diversity in children’s books Archives - Multicultural Children's Book Day

Hidden Heroes in History: Dorktales Storytime Podcast

October 15, 2020 by Valarie Budayr Leave a Comment

{guest post from Becky Flansburg}

As Project Manager for MCBD, I am blessed with the opportunity to meet emerging authors and work with some pretty impressive peeps on a daily basis. I am also a mom and homeschooler so I am also always on the lookout for innovative and unique offerings that inspire readers and shines the spotlight on extraordinary talent.

I’m like the Research Lady for all educator friends, fellow parents, and other homeschooling families!

That’s why I am GIDDY about Dorktales Storytime Podcast

Dorktales Storytime Podcast is not only a breath of fresh air, but it is also a super-fun way to keep young learners engaged, entertained, and learning during challenging times.

Jonathan Cormur is the host (and storyteller) of this fun podcast for kids that features:

1) Dorktales–geeky retellings of classic fairy tales with pop culture easter eggs in every story.

2) Hidden Heroes of History–real stories about people you probably never learned about in school but who have changed history in ways we could have never imagined.

Think Fractured Fairy Tales meets Big Bang Theory and the History Detectives!

In Dorktales Storytime Podcast, Jonathan is joined by his plucky puppet sidekick, Mr. Reginald T. Hedgehog (or “Mr. Redge,” if you prefer) to tell goofier versions of tales that have delighted kids for generations. The shows are suitable for preschool and early elementary school ages and are an excellent way to keep kids engaged and learning while having loads of giggles and entertainment.

Dorktales Storytime PODCAST is AVAILABLE ON:

Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3kSUJZQ

Overcast: https://bit.ly/dorktales-overcast

Amazon Music: https://bit.ly/dorktales-amazon-music

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3iNgKHA

Stitcher: https://bit.ly/Dorktales-stitcher

Google Podcasts: https://bit.ly/dorktales-google

Find more on Podcast website: https://jonincharacter.com/dorktales/

You may recognize Jonathan from his work with his mom, Jodi, from Geek Club Books and Zoom Autism Magazine. His new podcast for kids, Dorktales Storytime Podcast, showcases his career as a successful voice actor who also happens to be on the spectrum.

I especially love Jonathan’s Diverse Hidden Heroes of History.

Dorktales Storytime Podcast EP8: Louis Armstrong
Hidden Heroes of History
By Molly Murphy

A tale of Mississippi riverboats, parasol parades, and breaking racial barriers! A man that built a music legacy and a legacy beyond music—Louis Armstrong transformed jazz music and became the beloved “Ambassador Satch” who performed all over the world! So much of his life was about a deep passion for music and using it to bring people together.

Dorktales Storytime Podcast EP5: Mary Golda Ross
Hidden Heroes of History
By Molly Murphy

The true tale of a woman who reached for the stars! Mary Golda Ross was one of the first women to rise in the ranks of engineering and one of the first Native Americans in the field. Her work in the early days of spaceflight was very important and is still to this day.

Episode webpage: https://jonincharacter.com/mary-golda-ross/

Here’s How You Can Support Dorktales Storytime Podcast

We are exceptionally proud of Jonathan because he is a young man who has not let being on the spectrum define him…or hold him back!

Help us help Jonathan excel even more in his flourishing career path as a voice actor and storyteller. Here’s how YOU can support him!

SUBSCRIBE AND REVIEW IN APPLE PODCASTS

1. Mr. Redge thinks it would be “utterly absurd” if you miss even one episode. So, CLICK on over to Apple Podcasts and subscribe today.

2. Listen to several (or all!) of the Dorktales Storytime Podcast episodes and leave a review! Reviews are like applause to a voice actor!

3. Share this link with another family who might be looking for fun and educational ways to share fairy tales and teach about some of the unsung Hidden Heroes in History.

4. Connect with Jonathan on social media!

CURRENT EPISODES:

Dorktales Storytime Podcast EP1: What are Dorktales?

