Diverse Book Review Archives - Multicultural Children's Book Day

A Walk in Nature, Une Promenade en Nature {An English/French Picture Book}

July 18, 2018 by Valarie Budayr

Guest Post By Author Jesica Nkouaga

So What Do Nature and Children Have in Common?

They grow! They grow especially when they are nurtured and cared for by someone who loves them.

Nature and children are two things that author Jesica Nkouaga loves. Jesica’s love for nature inspired her to draw pictures of the natural surroundings around her, both at home and abroad during her ESL teaching adventures overseas.

Author Jesica Nkouaga

Although not an artist by training, Jesica took deep comfort in drawing the countryside landscapes that she saw around her, especially while teaching English abroad in Thailand, Jordan, and Honduras. Many of the drawings in this book are a result of over ten years of traveling and drawing. The book also includes drawings of the countryside near the farm where Jesica grew up in Minnesota.

It also includes drawings of hobbies that Jesica and her family members engage in such as riding a unicycle and playing guitar.

After ten years of collecting drawings, Jesica came up with a way to put all of the things she loves together. She put the nature drawings together to create a basic language learning book for children.

As an ESL teacher, language teaching and learning are something that Jesica does daily, so it made sense to create a book about language learning for children.

Why include the French language, you might ask?

French connects with Jesica’s love for learning new languages, and it is one of her lifetime goals to learn French— the native language of her husband who is from Cameroon. By including a French translation in her book, it not only helps her learn and practice French, but it aids others who are learning and practicing French especially children! She is grateful to her husband, Abel, who enthusiastically and patiently helped to translate the book into French.

It is Jesica’s hope that children and parents will be inspired by the colorful and vibrant drawings of nature depicting different settings around the world, and hopefully, some French can be learned along the way. In this book, enjoy learning French and enjoy a walk in nature— une promenade en nature!

Connect with Jesica on her Facebook Page.

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Why there is still work to be done in the world of #DiverseKidlit

July 10, 2018 by Valarie Budayr

Friends, we still have so much work to do!

Here’s some information from the CCBC about diversity in kidlit. In their analysis of picture books published in 2017:

Of the approximately 3,700 books received at the CCBC in 2017, most from U.S. publishers, here’s the breakdown:

340 had significant African or African American content/characters.
- 100 of these were by Black authors and/or illustrators. (29.41% #OwnVoices)
72 had significant American Indian/First Nations content/characters.
- 38 of these were by American Indian/First Nations authors and/or illustrators. (52.78% #OwnVoices)
310 had significant Asian/Pacific or Asian/Pacific American content/characters.
- 122 of these were by authors and/or illustrators of Asian/Pacific heritage. (39.35% #OwnVoices)
216 had significant Latinx content/characters.
- 73 of these were by Latinx authors and/or illustrators. (33.8% #OwnVoices)

(The numbers will change slightly as they continue to receive a stray title or two. Check their website for up-to-date statistics, including the numbers for books from U.S. publishers only, and more on what and how they count.)

* A character in a picture book was 4 times more likely to be a dinosaur than an American Indian child.
* A character in a picture book was 2 times more likely to be a rabbit than an Asian/Pacific or Asian/Pacific American child.
* A female character in a picture book was highly likely to be wearing pink and/or a bow, even if she is a hippopotamus, an ostrich, or a dinosaur.
* A child with a disability appeared in only 21 picture books, and only 2 of those were main characters. Most others appeared in background illustrations.

That’s less than one-third of one percent of picture books published in 2017 and received by the CCBC that had the main character with a disability. No wonder I have trouble finding books I want to review!

#OwnVoices Controversy

Resources for Diverse Booklists and Authors:

KitLit411 has an excellent list of resources and publishers that focus on diverse books for kids.

View out MCBD 2018 Author Sponsors and Medallion Level Sponsors to discover even more titles and diverse book publishers.

Thanks for being part of this movement to change these statistics.

