World

And it’s Multicultural Children’s Book Day
MCBD if it’s too hard to say.
Multicultural Children’s Book Day,
Read Your World, Hashtag Read Your World

When we try to see through the eyes of others we find,
Empathy, love, and kindness,
And so we happily say, that it’s

CHORUS: (ALL KIDS SING WITH ANNIE)

Multicultural Children’s Book Day
MCBD if it’s too hard to say.
Multicultural Children’s Book Day,
Read Your World, Hashtag Read Your World

And it’s Multicultural Children’s Book Day
MCBD if it’s too hard to say.
Multicultural Children’s Book Day,
Read Your World, Hashtag Read Your World

(ANNIE & KIDS)
Every Person’s like a chapter,
We’re all in the same book
At the library or store it’s happening take a look
Books that recognize and celebrate diversity
Children’ reading, filled with wonder
Saying “LOOK THAT’S ME!”

(ANNIE & KIDS)
READ YOUR WORLD,
READ YOUR WORLD,
READ YOUR WORLD
HASHTAG READ YOUR WORLD

READ YOUR WORLD,
READ YOUR WORLD,
READ YOUR WORLD
HASHTAG READ YOUR WORLD

Multicultural Children’s Book Day is January 25, 2019.

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

Where’s My Book? And the Next Steps for MCBD2021 Book Reviewers

by

“Where’s my diverse book?”

“My book review is ready, what now?”

We are getting a lot of these types of questions lately and we TOTALLY get it. So here is some info that will help everyone navigate both:

If Your Review Book for MCBD is MIA

MCBD2021 is not far off and we are aware that some reviewers still:

  • *need a book to review
  • *their assigned book hasn’t arrived
  • *feel they were not assigned a book yet

Please keep in mind that mail delivery is painfully slow these days. If you are still waiting for a physical copy of your assigned book, ask your publisher/author if they can send you a PDF version to review until your hardcopy arrives.

If you feel you haven’t been assigned to a book yet, here are two things you can do:

  1. Check your spam folder for an email from RebeccaFlansburg@gmail.com with the subject line of Your Assigned Book for MCBD2021.
  1. To get a diverse book to review, visit our Facebook Group ASAP. We’ve created a thread called “Matchmaking” where authors can share that they are looking for book reviewers and vice-versa.

This group has grown to 2,000+ members and is a great mix of parents, caregivers, influencers, book reviewers, authors, publishers, educators, and librarians. If you are not a member, Feel free to join and we will add you 🙂

IMPORTANT: The “Matchmaking” option is a completely “hands-off” offering for the MCBD Team: reviewers choosing this option are responsible for connecting via DM or email.

My Review is Ready to Go, But I Am Confused

  • Create a review of the book you were assigned on your Blog (if you have one) and your Instagram or Facebook Page (or both).
  • Then you need to include as much of the mandatory details (attached) as possible. The most important pieces of the mandatory details are the lists of the Medallion and author Sponsors and our hashtag: #ReadYourWorld.
  • You can post your book review on social media anytime between now and 1/29–but if possible we’d like you to share it as close to 1/29 as possible because it helps elevate our buzz!
  • An additional tweet or two about the book you reviewed (or the event itself) on Twitter would be much appreciated as well. Don’t forget to use #ReadYourWorld so we can find you and share.
  • If your author/book is on Amazon, a review there would be welcomed too. Just do the Amazon review like you would any other review (don’t include any of MCBD’s details).

Examples of Past Reviews

Sissy Goes Tiny

Just Like You

Joy Sunbear

Annie’s Jar of Patience

This Is The Earth

 

MCBD Reviewer Instructions and Image can be found here:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/bb3zzkr0np2o5iu/AADO0ExfpDpQiuX6XnAvLAOua?dl=0

On 1/29/21, everyone is asked to link up their reviews on our Big Giant Linky to create a huge resource that lives on our website forever (go here and scroll down to see the 2020 Linky).

Don’t forget to connect with us on social media and be sure and look for/use our official hashtag #ReadYourWorld.

We hope this helps! We know it is sometimes frustrating, but this has been a challenging 12+ months for all of us!

MCBD 2021 is honored to be Supported by these Medallion Sponsors!

FOUNDER’S CIRCLE: Mia Wenjen (Prgamaticmom) and Valarie Budayr’s (Audreypress.com)

Platinum Sponsors: Language Lizard Bilingual Books in 50+ Languages, Author Deedee Cummings and Make A Way Media

Gold Sponsors: Barefoot Books, Candlewick Press, Capstone, Hoopoe Books, KidLitTV, Peachtree Publishing Company Inc.

Silver Sponsors: Charlotte Riggle, Connecticut Association of School Librarians, Author Kimberly Gordon Biddle, Pack-N-Go Girls

Bronze Sponsors: Agatha Rodi and AMELIE is IMPRESSED!, Barnes Brothers Books, Create and Educate Solutions, LLC, Dreambuilt Books, Dyesha and Triesha McCants/McCants Squared, Redfin Real Estate, Snowflake Stories, Star Bright Books, TimTimTom Bilingual Personalized Books, Author Vivian Kirkfield, Wisdom Tales Press, My Well Read Child

MCBD 2021 is honored to be Supported by these Author Sponsors!