Jonathan Cormur introduces himself as the host and storyteller of the Dorktales Storytime Podcast and answers the question you may be pondering, “What ARE Dorktales?”

Episode webpage: https://jonincharacter.com/dorktales-podcast-introduction/

Dorktales Storytime Podcast EP2: Three Little Hogs?!
By Karen Simpson Gardiner

The Three Little…HOGS? Who’s heard of that? According to Mr. Redge, our Dorktales sidekick, it’s a classic tale from the fairy tale cannon! Come hear our storyteller recount the story of hedgehogs Porky, Percy, and Peregrin, and their ultimate triumph over the dastardly wolf using a glue pot, rapier, and a wheelbarrow. According to Percy, “It’s epic, man!”

Episode webpage: https://jonincharacter.com/dorktales-three-little-hogs/

Dorktales Storytime Podcast EP3: Little Red
By Karen Simpson Gardiner

La, la, la, la-la! Have you heard the tale of Little Red Riding Hood? You know, the one about the sweet, innocent little girl in the beautiful red cloak who outfoxes the big bad wolf? Well forget that one and think ninja granny with a stealthy rescue plan and fierce tranquilizer dart skills.

Episode webpage: https://jonincharacter.com/dorktales-little-red/

Dorktales Storytime Podcast EP4: RumpleTaleSpin
By Amy Thompson

“Rump, who?” asks Mr. Redge as Jonathan spins the tall tale of Daphne, the Miller’s daughter, who must spin thread into gold for a greedy king. It’s an epic yarn involving a magical lawn gnome, a clever guessing game, and a Wizard of Oz ending!

Episode webpage: https://jonincharacter.com/dorktales-rumpletalespin/

Dorktales Storytime Podcast EP6: The Prickly Duckling
By Amy Thompson

After the quacks and croaks of laughter from his siblings and bullying bullfrog, the poor little duckling waddles off through the marshes to find someone who will accept and love him. What about the gaggle of goslings? Or the brood of chicks? “No one understands me! I’ll never fit in,” he cries until he bumps into the best version of himself.

Episode webpage: https://jonincharacter.com/prickly-duckling/

Dorktales Storytime Podcast EP7: The Emperor’s New Quills
By Amy Thompson

Is the fancy fabric for the emperor’s new clothes really invisible to those who are not worthy? Or is this a case of double-dealing dupery by two wily weavers? As the emperor struts his stylish self through the streets of his kingdom, it will take one forthright boy to blurt out the naked truth.

Episode webpage (will publish when episode drops):
https://jonincharacter.com/the-emperors-new-quills/

Coming Soon!

Dorktales Storytime Podcast EP9: The Boy Who Cried Hedgewolf
Dorktales Storytime Podcast EP10: Ready, Set, Slow!
Dorktales Storytime Podcast EP11: Tenzing Norgay Hidden Heroes of History

Be sure and CLICK on over to Apple Podcasts and subscribe today.

Now, go be the hero of your own story and we’ll see you next once-upon-a-time!

A day at the beach 1950 vs 2020: The Rounders and The Tallers

October 6, 2020 by Kristi Bernard Leave a Comment

{Guest post from Matt Bell}

In my family, we have Black, White, and Brown skinned members.

I am light-skinned with an Irish background and a hint of my grandfather’s Jewish heritage from Poland. We live 3 hours from the beach and often load up the cars and head down there for a fun day trip. Along the drive, there are many signs. Signs promoting miles to the coast and the next gas stop. As we get closer to the beach we see more signs that start telling us about some specific information about the beach and where we can access it. Then finally as we approach the entrance to the beach we have many signs telling us the rules about what can and cannot be done while at the beach.

The particular beach we attend is located in a city and county line. One side of the imaginary line is ruled by the laws of the local city and the other by the county. There is a row of wooden piers dug into the beach that extends from the beach road all the way down to the actual waterline. On these wooden piers are many signs Signs such as “No dogs permitted. No campfires. Swim at your own risk. No alcohol. No overnight camping.” can be seen on the city side. On the county side, the signs read differently. “Pick up your cans and bottles. Dogs must be on a leash. Campfires must be extinguished completely after use. Overnight camping permitted.”