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Alex Asks About Auntie’s Airplane Day (An Adoption Day Story)

July 5, 2018 by Rebecca Flansburg

Sometimes the idea for a great diverse picture book for kids comes from the more genuine and authentic sources. That is exactly the case with Alex Asks About Auntie’s Airplane Day by Carolyn Wilhelm.

The idea for this book occurred to Carolyn when she saw her-2-year-old grandson watch his Auntie Betsy from South Korea, and seem to wonder how she fit in the otherwise white family.

Who knows what he was thinking, but it appeared to be he was noticing Auntie’s eyes and skin color. Carolyn decided this book could help him and other young children with older, adopted relatives, understand their families.

“This book is the story of one family’s airplane day party as seen through the eyes of the youngest nephew of the aunt who was adopted by a white family from Korea over 30 years ago,” Carolyn recalled. “Some people call such events gotcha day or adoption day celebrations. The twist is that the child is not the adopted person in the story.”

Alex Asks About Auntie’s Airplane Day: An Adoption Day Story by Carolyn Wilhelm and illustrator Pieter Els.

Alex Asks About Auntie’s Airplane Day is a multigenre fiction story based on a nonfiction annual event, the adoption day celebration sometimes called “airplane day” or “gotcha day.” This is the story of how an adult aunt adopted from South Korea fits in an otherwise white family in Minnesota in the United States. It is meant for the young family relatives to help them understand how a family could have racial diversity. Celebrations such as airplane day and gotcha day are a good way to help family members with such memories.

This sweet picture book is a great way to share the beauty and celebration of adoption while letting a student, friend or family member who has been involved with an international adoption see their story in the pages of a book. This book is also great for any parent or educators trying to help a young child to understand more about the wider world.

Why Teachers, Librarians, and Parents will love this Book

“If your classroom or story time group has children who live in multi-race families (perhaps because they are adopted), they wish to see and hear about themselves in stories,” Carolyn noted. “Although book publishers have more multicultural inclusion in recent years, it is still important for teachers and librarians to make a point to be sure and find books reflective of their students for read-aloud time.”

1 Adoption Story-3 Ways to Read it

Another wonderful benefit of Alex Asks About Auntie’s Airplane Day is that it comes in three different reading formats; paperback, Kindle Paperwhite, eBook, and Kindle Fire interactive eBook. This book will appeal to kids in the Pre-K through Grade 2 age group.

About The Author

Carolyn Wilhelm-Author and CEO of Wise Owl Factory

Carolyn has been a long-time supporter of MCBD and we appreciate her more than words can say. Her love of kids, books, and education are expressed in everything she does and she is one smart lady!

Carolyn Wilhelm has been writing mostly free lessons for teachers online since 1988. When blogging became popular about 2011, she began her own website and blog to share elementary education resources. She has had lessons published by the National Council of Teachers of English on their ReadWriteThink.org website. Prior to 2011, she used to have her free-lance lessons published by Good Apple and other teacher publications. She taught school for 28 years and found her students enjoyed the stories she wrote. Finally, she has begun writing and self-publishing children’s books.

When asked who her writing inspiration was in life, Carolyn had this to say; “My daughter is my biggest influencer as she is from South Korea and read books about mostly white children when she was growing up. This did not hinder her love of reading. She is an advocate of Multicultural Children’s Book Day and encourages my involvement each year. My husband has patiently proofread countless drafts and has been a writing mentor and supporter.”

Carolyn is a member of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), which has published four of her lessons on ReadWriteThink.org. Her educational resources are for sale on Teachers Pay Teachers as well as Teacher’s Notebook. Previous publications include a story in an anthology Mom for the Holidays: Stories of Love, Laughter & Tantrums at Christmas & Hanukkah by Nolan and Demas.

She lives in Minnesota and enjoys time with her grandchildren, creating lessons, reading, and being involved in local community center activities. She loves taking time out in nature to observe her favorite bird, owls. She is Red Cross certified in pediatric through adult first aid and CPR.