Poster Artist: Nat Iwata

Authors: Author Afsaneh Moradian, Author Alva Sachs & Three Wishes Publishing Company, Author Angeliki Stamatopoulou-Pedersen, Author Anna Olswanger, Author Casey Bell , Author Claudine Norden, Author Debbie Dadey, Author Diana Huang & Intrepids, Author Eugenia Chu & Brandon goes to Beijing, Green Kids Club, Author Gwen Jackson, Author Janet Balletta, Author Josh Funk, Author Julia Inserro, Karter Johnson & Popcorn and Books, Author Kathleen Burkinshaw & The Last Cherry Blossom, Author Keila Dawson, Maya/Neel Adventures with Culture Groove, Author Mia Wenjen, Michael Genhart, Nancy Tupper Ling, Author Natalie Murray, Natalie McDonald-Perkins, Author Natasha Yim, Author Phe Lang and Me On The Page Publishing, Sandra Elaine Scott, Author Shoumi Sen & From The Toddler Diaries, SISSY GOES TINY by Rebecca Flansburg and B.A. Norrgard, Susan Schaefer Bernardo & Illustrator Courtenay Fletcher, Tales of the Five Enchanted Mermaids, Author Theresa Mackiewicz, Tonya Duncan and the Sophie Washington Book Series, Author Toshia Stelivan, Valerie Williams-Sanchez & The Cocoa Kids Collection Books©, Author Vanessa Womack, MBA, Author Veronica Appleton & the Journey to Appleville book series

MCBD 2021 is Honored to be Supported by our CoHosts and Global CoHosts!

MCBD 2021 is Honored to be Supported by these Media Partners!

Check out MCBD’s Multicultural Books for Kids Pinterest Board!

FREE RESOURCES from Multicultural Children’s Book Day

Diversity Book Lists & Activities for Teachers and Parents

Homeschool Diverse Kidlit Booklist & Activity Kit

FREE Teacher Classroom Activism and Activists Kit

FREE Teacher Classroom Empathy Kit

FREE Teacher Classroom Kindness Kit

FREE Teacher Classroom Physical and Developmental Challenges Kit

FREE Teacher Classroom Poverty Kit

Gallery of Our Free Posters

FREE Diversity Book for Classrooms Program

TWITTER PARTY! Register here!

Join us on Friday, Jan 29, 2021, at 9 pm EST for the 8th annual Multicultural Children’s Book Day Twitter Party!
This epically fun and fast-paced hour includes multicultural book discussions, addressing timely issues, diverse book recommendations, & reading ideas.
We will be giving away an 8-Book Bundle every 5 minutes plus Bonus Prizes as well! *** US and Global participants welcome. **
Follow the hashtag #ReadYourWorld to join the conversation, connect with like-minded parts, authors, publishers, educators, organizations, and librarians. See you all very soon on Twitter!
Hashtag: Don’t forget to connect with us on social media and be sure and look for/use our official hashtag #ReadYourWorld.

Talking Points and Facts about Multicultural Children’s Book Day

by

Hard to believe the 8th annual Multicultural Children’s Book Day celebration is only a handful of days away! This diversity in children’s literature initiative continues to grow, even during a year of unprecedented events and widespread uncertainty.

For that, we are proud.

If you are planning something special for your home, classroom, library, or organization, here are some Talking Points and Facts about Multicultural Children’s Book Day.

MCBD by the Numbers

For our 2021 on and offline celebration, we are proud to announce that there are 25 CoHosts and Global Cohosts, 23 Medallion, and 36 Author Level Sponsors supporting this initiative

Thanks to over 700 dedicated book reviewers, 1400-1500+ diverse book reviews will be shared on social media during the last few weeks of January.

During our wildly popular Twitter Party will be hosted by Audrey Press and Pragmaticmom. On 1/29/21 at (9:00 p.m. ET), over 150 diverse books and related items will be given away in 60 minutes (a winner is drawn every 5 minutes!).

To date, MCBD has gifted over 9,000 diverse books to end-users.

Instagram Followers: 15, 000+

Twitter Followers: 14,500+

Pinterest Followers: 10,000+

Countries Represented via Book Reviewers, Sponsors, and Global CoHosts:

USA, Germany, Greece, Australia, Mexico, Iran, India, UK, Canada, Philippines, South Africa, United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Hawaii, and New Zealand.

The Event Itself

Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2021 (1/29/21) is in its 8th year! This non-profit children’s literacy initiative was founded by Valarie Budayr and Mia Wenjen; two diverse book-loving moms who saw a need to shine the spotlight on all of the multicultural books and authors on the market while also working to get those book into the hands of young readers and educators.

