Book review Archives - Multicultural Children's Book Day

How 2021 The Book Matching Process Works {Reviewers and Sponsors}

November 29, 2020 by Kristi Bernard

Those who are new to this vibrant online event may not understand how the Book Matching Process works so here is a quickie tutorial.

Book reviewing is a big part of this annual on and offline event. What better ways to share awesome diverse picture, chapter, and YA books than to fill the social media channels with book/author recommendations and beautiful book covers and illustrations.

All reviews shared on blogs, Facebook Pages, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, and even TikToc ultimately become part of our Big Giant Linky: an online book review resource for hundreds of multicultural and diverse books for kids and teens.

How The Book Matching Process Works for Reviewers

The first step in this process begins with our Team asking all Sponsors and Book Donators how many reviewers they would like to be matched with. Using that number, reviewer’s details including special requests, we match people to books with as much accuracy as possible.

Then, a member of the MCBD Team will then send an intro email to the chosen reviewers and the author/publisher of the book they are matched with. For privacy purposes, only names and email addresses will be supplied to the author or publisher that a book reviewer is matched with.

It is the book reviewer’s responsibility to send their author/publisher their mailing address in a timely manner to ensure they get their book in time for the 1/29/21 event.

All reviewers are required to post their reviews towards the end of January (preferably on the actual celebration day of 1.29.21) 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.

WE PREFER that all reviewers wait until closer to the actual Celebration Day (1/29/21) to start sharing their reviews on social media, but anytime between 1/15/21 and 1/29/21 is acceptable.

Don’t forget to use the #ReadYourWorld hashtag! This helps us (and others) find your review and Like, Tweet, Share, Comment, and Pin!

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). **more details on how to use a Linky to come!**

**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**

How The Book Matching Process Works If you are a Sponsor

If you are a returning Sponsor, you know “how we roll” when it comes to the Book Matching process.

BUT, if you are new to the MCBD Celebration, here is the 411 on how this monumental task works. Book Matching is the process where our team combs through our pool of 600+ Book Reviewers to find people who would be the best fit for the books your sponsorship is focusing on this year.

**Providing a free book to a reviewer(s) is a completely optional perk to all levels of Sponsorship, but it is undeniably an excellent way to raise awareness for your company, authors, or book titles.

How it works with both physical and PDFs review copies:

Our Project Manager, Becky, will send a “book matching” email introducing our Sponsors to their reviewers. The ones receiving a physical book will share their mailing address with whom they are assigned to. We do this for privacy reasons and as a “checks-n-balances” and so the reviewer knows a book is coming.

Sponsors can supply their reviewers with a book description, images, backstory, buy links, etc. at that time as well. The same applies to using PDFs as review copies–only this time a PDF (or a link to where they can find it) will be emailed directly to the assigned reviewer along with availability info and Pre-order links, etc.

More details to come! We appreciate you all!

**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 Kristi at Admin (at) MulticulturalChildrensBookDay (dot) com **

Where are the Diverse Holiday Books?

November 11, 2020 by Valarie Budayr

{Guest Post By Deedee Cummings}

As I write this, I am sitting across from my young son, Nick, who is Black like me. He is reading a book with no pictures and his eyes are moving fervently as he scans the pages. I wonder what he is thinking as he reads the words and absorbs the story.

When I read a book, the words play like a movie in my head. I can see the characters and the scenes clearly. The best books seem to let me guide much of what this looks like. Most often, when I use my own imagination, the characters look like me and people I know. I assign myself the best roles of course. The roles that seem to be like me or that I aspire to be.

When Nick was younger, I would think about him throughout his school day and hope he was having fun or learning something exciting that would continue to spark his desire to learn. I often pictured him in class with his teacher reading to him. Perhaps because this was one of his favorite parts of the school day in the early grades. I could see him on the carpet in a circle as the teacher reads to the class and in my mind’s eye, I always pictured him hovering over the pages of the book, too eager to wait for the teacher to finish reading the page she was on and flash the illustrations to the circle.

This image would not always end well because I knew that what Nick was eager to see was someone who looked like him. A character in a book who, for once, he could relate to and be proud of as if it were Nick himself on that page. Nick would report the books they read in class and because the characters often did not reflect our background or our experiences, I had to work to actively counterbalance this at home.

There are more diverse books in publication now, making this mission less difficult- until the holidays arrive. Though the selection of picture books is better than it was five years ago, the selection of kid’s picture books with IBPOC is still pretty slim and that is especially true of holiday books that feature a little brown boy as the main character.

I remember feeling sad a few years ago that we had capped out our holiday collection with black characters in main roles. I had tried to continue our tradition of adding to our diverse holiday book collection every year, but it just seemed that we had bought every title that was available. We literally seemed to have them all.

