Multicultural Children's Book Day

#ReadYourWorld

Meet Author and Illustrator Sivan Hong & Signed Book GIVEAWAY! #MCBDAutismAcceptanceMonth

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#MCBDAutismAcceptanceMonth

 

Please meet author and illustrator, Sivan Hong! She writes and illustrates the Super Fun Day Book series about neurodiverse kids. Avery G. and the Scary End of School is her newest book!

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Multicultural Idiom Learning Fun: A Language Lizard Giveaway

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{Guest Post from Language Lizard}

Congratulations to Mindy R. from Rachel Kohl Community Library in Glen Mills, PA who won a  set of Language Lizard Idiom Books in English and Simplified Chinese!

These colorful books come with free teaching resources are a great way to teach English idioms in a multicultural context. Use them during Idiom Week (Jan 24-30)!

Multicultural Idiom Learning Fun

 

Language Lizard is kicking off the holiday season with a special December giveaway, just for Multicultural Children’s Book Day readers! Read on to learn about the Language Lizard Idiom Book Series, and how to enter for a chance to win a FREE set of your own.

What is an Idiom?

An idiom is a phrase with an underlying meaning that’s generally agreed upon by a large group of people. The meaning of the phrase can’t be understood by understanding the words alone.

Some common English language idioms in the US are:

  • A breath of fresh air
  • A piece of cake
  • Over the moon
  • When pigs fly

Thanks to familiarity, these phrases are easily understood by a native English speaker in the US. But we can see they are indeed idioms, because their meanings are more than the sum of their words.

Look up idioms from other cultures, and you can see their meanings are not immediately discernible. For example, it wouldn’t be obvious that the Russian phrase “to hang noodles on someone’s ears” means that you are fooling them.

Multicultural Learning With Idioms

Learning idioms is a great way to celebrate diversity and bring multicultural learning to students. It’s also a great way to enhance the school-home connection. Students can ask their parents for strange or funny idioms in their home languages to share with the class. Classmates can try to guess the meanings, or compare idioms from different languages. Some examples:

In English, a sad person may “have the blues,” but in French, that person would “have the cockroach.” Or, in English, a practical person is “down to earth,” and in Spanish, that person would be described as having their “feet on the earth”.

Idioms Are Especially Important For Language Learners

Idioms are an important part of language learning, too. Every language and culture has thousands (maybe even tens of thousands) of them, so there’s a significant amount of casual communication conducted by way of idioms.

Without lessons in local idioms, communicating effectively is going to be more difficult. Plus, learning idioms is one of the most fun parts of learning a new language!

Remember to have students practice how to use each idiom properly since this type of communication can be very nuanced. It’s best to teach idioms verbally, and have students practice by role-playing.

Language Lizard Idiom Books Support Virtual & In-Person Learning

Language Lizard Idiom Books are a great resource for teachers in virtual, in-person, or blended classrooms, as well as homeschooling families. They are available in English and 9 language editions, offering literal translations and meanings in a second language. Illustrations show characters and settings from around the world, providing an opportunity to teach children about other cultures and communities.

Free Multicultural Lesson Plans

Language Lizard Idiom Books come with links to 3 free lesson plans:

  • Understanding Idioms and Figurative Language
  • Learning Color, Nature, Food, and Animal related Idioms
  • Understanding the History and Context of Idioms

The lesson plans include an exploration of idioms in a multicultural context and provide exercises that students can do with their families, even those that speak a language other than English at home.

Idiom Activities & Resources

Language Lizard Idiom Books come with many fun, free activities. Here are just a few of them:

  • Animals in Mexico: fill-in-the-blank short story using animal idioms
  • Hindu Holi Festival: fill-in-the-blank short story using color idioms
  • Hanami “Flower Viewing” in Japan: fill-in-the-blank short story using nature idioms
  • Guess the National Animal Activity
  • Animal Idiom Games Video
  • Multicultural Street Foods Activity
  • Favorite Foods Activity

Each Idiom Book also includes resources and links to learn the in-depth history and background information about all the idioms that are featured in the books.

