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!
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!
{Guest Post from Language Lizard}
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.
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:
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.
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 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 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.
Language Lizard Idiom Books come with links to 3 free lesson plans:
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.
Language Lizard Idiom Books come with many fun, free activities. Here are just a few of them:
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.
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 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!)
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 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!
ONE winner will receive a copy of each of the books listed above Giveaway begins October 31, 2020
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:
Go here to sign up as a book donator.
Go here to download our Sponsorship Packet and learn about participation that will fit any budget.
– 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
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:
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.
Below are the questions for our Twitter party with each prize pack!
Question 1 (9:00 pm): What are your favorite diversity authors, illustrators, and books? What about your kids?
Q1 Book Bundle Prize:
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:
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):
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)
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)
Question 6 (9:25 pm): What do you hope diversity and multicultural books will teach your children?
Q6 Book Bundle Prize
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
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)
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)
Question 10 (9:45 pm): What are the hurdles to get/keep your kids reading?
Q10 Book Bundle Prize
Question 11 (9:50 pm): Why are diverse & multicultural books important to you?
Q11 Book Bundle Prize
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)
Bonus Bundle! ELEVEN books Courtesy of MVPKids.com
GRAND PRIZE! ELEVEN BOOK FROM SUPER PLATIUM SPONSOR, Deedee Cummings, CEO of Make A Way Media!
And here are more free resources to celebrate Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2020 including more book giveaways …
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.
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!
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
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!
It’s also broken out by country/geographic area:
It’s also broken out by holiday and/or religion.
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