How can that be possible? I recall thinking. But I also remembered this powerful quote: “If there’s a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.” ― Toni Morrison

I knew right then and there, that I would write the book I wished to see on my own home bookshelf: a book about a little brown boy who helps Santa save Christmas.

The result was my diverse holiday picture book, In The Nick of Time.

In The Nick of Time is a timely tale about a Little Brown Boy who Saves Christmas. Nick Saint never really put a lot of thought into his name until one snowy day in December when he accidentally receives a letter meant for Saint Nick. Realizing there is not much time left until Christmas, Nick opens the letter. The unexpected message inside ultimately leads him on a journey of understanding poverty, gratitude, and service to others while discovering the real meaning of the holiday spirit.

In The Nick of Time is a story that is beautiful and filled with messages that all children need to hear about poverty, gratitude, and service to others. We believe Santa would be so proud.

I know I am.

But most of all, I am proud that I took action to remedy the lack of diversity for my own son Nick, who is now 11.

I hope that hundreds of thousands of little Black children will grow up eagerly leaning over the pages of a newfound favorite book; a book that will have characters within the pages that look just like them.

I hope they will smile with satisfaction when they hear the words about a hero who saved the day; a hero they can completely relate to.

As this generation of readers grows older and move away from daily picture book reading, I know they will find it easier to read and visualize that they might actually be the hero in a story because that foundation has already been cemented through diverse picture books.

The imagination formed through picture books carries over to a lifetime of reading, visualization, and dreaming about who we are, what we can do, and what we can be.

There was a time when finding holiday picture books with Black characters (especially one with brown young boys) was super challenging and every year it seemed even harder to find a new title that we didn’t already own.

I remember grumbling to myself, why is it so difficult to keep building this collection? My family loves Christmas too, why can’t we be represented in the books my kids read?

What did I do? I took action. Please take a moment to visit the Make A Way Media blog and read my story Calling Out the Lack of Diverse Holiday Picture Books (And What I Did About It).

Go HERE to learn more about In The Nick of Time and all of Deedee’s diverse picture books.

About Deedee Cummings

As a therapist, attorney, author, and CEO of Make A Way Media, Deedee Cummings has a passion for making the world a better place. All eleven of Cummings’ diverse picture, poetry, and workbooks for kids reflect her professional knowledge and love of life. In her award-winning 2019 picture book, This Is the Earth Cummings uses bold and bright illustrations to share a message of peace, love, respect, compassion, inclusion, and how everyone is a steward of the world in which we live. Her newest release, In The Nick of Time (November 2019) is the story of a little brown boy who saves Christmas.

Cummings has spent more than two decades working within the family therapy and support field and much of her writing share her experiences of working with kids in therapeutic foster care. She is also the founder and creator of the Louisville Book Festival; a literacy-based celebration that will occur in Louisville, KY on October 23rd and 24th, 2020.

A Bilingual Story About Conservation & Cooperation

October 29, 2020 by Valarie Budayr

“The sun beats down relentlessly on a scorched landscape where nothing is growing. Buffalo is listless and desperately looking around for something to eat. Then, one evening he finds a white biscuit in a small pool of water. But, he is not the only animal to see it and a great fight begins… But all is not what it seems.”

Language Lizard’s newest bilingual storybook offering, The Biscuit Moon, is an engaging bilingual story about a distressed traveler.

THE BISCUIT MOON (BILINGUAL CHILDREN’S BOOK)

As we follow Buffalo’s journey, we explore the concepts of climate change, scarcity, and the need to share precious resources.

Powerful Tale About the Need for Cooperation

In The Biscuit Moon readers meet Buffalo and Lion, and the delicious biscuit that never was. This is a discussion-provoking story about scarcity and greed, and ultimately the wisdom of cooperation.

The Biscuit Moon is available in English with Albanian, Arabic, Bengali, Bulgarian, Burmese, Chinese-Simplified, Chinese-Traditional, Farsi, French, German, Haitian Creole, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Karen (Sgaw), Korean, Kurmanji Kurdish, Sorani Kurdish, Lithuanian, Oromo (their newest language offering), Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Somali, Spanish, Swahili, Tagalog, Tigrinya, Turkish, Urdu, Vietnamese, and Yoruba.

Teacher’s Notes and Classroom Resources Available

Teachers can use this engaging story to spark discussions about climate change, its effects on wildlife, and why it’s important to conserve and share precious resources. The story can also be read as a metaphor for communities making a new life far away from home.

Teachers and homeschooling families can access extensive teacher’s notes and activities that use The Biscuit Moon, along with links to child-friendly resources about climate change, on Language Lizard’s Free Multicultural Lesson Plans page.