Eight years in, MCBD’s mission is to raise awareness of the ongoing need to include kids’ books that celebrate diversity in homes and school bookshelves continues. Read about our Mission & History HERE.

MCBD 2021 is honored to be Supported by these Medallion Sponsors!

FOUNDER’S CIRCLE: Mia Wenjen (Prgamaticmom) and Valarie Budayr’s (Audreypress.com)

Platinum Sponsors: Language Lizard Bilingual Books in 50+ Languages, Author Deedee Cummings and Make A Way Media

Gold Sponsors: Barefoot Books, Candlewick Press, Capstone,  Hoopoe Books,  KidLitTV, Peachtree Publishing Company Inc.

Silver Sponsors: Charlotte Riggle, Connecticut Association of School Librarians, Author Kimberly Gordon Biddle, Pack-N-Go Girls

Bronze Sponsors: Agatha Rodi and AMELIE is IMPRESSED!, Barnes Brothers Books, Create and Educate Solutions, LLC, Dreambuilt Books, Dyesha and Triesha McCants/McCants Squared, Redfin Real Estate, Snowflake Stories, Star Bright Books, TimTimTom Bilingual Personalized Books, Author Vivian Kirkfield, Wisdom Tales Press, My Well Read Child

 

MCBD 2021 is honored to be Supported by these Author Sponsors!

Poster Artist: Nat Iwata

Authors: Author Afsaneh Moradian, Author Alva Sachs & Three Wishes Publishing Company, Author Angeliki Stamatopoulou-Pedersen, Author Anna Olswanger, Author Casey Bell , Author Claudine Norden, Author Debbie Dadey, Author Diana Huang & Intrepids,  Author Eugenia Chu & Brandon goes to Beijing, Green Kids Club,  Author Gwen Jackson, Author Janet Balletta, Author Josh Funk, Author Julia Inserro, Karter Johnson & Popcorn and Books, Author Kathleen Burkinshaw & The Last Cherry Blossom, Author Keila Dawson, Maya/Neel Adventures with Culture Groove, Author Mia Wenjen, Michael Genhart, Nancy Tupper Ling, Author Natalie Murray, Natalie McDonald-Perkins, Author Natasha Yim, Author Phe Lang and Me On The Page Publishing, Sandra Elaine Scott, Author Shoumi Sen & From The Toddler Diaries, SISSY GOES TINY by Rebecca Flansburg and B.A. Norrgard, Susan Schaefer Bernardo & Illustrator Courtenay Fletcher,  Tales of the Five Enchanted Mermaids, Author Theresa Mackiewicz, Tonya Duncan and the Sophie Washington Book Series, Author Toshia Stelivan, Valerie Williams-Sanchez & The Cocoa Kids Collection Books©, Author Vanessa Womack, MBA, Author Veronica Appleton & the Journey to Appleville book series

MCBD 2021 is Honored to be Supported by our CoHosts and Global CoHosts!

MCBD 2021 is Honored to be Supported by these Media Partners!

Check out MCBD’s Multicultural Books for Kids Pinterest Board!

 

MCBD 2021 Twitter Party Questions and PRIZES!

Join us on Friday, Jan 29, 2021, at 9 pm EST for the 8th annual Multicultural Children’s Book Day Twitter Party! REGISTER HERE.

This hour includes multicultural book discussions, addressing timely issues, diverse book recommendations, & reading ideas.

*** US and Global participants welcome. **

The Multicultural Children’s Book Day Twitter Party 2021 will be giving away a 5-8 diverse book bundle every five minutes!

We also have some bonus prizes and prizes specifically for our non-USA participants. Scroll down to see all of the amazing book bundles and prizes.

Hashtag: Don’t forget to connect with us on social media and be sure and look for/use our official hashtag #ReadYourWorld.

This year, our 1/29/21 Party will occur at 9:00-10:00 p.m. ET  and we promise it will be INSANELY fun and fast-paced! Be sure and follow Multicultural Children’s Book Day on Twitter so you can join the party. Follow the hashtag #ReadYourWorld to join the conversation, connect with like-minded parts, authors, publishers, educators, organizations, and librarians.

GO HERE to view the 2021 MCBD TWITTER PARTY Questions!

GO HERE to view the 2021 MCBD TWITTER PARTY Prizes!

Not sure how to participate in a Twitter Party? Check out this great article from MCBD’s Project Manager HERE.

Follow MCBD on Twitter to join the party! 

 

FREE RESOURCES from Multicultural Children’s Book Day

Diversity Book Lists & Activities for Teachers and Parents

Homeschool Diverse Kidlit Booklist & Activity Kit

FREE Teacher Classroom Activism and Activists Kit

FREE Teacher Classroom Empathy Kit

FREE Teacher Classroom Kindness Kit

FREE Teacher Classroom Physical and Developmental Challenges Kit

FREE Teacher Classroom Poverty Kit

Gallery of Our Free Posters

FREE Diversity Book for Classrooms Program

 

January and Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2021

by

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.