Perfect for Take-Home Learning Packs

Teachers can create “learning packs” for students to take home that include idiom books in their home language, along with the free included activities. It’s a great way to strengthen school-home connections, and non-English speaking parents will appreciate being included in their child’s learning.

eBook versions of Language Lizard Idioms Books are also available, to make sharing online even easier. They are available through most major eBook platforms, including Amazon, Apple, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, and Overdrive.

Enter to Win a Set of Language Lizard Idiom Books

Enter for a chance to win a FREE set of Language Lizard Idiom Books! Head to our Giveaway Page and include “MCBD” in the comments section. A winner will be selected at the end of December. (As a bonus, you will be included in our other Language Lizard book giveaways, too!)

Free Bonus: Idiom Word Searches

To help jump-start the Idiom learning fun, MCBD readers can access our FREE Idiom Word Searches now!

What are the strangest or most amusing idioms you’ve heard in any language? Share them here, or on social media and tell us why #IdiomsRock!

A 15-Book Giveaway! to Celebrate 15k On Instagram!

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***WE DID IT! MCBD has achieved 15,000 Followers on Instagram!!****

A huge THANK YOU to everyone who has supported us a helped us hit this HUGE milestone! In honor of this epic victory, we are doing a 15-Book Giveaway!

Fifteen Diverse Books to WIN

Sumo Joe by Mia Wenjen, illustrated by Nat Iwata
No Steps Behind: Beate Sirota Gordon’s Battle for Women’s Rights in Japan by Jeff Gottesfeld, illustrated by Shiella Witanto
No Voice Too Small: Fourteen Young Americans Making History edited by Lindsay H. Metcalf, Keila V. Dawson, Jeanette Bradley, illustrated by Jeanette Bradley (2 copies)
Sissy Goes Tiny by Rebecca Flansburg and B.A. Norrgard (A diverse picture book about living MORE with LESS).
“13” by Dani Dixon
Climate Change Captives 2035 by Carolyn Wilhelm
Alex Asks About Aunty’s Airplane Day by Carolyn Wilhelm
When God Made the World by Matthew Paul Turner
In The Nick of Time by Deedee Cummings
This is the Earth by Deedee Cummings
American History: Asians in America by Casey Bell
LaDonna’s Easter in Paris by Kimberly Gordon-Biddle

Giveaway Rules and Details

ONE winner will receive a copy of each of the books listed above Giveaway begins October 31, 2020

  • Prizing & samples  courtesy of Authors of the above books
  • Giveaway open to US addresses only
  • ONE lucky winner will win one copy of each of the above books.
  • Winner must have USA shipping address.
  • Must be 18 years or older to enter
  • One entry per household.
  • Staff and family members of Multicultural Children’s Book Day are not eligible.
  • The Book Bundle winner has 48 hours to claim the prize. After 48 hours, a new winner will be selected.
  • ONE Winner will be chosen via Rafflecopter on November 16, 2020

BUT FIRST, here’s how YOU can support Multicultural Children’s Book Day!

The online event/holiday takes the last Friday of every January so this year it will fall on 1/29/21 and this will be our 8th Multicultural Children’s Book Day celebration! We would love to have you participate in our upcoming event and here are a few ways you can do so:

  1. Donate Books: For our next online event, we will have hundreds of book reviewers signed up to review diverse children’s books on their blogs or on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube. Authors and publishers have the option of offering copies of their multicultural children’s books to our reviewers to review and write a social media review about. There are no guarantees that we will be able to match your book to a reviewer(s), but if this interests you, let me know. We will provide you with names and addresses and you mail your book directly to the reviewer.

Go here to sign up as a book donator.

  1. Multiple options for Sponsorship: Sponsorship is not only a great way to support this event; it is an excellent way to get your name (and your books) in front of thousands of readers. All of our Sponsors get a name mention within the hundreds of reviews that get posted from December through to the end of January and also on the sites of our 26 CoHosts sites.  