I sat there in my car with all the kids excitedly talking behind me as I contemplated which side of the imaginary line would be best for my family. No dogs and no alcohol on this side, dogs, and alcohol, and campers on that side. I choose the city side and we parked and set up our chairs and umbrellas for a fun day at the beach.

I sat in my beach chair watching the kids play along the beach while the county side of the beach filled up. Many other families stayed on the side where they could drink alcohol, set up for overnight campfires, and run their dogs. A few families joined us on our side.

As I watched my dark-skinned, brown-skinned, and light-skinned children play in the surf together, I started thinking. I took a mental time machine back 70 years to this same beach. At this same location, though the year was 1950, the water was the same. The sand was the same. The clouds were the same. There was one difference. The city and county piers both had signs that said, “No Coloreds Allowed at the Beach.”

I snapped back to the present day and looked at my kids. And I counted. 1-2-3-4-5. Five of my kids would be breaking the law by playing at the beach due to the color of their skin. All because of a sign. The only difference was the one sign. And I thought of the people who put the sign there in 1950. Then I thought of the people who in the last 70 years who had worked so hard to make the fundamental changes in our society. The addition of and the removal of a simple sign can mean so much in our society.

So I wanted to explain to my children and grandchildren that this bias and segregation existed and how it can slowly come back unless we stay vigilant. So I wrote a little story called The Rounders and The Tallers.

The Rounders and the Tallers is a tale of a town where its people have lost their way and separated themselves and the journey to come back together. While the adult leaders of two groups of people struggle to get along, it’s a little boy, in his innocence and compassion, that teaches the people how to forgive and unite.

Where one group slowly limits the freedoms of another based on their bias. And how through love and courage a true and new peace is attained and freedom is recovered.

Hello, my name is Matt Bell and I am a children’s book author. I am the father of nine very diverse children from all races and walks of life. I have a series of three children’s books about to be published (July, August, and November). All three are funny, illustrated, and deal with a particular social issue in which there is a conflict in the community and a resolution. They deal with topics such as segregation, access to services, and bigotry.

Raising nine children has given me a lot of time to learn to explain situations about life, guide, and more importantly listen to their thoughts and views on what’s happening in our American society today.

As the head “Teaser” and storyteller in the family. I would often find myself attempting to amuse the kids with stories while making a point about the current situation they were going through. Some of these stories made it to paper and some of those have made it to the publishing world.

Personally I love the beach, skateboarding, and in general having fun with my family. I thank God each day for the breath I am given. I hope you and the kids in your life can read, laugh, and talk about the interesting things that happen in these books.

Connect with me via my website.

Pack-n-Go Girls is Easing the Stress for Teachers & Distance Learners

October 1, 2020 by Kristi Bernard Leave a Comment

{ Guest post from Pack-n-Go Girls}

Greetings! The Pack-n-Go Girls Team hopes that this post finds you and your loved ones healthy.

No matter where you are, the school year is going to be full of challenges. It doesn’t matter if you’re a student, teacher, librarian, or parent, school is being redefined, which creates its own level of stress for everyone.

Pack-n-Go Girls Adventures wants to help you ease the stress a bit and at the same time creatively engage young learners. Lisa Travis and Janelle Diller, Pack-n-Go Girls authors, are happy to do live interactive author visits via Zoom–for FREE! Their goal is to inspire kids to become curious readers, great writers, and global citizens.

Diverse Early Chapter Books for Girls | Pack-n-Go Girls

Easing the Stress for Teachers & Distance Learners

Lisa and Janelle take young readers on a virtual author visit through the Pack-n-Go Girls countries of Mexico, Brazil, Australia, Thailand, and Austria. Lisa and Janelle share their writing secrets to make their writing come alive, and at the same time, they provide a glimpse of cultural similarities and differences, teach some language phrases, and quiz kids on fun facts.

At the end of the discussion, they’re happy to do a Q&A with your budding writers. The kids love it!