Connect with Carolyn and Wise Owl Factory on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and LinkedIn. Grab your copy of on Amazon.

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Jamie is Jamie- A picture book about being yourself and playing your way

June 30, 2018 by Valarie Budayr

Through color-coding in stores, kids “learn” which toys are “supposed” to be for girls or boy. Pink and yellow toys are considered “girly” and anything blue or dark green is obviously for boys, right? What about the toys themselves? Can boys play with dolls and girls play with trucks?

Of course, they can. And that’s the open-minded thinking that is captured in the new kids’ book, Jamie is Jamie.

Author Afsaneh Moradian wrote Jamie is Jamie for her daughter who’d been told that only boys can play a superhero. “My daughter and every other child deserve a book that gives them permission to be free to play and explore their own way-not the way everyone, ‘thinks they should,'” Afsaneh shared. “I created my book to challenge gender stereotypes and encourages children to make play choices based on their interests. And because playing is fundamental to learning, I’ve created a special section in Jamie is Jamie for teachers, parents, and caregivers where they can find tips on how to make kids’ playtime learning time.”

About Jamie is Jamie

When free-spirited Jamie arrives at a new preschool, all the kids learn that it’s okay to play whatever you want. The other children love how Jamie plays, but is Jamie a boy? Or a girl? Within these pages, readers see Jamie’s willingness to rock a baby, fix a toy car, dance ballet and even fight off villains has nothing to do with gender and everything to do with the joy of PLAY.

An Author and Mom with a Vision of Equality

Afsaneh Moradian has loved writing stories, poetry, and plays since childhood. After receiving her master’s in education, she took her love of writing into the classroom where she began teaching children how to channel their creativity. Her passion for teaching has lasted for over fifteen years. Afsaneh now guides students and teachers (and her young daughter) in the art of writing.

Author Afsaneh Moradian

Q: Tell us a little about yourself and one unique quality you think you have.

Afsaneh: I grew up in a multicultural family and at school, I was made to feel that I was an “other”. I think this made me aware of how important it is for kids to feel loved and supported both in and out of the home. I definitely carried this belief into my career as an English teacher.

Q: I see that you are a creative writing instructor. If you could give advice to anyone (especially youngsters) who dream of writing a book, what advice would you give?

Afsaneh: You are the only one who has your life and your ideas, and you are the only one who can tell your story. Your story is worth telling and worthy of being read. You don’t have to have an original idea or a brilliant idea, you just have to have something to say and the confidence to put your ideas into words.

Q: Who is your mentor or biggest influencer when it comes to your writing?

Afsaneh: I learned how to write poetry from reading Margaret Atwood and Nikki Giovanni poems as a freshman in high school. I had some amazing creative writing teachers in high school and college, but I have to give my mother a lot of credit for reading EVERYTHING I have ever written, and for always cheering me on even when the poem or story needs a lot of work.

Q: If you were to let parents, teachers and librarians know ONE THING about Jamie is Jamie?..what would that one thing be?

Afsaneh: This book is a wonderful way to teach children to be inclusive of those who are different from them and to show children who may stand out from others that they deserve to be respected and accepted for who they are.

Q: We love that Jamie is Jamie is about creating a conversation on gender stereotypes. Was there a specific reason you chose this topic? :

Afsaneh: My young daughter wasn’t able to see herself in any of the picture books we were reading to her. It became clear to me that there needed to be a book where kids could be free to be themselves and be appreciated for it, without the limitations of gender stereotypes. I’m also concerned about the push towards making early childhood more academic and wanted to provide adults with a reminder of how important free play is for young children to develop their imagination, cognition, and social skills.

Q: What are you most grateful for?

Afsaneh: I am grateful for my loving, supportive husband and for all of the amazing people in my life who are doing so much to make this world a better place to live in.

Q: Are you planning on creating more children’s books?