Go here to download our Sponsorship Packet and learn about participation that will fit any budget.   

  1. Connect with us on social media and share, share, share! Our official hashtag is #ReadYourWorld

– Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/MulticulturalChildrensBookDay

– Twitter https://twitter.com/MCChildsBookDay

-Instagram https://www.instagram.com/readyourworldmcbd/

-Reminder: The hashtag for this event is #ReadYourWorld

  1. Guest post: We are always looking for quality guest posts from authors and publishers on the MCBD blog. If you’d like to share the details of your writing journey and details of how your book came to be, we’d love to have you. I’ve attached some guidelines for your review.
  1. Join our private Facebook Group: This group has grown and evolved into something very special. Feel free to join:)

ENTER TO WIN A Multicultural Children’s Book Day 15-Book Giveaway to Celebrate 15k Followers on Instagram!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

***
Book Reviewers! We Need YOU!


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 diverse kidlit or YA book to review!

AND, you don’t have to be a blogger to review multicultural children’s books for our MCBD 2021 online event. You just need to have a love of diversity in children’s literature and be willing to share on your social media platforms such as:

Facebook (Pages only-no Facebook profiles)

Twitter (Private Accounts are not Eligible)

Pinterest

Instagram (Private Accounts are not Eligible)

YouTube

Blogs

**We encourage honest Amazon reviews of assigned books whenever possible as well.

Reviewer sign-up deadline is 12/15/20

(NOTE: We will not be shipping out any books for the 2020 online event until Nov/Dec of 2020!

Multicultural Children’s Book Day Twitter Party Prizes, Discussion Q’s, and MORE!

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In honor of our seventh Multicultural Children’s Book Day, we are increasing our Twitter Party Book Bundles prizes from five to SEVEN books!

More books, more diverse KidLit discussions, and more FUN!

Please join us Friday, January 31st

9 pm-10 pm EST

Use hashtag #ReadYourWorld to find the party

We will be giving away 14 book bundles plus 5 book bags from Capstone Publishing! In fact, we will be giving away one book bundle every five minutes In Real Time! We will announce each winner as each question closes out.

To ensure that we can reach the winners, we ask that everyone to please register for our Multicultural Children’s Book Day Twitter Party here.

Multicultural Children's Book Day Twitter Party 2020

Below are the questions for our Twitter party with each prize pack!

 

Multicultural Children’s Book Day Twitter Party Discussion Questions and Prizes

Question 1 (9:00 pm): What are your favorite diversity authors, illustrators, and books? What about your kids?

Q1 Book Bundle Prize:

  • Esther’s Grager by Martha Simpson
  • Priya Dreams of Marigolds & Masala by Meenal Patel
  • How to Code a Roller Coaster by Josh Funk
  • Isaiah & The Chocolate Mountain by Valerie Williams Sanchez
  • The School Science Competition by Avril O’Rielly
  • Sissy Goes Tiny by Rebecca Flansburg & B.A. Norrgard
  • When God Made the World by Matthew Paul

Question 2 (9:05 pm): What do you think about #OwnVoices versus having POC characters illustrated in books by non-POC/minority authors & illustrators?

Q2 Book Bundle Prize:

  • Green Lantern Legacy by Minh Le
  • Greenhorn by Anna Olswanger
  • Diana: Princess of the Amazon by Victoria Ying
  • Luz Del Mes by Maritza Mejia
  • Stories by the Girlfriends Book Club, Baltimore by GFBCB
  • Mia Marcotte and the Robot by Jeanne Wald
  • Brandon Goes to Beijing by Eugenia Chu

Question 3 (9:10 pm): What diversity topics in children’s books do you wish there were more books on?