Are you homeschooling or not in a traditional classroom this fall? This offer applies to you, too. Gather eight or ten other homeschoolers and Pack-n-Go will gladly Zoom with them. Or if you don’t have a way to corral students for a specific time, feel free to share their YouTube video of the author visit. The YouTube video is 37 minutes. For live meetups, plan on about an hour–a few minutes more if you want to allow for questions. Most kids never get to talk to a real author, but when they do, it inspires them to read and write more.

Here’s a valuable tip: Pack-n-Go Girls authors aren’t alone in their willingness to do this. Most authors are only too happy to do a short Zoom conversation for free just for a chance to talk about their books and connect with readers. Contact your favorite authors through their websites or publishers.

Contact Pack-n-Go Girls at hello@packngogirls.com to get details for your author visit today! Let’s do some world travel from the comfort of your classroom!

A Downloadable Classroom Kit just for Homeschoolers!

September 15, 2020 by Rebecca Flansburg

WE HAVE SOMETHING NEW!

INTRODUCING MCBD’S World Travel from your Homeschool Table: A Diverse Kidlit Booklist & Activity Kit for Homeschoolers and Distance Learners. This is a Bonus Kit that we created as a resource for homeschoolers.

As you may already know, we create free, info-packed kits that are packed with diverse booklist suggestions and companion activities to keep kids reading during the school year.

These free kits are usually created for traditional classrooms, but with the uptick of families switching to homeschooling, we wanted something that would benefit this specific group of learners. Here’s a sample of what’s inside:

Diverse Picture Book Recommendations and Activities for Explorers ages 4-12

A Bonus Booklist from our 2020 Activists and Activism Classroom Kit!

Special Homeschool Activities for Young Explorers Courtesy of:

- Barefoot Books!
- Language Lizard!
- The Pack-n-Go Girls!
- KidLitTV!

See What Else You Can Expect from this FREE Homeschool-themed Downloadable Kit HERE

DID YOU KNOW…

Did you know that MCBD has many other Free Resources and Classroom Kits! It’s true! Our Diversity Book Lists & Activities for Teachers and Parents page is the motherlode of downloadable/clickable “List of Lists” that are designed to help parents, teachers, and caregivers find the multicultural and diverse book titles for kids that they need.

All of these diverse and multicultural book lists are also broken down into easy-to-find topics and themes. Every blue title linked to more book lists on that topic. Here are some examples of some of our lists that are in high demand right now:

Anti-Racist Books and Resources

Imagination Soup: Anti-Racist Books for Kids Ages 8 – 12

The Conscious Kid: Critical Conversations

PragmaticMom: White Privilege Books for Kids

Feminist Books for Kids: 9 Children’s Books About Police Brutality

Imagination Soup: Picture Books That Teach Kids About Prejudice, Inclusion, and Kindness

PragmaticMom: How To Teach Kids About Microaggressions

InCulture Parent: 6 Children’s Books to Celebrate Juneteenth

Colours of Us: 37 Children’s Books to help talk about Racism & Discrimination

PragmaticMom: Children’s Books about Skin Color

PragmaticMom: Antiracist Books for Kids, Teens, and Adults

Colours of Us: 150 Children’s Books Celebrating Black Boys

GO HERE to view these resources plus the links to all of our FREE Classroom and Homeschool Kits.

BOOK REVIEWERS, WE.Need. YOU. for MCBD2021!

If you love diverse books for kids and have a social media platform to share a review on, we want to give you a FREE diversity book to review!

AND…you don’t have to be a blogger to review multicultural children’s books for our MCBD2020 (1/29/21) online event. Go here to learn more about how this process works.

You just need to have a love of diversity in children’s literature, have one non-private social media account on Facebook (Pages only-no Facebook profiles), Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, or YouTube, and be able to leave an honest Amazon review of your assigned book.

SIGN UP to be an MCBD2021 book reviewer HERE and learn more about what it takes to join the MCBD2021 celebration

(Signup deadline is 12/15/20)

Dr. Adam and The Virus: A picture book about COVID-19

September 8, 2020 by Rebecca Flansburg

{Guest post by Dr. Hazem Nassar}

A global pandemic needs a global hero.