Afsaneh: Absolutely! There are still many stories left to tell and a long way to go until we have enough picture books that represent all children.

Q: Anything else you’d like to add?

Afsaneh: We are living in a moment where there are a lot of divisive and hateful ideas floating around, and I greatly appreciate being part of a community of diverse authors who are doing what we can to create safe spaces for all kids through our books, recognizing different races, ethnicities, genders (including trans and gender neutral), abilities, and religions.

Connect with Afsaneh on YouTube and Twitter.

About The Publisher

Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Free Spirit (www.freespirit.com) is the leading publisher of learning tools that support young people’s social-emotional health and their educational needs. Free Spirit’s mission is to help children and teens think for themselves, overcome challenges, and make a difference in the world.

Product details

Age Range: 4 – 8 years
Grade Level: Preschool – 3
Hardcover: 32 pages
Publisher: Free Spirit Publishing (May 1, 2018)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1631981390
ISBN-13: 978-1631981395
Product Dimensions: 8 x 0.3 x 8 inches (View shipping rates and policies)

Average Customer Review: 7 customer reviews

Available at Amazon or FreeSpiritPress.com

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Army Vet, Daddy and Author | Davy’s Pirate Ship #OwnVoices

May 5, 2018 by Valarie Budayr

guest post from author, Danual Berkley

After getting out of the military, I self-published my first book Wonderful Magical Place. I did not know anything about publishing and marketing, so it didn’t do too well. I eventually gave up writing for several years until my wife encouraged me to get back into it. She thought it would be nice to read the poems to our boys at night. As a result, Wonderful Magical Place is in the process of being completely redone and was given the new title, One More, then Goodnight.

As I began getting more serious about my writing, I started creating stories from playing around with my boys. It occurred to me that as a kid I never saw, or was exposed to, adventure books (or many books in general) with black families or black characters. I decided then that what I wanted to do for my sons was write another book, but in this book, it would have all black characters. That way when my sons read it, they could say, “Hey, that kid looks like me!” or “That dad looks like my dad!” I felt that it was important that they had something that represented them. It says a lot when a child can see a reflection of themselves, or their culture, in a book. It’s a good feeling to know that there are other people out there like you.

I also wanted to provide a positive example that would go up against some of the stereotypes out there about Black men. Black men are hit with several stereotypes, including that we don’t raise our kids or get married. Those stereotypes obviously aren’t true, and my hope is that my books will help to disprove that.

Additionally, I wanted to tap into my culture a little. I am a Black man with earrings and tattoos as a way to express myself, and there are many more like me. We call it swag. It’s our style. Some people see that and may assume that I’m a thug or a drug dealer, and they fear me. Having tattoos, dreadlocks, or anything that represents me, or my Black culture, shouldn’t automatically equal fear. By having characters like myself in the children’s books that I write, I hope to show that it’s just a way of expressing one’s originality. This is my culture, and my culture isn’t anything to be afraid of.

In my book, Davy’s Pirate Ship Adventure, I try to represent all these things within the illustrations themselves. Amariah Rauscher, who has illustrated the Scholastic’s Princess Truly series, has done the illustrations for Davy’s Pirate Ship Adventure. We had a lot of fun creating this book, and we believe this will be not only a game changer but the first of many more books just like it.

Davy’s Pirate Ship Adventure is a book starring my older son Davion, who goes by the name Davy. He builds a magical pirate ship so the family can search for gold, but we run into a couple of obstacles along the way. Together, as a family (and with the help of some good alien and animal friends), we make it. It’s all rhyming and there’s a couple of twists that I’m very excited about.

Grab your copy of Davy’s Pirate Ship Adventure on:

Author’s Website

Available on Amazon

Barnes and Noble

About the Author

Hi there! I’m Danual. Simply put, I’m a full-time firefighter, husband, father of two little boys, Army vet, and a guy with a dream. My dream is to one day become a well-known children’s author.  The world is diverse and reading should be too!

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