Q3 Book Bundle Prize (Middle Grade/YA Book Bundle):

  • Martin and Bobby: A Journey Towards Justice by Claire Murphy
  • The Length of a String by Elissa Brent Weissman
  • Climbing the Stairs by Padma Venkatramen
  • Rebels & Revolutions by Judy Dodge Cummings
  • New Kid by Jerry Craft
  • The Red Zone: An Earthquake Story by Silvia Vecehini
  • Intrepids by Diana Huang

Question 4 (9:15 pm): What diversity children’s books, authors, and illustrators do you think deserve more recognition? Let’s give them a shout out!

Q4 Book Bundle Prize (Easy Reader/Chapter Book Bundle)

  • Brandon Goes to Beijing by Eugenia Chu
  • Globe Agents: Race 2 Rio by Roddie Simmons
  • My Furry Foster Family by Debi Michiko Florence
  • Standing Against Hate Mary Crank Farrell
  • Nilay’s Wish by Riya Aarini
  • Miss Tree: Mighty Coconuts by Deepa Renesh
  • Chula the Fox by Anthony Perry

Question 5 (9:20 pm): Our Classroom Kit this year is about disability, both physical and developmental. What are your favorite children’s books on this topic?

Q5 Book Bundle Prize (Courtesy of Abrams Publishing)

  • Mama’s Work Shoes by Caron Lewis
  • Soldier for Equality by Duncan Tonatiuh
  • Feed Your Mind by Jen Bryant
  • Gittel’s Journey by Leslea Newman
  • Small World by Ishta Mercurio
  • Granpa’s Stones by Joseph Coelho
  • The Backstagers by Andy Mientus

Question 6 (9:25 pm): What do you hope diversity and multicultural books will teach your children?

Q6 Book Bundle Prize

  • One is a Pinata by Roseanne Greenfield Thong
  • Little Brother by Khalid White
  • La Frontera by Deborah Mills
  • Book of Ju’Anne by Joan E. Ruffins
  • The Yeti & The Jolly Lama by Lama Surya Das
  • Dazzling Travis by Hannah Carmona Dias
  • Mermaids on a Mission by Janet Balletta

Question 7 (9:30 pm): What genre of children’s books do you think lacks the most diversity? (board books, picture books, easy readers, early chapter books, graphic novels)

Q7 Book Bundle Prize

  • Lump Lump and the Blanket of Dreams by Gwen Jackson
  • Place We Have Never Been by Lauren Ranalli
  • LaDonna Plays Hoops by Kimberly Biddle Gordon
  • Jamie is Jamie by Afsaneh Moradian
  • Little Yellow Jeepney by Jocelyn Francisco
  • The World is Awake by Lindsey Davis
  • Chia and the Fox Man by Barbara Atwater & Ethan Atwater

Question 8 (9:35 pm): Do you think a book has enough diversity when the author is not POC/minority, but the illustrator is? 2 Prizes!

Q8 Book Bundle Prize (Board Books)

  • Ana & Andrew at the Museum
  • Carlos & Carmen: Campout
  • Oh My Kulay! by Jocelyn Francisco
  • Isa, Dalawa, Tatlo… Jocelyn Francisco
  • Big Cities Little Foodies by Cheryl Yau Chepusova
  • ¡Números, Baby! by Golzar Kheiltash and Lisa Hall
  • Food: Proud to be Latino! By Ashely Marie Mireles

Question 9 (9:40 pm): What life lessons would you like to see in children’s books in the coming year?

Q9 Book Bag Prize! 5 Book Bags from Capstone Publishers to 5 winners (US only)

Capstone Reading is For Everyone Book Bags

Question 10 (9:45 pm): What are the hurdles to get/keep your kids reading?

Q10 Book Bundle Prize

  • Tales of the Five Enchanted Mermaids by Lois Petren
  • Ribbon’s Traveling Circus by Elizabeth Godley
  • Catherine’s Pascha by Charlotte Riggle
  • Sun Kisses, Moon Hugs by Susan Bernardo Schaefer
  • Waylen Wants to Jam by Jo Mach & Vera Stroup-Rentier
  • The Unexpected Friend by Raya Rahman
  • Earthwaves by Michael Smith

Question 11 (9:50 pm): Why are diverse & multicultural books important to you?