Fun Facts about Language Lizard

Language Lizard is a longtime sponsor of Multicultural Children’s Book Day and a current 2021 Platinum Sponsor.

The Company is located in Basking Ridge, NJ, and can be reached at 1-888-LLIZARD (888-554-9273) or info@LanguageLizard.com . For address information and to contact Language Lizard using their online form, click here.

Their products have been well-reviewed by critics, families, and teachers. Click here to read reviews and awards on specific products. Click here to read Testimonials by Language Lizard’s customers.

Support the diverse children’s literacy initiative Multicultural Children’s Book Day! Our 8th celebration will take place on January 29, 2021. Creators can donate books that will be reviewed and shared on social media. We also have sponsorships at a variety of price points.

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 Kristi at Admin (at) MulticulturalChildrensBookDay (dot) com

Wiggles, Stomps and Squeezes: a Picture Book about Sensory Differences

October 24, 2020 by Valarie Budayr

{Guest Post by Jodi Murphy, Geek Club Books}

Rebecca (Bex) Burgess, an illustrator and comic artist from the UK, went viral when the autistic community and educators discovered their graphic illustration, “Understanding the Spectrum.” The comic was the first of its kind to explain autism from a neurodiverse perspective AND created by an autistic artist. It’s been viewed and downloaded millions of times.

Bex has played an important role in the education and advocacy work we do at Geek Club Books too. They illustrated our Hear Our Voices, End Autism Awareness, and Actually Autistic Adults in the Real World comics, all being used by parents and educators to help others understand the autism experience. These comics are being used in training programs, presentations, and in classrooms.

All of Bex’s hard work has led to their talent finally being recognized in the book publishing world. Bex has been working on, not one, not two, but three upcoming books for publishers, one that I’ll be reviewing on Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2021.

Wiggles, Stomps and Squeezes Calm My Jitters Down

Wiggles, Stomps and Squeezes Calm My Jitters Down is a picture book about sensory differences. Created by an autistic artist, this new book explains autism from a neurodiverse perspective.

It will also be released in Spanish: Meneos, Pistones, Y Apretones Para Calmar Mi Cosquelleo. I caught up with the author, Lindsey Rowe Parker, and Rebecca Burgess to talk about Bex’s journey as an illustrator and why Lindsey chose them to illustrate her book.

Interview with Rebecca Burgess and Lindsey Rowe Parker

Bex, what has been your journey to becoming an illustrator?

Although I studied illustration in Uni, I don’t think this actually contributed very much to the steps towards doing this as a job, although it was very fun at the time. Most steps I have taken are from different areas which have all accumulated together over the years.

What was most useful was taking part in the small press comic scene from age 13 onwards. I learned how to make and self-publish comics alongside other artists at conventions, and selling self-published comics is still a source of money now. All the artists on the small press scene talked on forums/groups, and we all became friends over many years. These friends, who were older and further along in their careers, were the people who sent me my first big jobs that paid enough for me to go full time, where I helped out as a colourist for their work.

It took a long time to improve my art and get decent work like this, so this took many years even after Uni. I drew my ‘Understanding the Spectrum’ comic in 2016 just for fun, and although the comic itself is purposely free, it has gotten me several job opportunities after going viral and getting noticed by people wanting artwork for various projects. Last year I took part in a ‘twitter pitch’ where you pitch a book via twitter to agents/editors. This has led to me getting an agent, which has helped me open up further avenues of places to get work in the book industry.

Lindsey, how did you discover Bex and decide they were right for your book?

I knew that I wanted to partner with an illustrator that understood these experiences, and I found Rebecca Burgess on Twitter. The kidlit community on Twitter is a great place to find talent, and Rebecca is a gem. From their first concept sketches, I knew they were absolutely the perfect person to bring this story to life. Their approach to the characters and their relationship was humbling to me, you can feel the support and love in their illustrations.

Bex, what has the experience been like working with Lindsey on a children’s book about sensory differences?

It was really nice to work on a text that perfectly describes how I often feel! It was very validating and made me think about how I wish I could have had words to describe certain feelings that made me really stressed when I was a kid, especially the ‘jitters’. This made the book really fun to draw as well, it’s always the nicest when you can draw something you have an emotional connection to.

Lindsey, how has it been working with Bex on your book?

Bex has an incredible way of breathing life and joy and feeling into their illustrations. I could feel that looking at their previous work on Twitter. As I dug around a little more, I also realized how much they love and support the neurodivergent and autistic communities. The compassion and understanding they have of the nuances of these lived experiences bring such warmth to the illustrations, it is such a gift for me that they were open to working on this project. I jumped for joy, seriously out of my chair when they said yes! We live an ocean away from each other, yet our working relationship is professional, easy, and so rewarding.