Coronavirus needs no introduction nowadays. If it had a twitter account, it’d be the most followed worldwide, which is a problem in many ways.

Not only our lives had been changed drastically, but it also brought along with it many uncertainties. Is the threat real, or is it a ‘hoax’? If it is real, how bad could it get? If bad enough, who will make it and who will not? Are we ever going to go back to ‘normal’ life again? If yes, then when? Why do we have to flatten the curve?

Wait, what does ‘flatten the curve’ mean anyway?

These were some of the questions raised in our adult minds, but what about our children’s minds? I imagined the curious 7-year-old me looking at my parents and trying to understand what they’re talking about. Are we safe? What will happen to everyone?

As an Internal Medicine physician who works exclusively inside hospitals, surrounded by Corona-infected patients, and getting constant updates from the medical community around the world, I had the slight advantage of probably having that I myself was concerned about my own health, and even more so about my wife and my then 5-month-old daughter, and ended up isolating myself in the house as long as I worked in the hospital, while they stayed at my in-laws’ house who fortunately live a few miles away only.

The isolation lasted for two painful months. From day 2(because on day 1, I was occupied by absorbing all the info and trying to process them, in order to plan ahead), I decided that I had to use my art to spread optimism in the neighborhood. I made a few, not-too-fancy drawings on wooden boards and propped them up on the front yard.

One of them had a doctor standing at the bottom of the curve, awaiting the avalanche of viruses, but when the curve is flat, he’s looking the viruses in the eye and even scaring them away.

Many people thought it was a great, simple way to explain the concept of a flat curve, and then it crossed my mind. I was already thinking about a 2nd children’s book to work on, so, I could use this particular drawing as my point of origin. Dr. Adam is supposed to represent not only doctors, but all the essential workers who found themselves at the forefront of this battle, and I couldn’t find a better name than Adam to represent Man vs Virus.

Dr. Adam and The Virus: A diverse picture book about COVID-19

This book for me was my getaway during the tough times, and my own ‘extra mile,’ just like each essential worker had to go their own ‘extra mile.’ The biggest challenge for me was Time.

Between my full-time job, duties as a father, and the need to get the book out soon enough before schools restart, I had to use every free minute I had on it. I worked on it during breaks at work and after-work hours and the final manuscript had to be edited multiple times.

Finally, the dedication on the last page is an attempt to mention all the people who work at the hospital that the book couldn’t accommodate due to the page-count. Still, one day I will be writing another book about all hospital workers and their mantra of Leave No Hero Behind. Grab your copy of this timely book on Amazon.

Happy reading and stay safe!

About Dr. H

Hazem Nassar MD is an lnternist/Hospitalist Freelance cartoonist Children books author www.DrHbooks.com

He was born in late 1979 to Palestinian parents in Kuwait, where he also grew up and completed his undergraduate education. He then graduated from medical school in Karachi, Pakistan, before moving to the United States, later on, to work as an internal medicine physician. Ever since childhood, Hazem has had a passion for cartooning and storytelling, which he eventually managed to dedicate more time to after completing medical residency, leading to the selection of many of his works for several international theme-based exhibitions in different countries around the world. Growing up an immigrant with Palestinian roots in an extremely diverse neighborhood, along with life in a once-war-torn Kuwait, heavily influenced his ideas and subsequently, his works. His children’s picture book career started with the publication of The Peeking Chick in June 2020. He plans to continue this journey with upcoming and future works. www.lnstagram.com /drhbooks

Dr. Adam and the Virus is a great book for children who have questions about the Coronavirus pandemic. This book highlights a Doctor’s executed plan to keep people in his town safe. What are viruses? How to stay protected? How to stay safe? How to flatten the curve? These questions, and more, are thoroughly explained in a cute, friendly manner. Along with its adorable comic illustrations, this informative book is designed to educate young readers about Covid-19.~ Amazon review