Q11 Book Bundle Prize

  • Ana & Andrew at the Museum
  • Carlos & Carmen: Campout
  • Women Who March by Adena Raub Dershowitz
  • Celebrate Holi with Me by Shoumi Sen
  • Sumo Joe by Mia Wenjen
  • Bonjour! Let’s Learn French by Judy Martialy
  • The Pesky Bird by Marianne Markian

Question 12 (9:55 pm): What topic do you think we should do for our next Classroom Kit?

Q12 Book Bundle Prize (Courtesy of Tuttle Publishing)

  • Tales of a Korean Grandmother
  • A Field Guide to Birds of New Zealand
  • Three Korean Fairy Tales
  • Korean Picture Dictionary
  • My First Book of Korean Words

Bonus Bundle! ELEVEN books Courtesy of MVPKids.com

GRAND PRIZE! ELEVEN BOOK FROM SUPER PLATIUM SPONSOR, Deedee Cummings, CEO of Make A Way Media!

MCBD2020 FREE Resources for All

And here are more free resources to celebrate Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2020 including more book giveaways …

#ReadYourWorld Book Jam 2020 with the Children's Book Council

#ReadYourWorld Book Jam 2020 with the Children’s Book Council

Want to win more fabulous diverse children’s and young adult books? Join us for our #ReadYourWorld Book Jam 2020 with the Children’s Book Council. We are featuring book giveaways with each post here.

Have you seen our Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2020 Music Video?

In 2018, Annie Lynn and Walt Wilcezewski from Annie Bird Music created the most wonderful music video for our 2019 event. You can view our first official Read Your World Music Video here. You might see some familiar faces and books!

Have you downloaded our new free Classroom Kit?

The free Classroom Physical and Developmental Challenges Kit

This free and downloadable Classroom Kit includes book recommendations that will help Readers Understand Physical and Developmental Challenges for ages 4 -12. Also included:

~ Classroom or Home Activities

~ “Physical and Developmental Challenges” Classroom Poster thanks to the talents of award-winning illustrator, SKlakina

~HelpfulPhysical and Developmental Challenge Talking Points for Teachers

~Links, resources and services that are available to families facing the challenges of coping with Physical and Developmental Challenges in the U.S.A.

Our other kits are here:

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

 

Have you checked out our FREE Diversity Book List Resource?

Free diversity book lists and activities for teachers, parents, and librarians! We have carefully curated lists of books from the top education bloggers about diverse topics including countries, religions, holidays, ethnicities, in addition to special needs and LGBTQ. It’s here!

Our Diverse World Book Lists for Kids (this is a general book list)

It’s also broken out by country/geographic area:

Diversity in Children’s Books Presented as Every Day (this is a book list)

 

Books on World Religions for Kids (this is a book list)

It’s also broken out by holiday and/or religion.

Seeing Yourself in Children’s Books

Diversity Books By Genre

General Diversity Book Lists (this is a book list)

 

Have you followed Our Multicultural Children’s Book Day Pinterest Board?

Find more diversity, multicultural, and inclusive books on our Multicultural Children’s Book Day Pinterest Board. Follow on Pinterest to get daily updates.

 

Check out our #ReadYourWorld Book Jam 2020 in conjunction with The Children’s Book Council. Each author has created a book list and is doing a book giveaway. There’s still time to enter!

#ReadYourWorld Book Jam 2020 with Nikki Grimes!

#ReadYourWorld Book Jam 2020 with Wendy Xu and Suzanne Walker

#ReadYourWorld Book Jam 2020 with Eric Smith

#ReadYourWorld Book Jam 2020 with Nic Stone

#ReadYourWorld Book Jam 2020 with David Bowles

#ReadYourWorld Book Jam 2020 with Vita Murrow

#ReadYourWorld Book Jam 2020 with Ann Dávila Cardinal

#ReadYourWorld Book Jam 2020 with Traci Sorell

#ReadYourWorld Book Jam 2020 with Katie Zhao