Multicultural Children's Book Day

#ReadYourWorld

MCBD in Reading Rockets for Upcoming We Are Water Protectors Event!!

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Multicultural Children’s Book Day is excited to partner with Reading Rockets about the upcoming We Are Water Protectors event with our Co-Creator and President, Mia Wenjen, for Multicultural Children’s Book Club. It’s free and virtual!

Reading Rockets is a national public media literacy initiative offering information and resources on how young kids learn to read, why so many struggle, and how caring adults can help.

In celebration of World Nature Conservation Day (July 28) and National Clean Beaches Week (July 1-7), the online Multicultural Children’s Book Club meeting will take place on July 7th at 7:00 pm EST.

A Native American speaker from the Water Protector Legal Collective will be a featured guest in addition to Carole Lindstrom, author of We Are Water Protectors – as they discuss how we can protect our environment, especially our water. [Read more…]

National Make a Difference to Children Month and The Starfish Story

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July is National Make a Difference to Children Month! This month is the time to recognize that ONE PERSON can make all the difference in a child’s life.

This concept reminds me of The Starfish Story.

A man is taking a solitary walk on the beach and notices the beach is littered with starfish; starfish which have washed ashore and which need water to survive. He also notices a little boy frantically running from beach starfish to beach starfish, picking each one up and throwing them back, one by one, into the ocean.

After walking for a few minutes, the man approaches the little boy and asks, “What are you doing?” And the little boy responds, “I’m throwing the starfish back into the water so they can live.” Gently and remorsefully the man shakes his head and tells the boy, “There are too many starfish, son. What difference will throwing a few back, make?”

The boy pauses for only a moment before bending over, retrieving another helpless starfish and flinging it gently back into the sea. “I made a difference to that one”

Adapted from The Star Thrower, by Loren Eiseley (1907 – 1977)

This story first came across my radar a few years back when I wrote a magazine article on how the role of “Guidance Counselors,” now called School Counselors, has evolved over the years.

I won’t go into deep detail, but I can assure you that these men and women are the unsung heroes of Middle School and High School.

Gone are the days of helping kids discover what they want to be when they grow up and their stretched thin days are spent working with students on a socio/emotional/mental health level.

These brave men and women shared with me how their roles are critical, yet the number of counselors is shrinking while the number of troubled kids is growing. A good example would be the fact that, at the school where my oldest attends, there are three counselors who service over 600 students EACH.

When I asked how they coped with potentially not getting to every child who needs support, the response was that they focus on The Starfish Story.

When the sheer numbers of the kids we help become overwhelming, I remember the story of the little boy who was rescuing beached starfish by throwing them back into the sea. When a passerby commented that throwing a handful of starfish back wasn’t going to make a difference, the little boy responded by tossing one more lucky starfish back into the water and commenting, ‘I made a difference to that starfish,” shared School Counselor, Alison M. “We get to, and help to our best ability, every child we can. We need to take comfort in what we can achieve, not in what we failed to do.”

The MCBD Team knows we can’t reach every family, every organization, every classroom…but we can do our very best to try.

So for National Make a Difference to Children Month, what will YOU do to make a difference to one child, one teacher, one author, one school?

You see, you just never know when you can make a difference in someone’s life. To you, it might be something small, but to that child, it could mean the world. So remember the starfish story and never, ever stop doing good and trying to make a difference in people’s lives.

The July Sponsorship Flash Sale is HERE!

Multicultural Children’s Book Day is in its eighth year and this diversity in children’s literature initiative occurs on the last Friday of every January. Our next celebration will be 1/29/2021.

Sponsorship provides participants with an amplified level of visibility and recognition for their multicultural/diverse children’s and YA books.

As a non-profit, MCBD also works tirelessly to get those books in front of parents, caregivers, educators, and librarians while also getting them into the hands of young readers. Read more about our mission here.

During the Flash Sale, Author Sponsorship and Platinum Level Sponsorships are reduced by 30% and the sale ends July 31. 2020.

**Other levels of sponsorship (Super, Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze) will be available on September 1, 2020.***

If you are a diverse children’s book author or publisher, go here to download our Sponsorship Packet for 2021 to see all the perks that are included in the different levels of participation.

If you want to save some $$ and get on board for our 2021 celebration….

Go here to read more details about the Flash Sale.

Go here to secure a Flash Sale Platinum Level (only 2 spots left!)