Lindsey, what were your first impressions when you saw Bex’s illustrations bring your story to life?

I cried happy tears. I ran through the house dancing. I showed my friends and family. I believe when you work with someone with immense talent, you get out of their way and let them do what they do best. And so it was with this process. I, of course, had ideas of what the story looked like in my head, but this is not just for me. So, I gave Bex carte blanche on character development and how they wanted to bring the story and sensations to life. They exceeded my wildest expectations. We are very lucky that our publisher also saw the vision, and trusted us to move forward with minimal changes. It has been a unique and wonderful experience to have this amount of control and creative collaboration through this process.

Bex, will this be your first published book, and are you hoping to illustrate more children’s books?

Nope! My first published book is being released in October 2020- How to be Ace, published by Jessica Kingsley Publishers and another in the future I can’t talk about right now.

And, yes, I have lots of ideas for picture books myself, and I love doing this style of artwork so it would be great if I can be the artist for other picture books!

Thank you both for talking about your upcoming book! I look forward to reviewing it for #ReadYourWorld on January 29, 2021.

Ways to Connect with Rebecca Burgess and Lindsey Rowe Parker:

Read about A Day in the Life of Rebecca Burgess

Rebecca Burgess on Instagram – @theorahart

Author Lindsey Rowe Parker on Instagram – @wigglesstompsandsqueezes

Preorder Wiggles, Stomps and Squeezes Calm My Jitters Down on Amazon

Jodi Murphy is the founder of Geek Club Books, an autism nonprofit committed to creating a world where autistic individuals are fully accepted, valued and have a voice. She is the producer of the Dorktales Storytime Podcast, a family-fun series of geeky retellings of classic fairy tales and true stories about hidden heroes of history. Previously, Jodi was a freelance marketing specialist working for clients in a variety of industries, a journalist in the luxury lifestyle industry, and co-founder of Nesting Newbies, one of the first independent lifestyle digital magazines.

An Author and Teacher’s Tips on Motivating Autistic Learners

October 10, 2020 by Kristi Bernard

{Guest post from Author Joan Ramirez }

Jamie is the story of a young girl’s struggles as an Autistic learner. Through support from parents, teachers, and a school counselor, she is able to learn and make friends.

This book was inspired by the desire to share exercises that could help Autistic learners while also creating a story of a young girl who is struggling with that part of her life. While this story was written for Autistic students, it will also show all children the importance of acceptance of others and learning in different ways. In addition to being a great motivator for Autistic students, Jamie is also a help with English as a Second language Autistic students.

Tips on Motivating Autistic Learners

From a teacher’s perspective, motivated students should be able to do the following: Participate in class. Express interest in the subject matter. Spend time studying for a test.

From a learner’s perspective, they are entitled to the following content instruction: Interesting content that is meaningful and age-appropriate to the reader. A supportive atmosphere in which the teacher takes the learners’ needs and not just his/her own agenda into consideration when making lesson plans.

Teachers should assess the comprehension levels of content that has been presented before moving on to more challenging material. In all lessons, students should be encouraged to participate in their level of understanding in an anxiety-free environment that fosters learning. Students who have a positive mindset will elicit more positive feedback than those with a negative orientation.

Encourage the following learning concepts:

Take your time and think about your response.
This information will be of use to you in the higher grades so we’re here to learn and we can help each other.
Good, you tried. You’ll do even better next time.
Once you’ve mastered these thoughts, you’ll be able to read and learn even more.

You can motivate elementary Autism/ESL students to learn. A teacher can memorize every pedagogical technique in the library and the class still might not learn.

The only way to ensure comprehension is to give a lesson followed by an assessment, but the beginning should include a visual narrative. It plants a picture in the students’ minds and it is true that one picture is worth a thousand words. After the handouts are put away and the students leave the class, what they will remember the next morning are the posters on the walls and the visuals that leave images in their minds.

Joan Ramirez, the author, lives in the New Jersey/New York Metropolitan area and has an M.S. in Journalism, an M.S. in English as a Second Language, and an M.S. in Elementary/Special Education (Autism). She has given creative writing and photojournalism workshops to students in South Africa, in Vietnam, Hong Kong, and Seoul, Korea.

BUY Links: Amazon.com, B&N.com, Kindle, and Apple sites.

For Jamie in Spanish or English, just go to Amazon.com and B&N.com and type in the title author Joan Ramirez

For Jamie in Chinese go to https://books2read.com/u/bPKBgJ

For Joan’s writing handbook (for college students) go to https://Books2read.com/Thewriterules