Go here to secure a Flash Sale Author Sponsorship spot for 2021 (unlimited)

If this whole Sponsorship thing still puzzles you, check out this article, A July Flash Sponsorship Sale Tutorial+ The Power of Collaboration, from Project Manager, Becky Flansburg

 

10 Diverse Reading Programs for Summertime Fun and Learning

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Guest post from Janelle Diller

The last few months of distance learning have been a challenge. If you’re lucky, your kids stayed with the program and will be fine when the new school year starts in September–whatever that looks like in your corner of the world. But if you’re typical, well, let’s face it. The last few months have been a roller coaster, but in this case, it was more scary than fun. So how do you make sure your kids will be ready for school in the fall? The best way is to just keep them reading. Fortunately, we at Pack-n-Go Girls have some great suggestions for summer reading programs that will give them just a bit more of an incentive:

10 Diverse Reading Programs for Summertime Fun and Learning

free summer reading programs

The Public Library:

We love the public library! They all have a summer reading program to get kids in the library and get them reading. If you’re new to your area, here’s a great site to find the closest library to you. As states open up, libraries are too, even if for the moment they’re only doing curbside pick up and drop off.

Your library is small? No worries! Most public libraries are part of a larger lending library system, which gives you access to books that aren’t part of your local library’s collection. A great place to start is with the book lists on Multicultural Children’s Book Day. It has a multitude of book lists that can provide the windows and doors for new and important conversations at home, especially about these challenging times.

And don’t forget to look for Pack-n-Go Girls books, ebooks, and audiobooks at your library. If your library hasn’t discovered Pack-n-Go yet, they’ll appreciate the nudge from you to add the series to their collection. (So will we!)

Reading Rewards:

Create your own reading program with your own incentives at Reading Rewards.  Kids can log the books they’re reading, take quizzes, and even write reviews. It’s like Goodreads for kids, but with lots of added support for teachers and parents.

Pizza Hut Book It!

Track and reward the reading your kids do for June, July, and August in Pizza Hut’s Book It! digital dashboard. When they meet their monthly reading goal, they’ll receive a free Personal Pan Pizza from Pizza Hut. Pizza Hut also is sharing fun activities and book recommendations each week to keep the fun going throughout the summer.

Barnes & Noble

With Barnes & Noble’s summer reading program, kids need to read at least eight books and record them in a reading journal along with their favorite part of each book. Their reward is a free book from a predetermined list at a Barnes & Noble store.

Scholastic Reading Program:

The Scholastic Reading Program has been revamped for 2020. Kids will now go to scholastic.com/homebase to create their account. Instead of logging reading minutes, kids will now be encouraged to track their Reading Streaks. A Reading Streak is the number of days in a row that a student checks in. If they skip a day, it starts over. The really cool thing? For every two days in a row kids track their reading streaks, Scholastic will donate six books to kids in areas with limited or no access to books. Nice!

Books-a-Million Summer Reading Adventure

Who doesn’t love Captain Underpants and Dog Man? This summer, Books-A-Million teams up with author Dav Pilkey for a summer reading adventure. Kids can choose four books from the Summer Reading Adventure section either in the store or online. Then they write about the books in the Summer Reading Adventure Log Book. By showing their completed log to a Books-A-Million employee, they receive a free Dog Man baseball cap.

Chuck E. Cheese:

Reading earns kids free tokens at Chuck E. Cheese every time they read. Just print out the bookmarks, which are each worth ten free tokens, and bring it in to claim your free tokens.

Half Price Books:

Half Price Books reading program asks kids to read fifteen minutes a day and keep a reading log. After reading 300 minutes, kids can take their log into a Half Price store and get $5.00 in credit.

Amazon:

If you have a Kindle, Amazon always has a long list of free books. You don’t need to keep a list or write a report. You only need to hit the download button. But you knew that already, didn’t you?

Pack-n-Go Girls

As always, you can take your kids on a reading adventure around the world with Pack-n-Go Girls. No masks or social distancing required–and they’re MUCH cheaper than a plane ticket!

If you haven’t discovered the audiobooks, you’re going to love how Kae Denino brings the characters alive. Mystery of the Ballerina Ghost, Mystery of the Secret Room, Mystery at the Christmas Market, Mystery of the Troubled Toucan, Mystery of the Min Min Lights, and Mystery of the Thief in the Night are all available and are Whispersynced to the ebook version. It’s a great way for reluctant readers to build their skills without the stress of decoding every word.

Whatever you do, we hope you–and your kids–have a fun summer of turning pages and discovering new worlds.

 

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

Mark your calendars for the 2019 Chappaqua Children’s Book Festival!

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As one of the largest and most engaging annual book festivals in the northeast, The Chappaqua Children’s Book Festival shares a mission that is near-and-dear to our heart; a mission to put a book in the hands of every child.

Chappaqua Children's Book Festival

{Art by Roxie Munro}

The 7th annual #ChappBook festival will take place this year on October 5th, at Bell Middle School, in Chappaqua, NY, just across the street from the Chappaqua train station. This popular event will be jam-packed with 140+ creatively renowned authors and illustrators, kid-friendly crafts, food, activities, and fun that will make a lasting connection with the love of reading.

The History of the Chappaqua Children’s Book Festival

Art image credit

The event began on the heels of the long-standing festival on the Hudson River canceled abruptly. Knowing that there was a deep need for a book-inspired festival that created a deeper connection with authors, illustrators, readers, and educators, Dawn Greenberg set to work to create exactly that. With local children’s book author Barbara Dee, assistant director Madeline Finesmith, and two other founding Board Members by her side, this ambitious mom dove into making her vision come to fruition.

In only six short months, the Chappaqua Children’s Book Festival (CCBF) was made a reality thanks to Dawn’s hardworking team and 200 volunteers that helped on festival day. Currently, the CCBF board has eight members including teachers and children’s book author Sally Cook.

Now in its seventh year, this free and open to the public event is expected to draw over 8,000 book-loving participants during its October 5th event.

Chappaqua Children's Book Festival

Boy reading Rodent Rascals by Roxie Munro

Photo credit: Bo Zaunders

What You Can Expect at the 2019 Chappaqua Children’s Book Festival

This literacy-filled book festival is for readers 0-18 and will be on Saturday, October 5th from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. The location of the celebration is Bell Middle School, in Chappaqua, NY, just across the street from the Chappaqua train station. There are detailed directions on the CCBF website here.

Teachers will have the opportunity to purchase books, meet the authors, learn about illustration and writing while visiting CCBF’s Educator’s Hospitality Tent.

All visitors are welcome to enjoy our Author Meet-n-Greets, our illustrator’s area, the Food for Thought food truck round-up, the Great Chappaqua Bake Sale, all of the literacy-inspired activities along with their many fun and inviting sponsor booths with games, giveaways, and crafts.

Chappaqua Children's Book Festival

Photo credit: Bo Zaunders

Photo credit: Bo Zaunders

Among CCBF’s 140+ authors who will be on hand to talk books and even be on discussion panels, many diverse books and authors will be represented.

Chappaqua Children’s Book Festival Author Talks

Chappaqua Children's Book Festival Author Talks

{Art by Roxie Munro}

Visitors can meet and talk to well-known and multicultural authors including Eric Velasquez, Bryan Collier, Jerry and Gloria Pinkney, John Parra, Tracey Baptiste, Veera Hiranandani. Nikki Grimes, Padma Venkatraman, Veera Hiranandani, CeCe Bell (El Deafo), Alyson Gerber (Braced, Focused), and authors who have written books with LGBTQ themes, Barbara Dee and Kyle Lukoff.

Chappaqua Children's Book Festival

Art image credit

Authors Joyce Wan, John Parra, Florence Minor, and Bryan Collier

“We truly believe that just one book can change a child’s life and an encounter with the author of their favorite book can be life-changing as well,” Dawn confirmed. “During CCBF, all of the authors who participate are so incredibly gracious and generous with their time. Over the years, watching kids, parents, and educators be positively impacted by our event has never gotten old for me.”

Dawn went on to share that teachers from the region have fully embraced CCBF as it’s grown and evolved over the years and their support is a huge part of the event’s continued success. “Personally, I think teachers rule the world and to have them come in force to this event to meet the authors of the books they love to share with students, and how much that means to them to make that connect, means the world to me.”

Art image credit

In Praise of #ChapBooks

I’m happy to say that since its inception, I have NEVER missed a single Chappaqua Children’s Book Festival. It has been, and continues to be one of my favorite literary events. The warm interactions between the artists and writers, not only with each other, but also with the hundreds of families, teachers, and librarians, make it seem more like a family reunion than a book festival. But the icing on the cake is always the excited kid readers who come not only to search for their current favorite children’s book creators, but also to meet their new favorites. Plus it’s a great to see so many teachers unleash their inner child so that they can continue to be excited and share that enthusiasm with their students. If you’re a fan of children’s lit, it’s not to be missed.-Jerry Craft | Author / Illustrator “New Kid” – My Middle Grade Graphic Novel (HarperCollins Feb 2019)

Connect with Chappaqua Children’s Book Festival on their website, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter.

Hope to see you there!