Multicultural Children's Book Day

#ReadYourWorld

Memorable Moments of Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2020

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It’s a wrap!

Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2020 is officially over and we think it was the Best.Celebration.YET.

Over the last years, our online and offline diverse kidlit initiative has enabled us to not only shine the spotlight on exceptional diverse books for kids and teens but to also get to know the amazing people who bring those books to life.

Another thing that has touched our hearts and made our eyes leak with happiness is the overwhelming support from young readers, parents, caregivers, educators, and librarians. Here are some examples of the Memorable Moments of Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2020.

Memorable Moments of Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2020


From Super Platinum Sponsor, Make A Way Media

This is just a small sample of the global fun and book-inspired participation. Search #ReadYourWorld on any social media channel to discover MORE memorable moments of Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2020. THANK YOU, everyone!

ONE MORE THING

Show some social media love while marketing your book (or an author you admire) in a creative and far-reaching way!

Social Media Shout-Outs

Multicultural Children’s Book Day Social Media Shout-Outs

Our Social Media Shout-Outs has escalated in popularity over the last few months because folks see that it an affordable way to show some online love to their own work, an author they admire, or a book they admire. MCBD Social Media Shout-Outs also acts as a fundraiser for this non-profit.

Multicultural Children’s Book Day Social Media Shout-Out =$25 (sale price good until 2/28/20)

Anyone with a PayPal account can gift an online “shout-out” to an author friend who has a  kid’s or YA book with a diversity theme OR use it as an effective tool for their own book marketing and book promotion.

Using a custom image created by the MCBD Team, we will provide one share/post our Twitter feed (over 13.7K followers) on our Instagram Feed (over 10.500 followers), within our Multicultural Children’s Book Day Private Facebook Group (over 1500 Members) and our Facebook page (over 4K followers) as well.

That’s a LOT of eyeballs!

AND, right now, everyone has a chance to lock in a Social Media Shout Out at the $25 rate before the price goes up on March 1, 2020. (Purchasers have 30 days from the date of the Shout Out purchase to redeem their purchase).

GO HERE to get more details, see more samples of past Shout-Outs, and to purchase your own Social Media Shout Out to honor someone in the world of diverse books for kids and teens! #ReadYourWorld

 

 

 

Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2019 Recap and Highlights

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Hard to believe it’s approaching nearly 30 days since the mind-blowing awesome MCBD 2019 (1/25/19) celebration and we can promise all of you that we are still recovering!

The MCBD team was touched and elevated by the overwhelming support and enthusiasm surrounding our diverse children’s literature online celebration. In the days following the crescendo of the event, and our crazy-fun annual Twitter Party,  we all have spent hours sifting through the amazing camaraderie, comments, reviews, classroom celebrations, and touching kudos that were offered up during our on and offline global event.

“I can hardly believe this is the sixth year for MCCBD. Look what you started! It is amazing and has and will continue to have an impact on many children, families, and teachers.” Claire Noland- A Field Trip Life

Here is the Summary of Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2019.

REMINDER: MCBD will be moving from an “every January 27th” celebration date to a “last Friday in January” focus so we don’t interfere with International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

The Reason We Do What We Do

During the 2019 Multicultural Children’s Book Day celebration, we donated roughly 2,160+ books to young readers, parents, caregivers, educators, and librarians!

Over the course of the last 6 years of this initiative, we’ve given away almost 6, 800 diverse kids’ and YA books to deserving readers!

Nearly 6,800!

The Educators and Librarians that Made the Event Possible

Readers and Teachers Celebrating ReadYourWorld 2019!

The CoHosts that Made the Event Possible

Co-Hosts and Global Co-Hosts

A Crafty Arab, Agatha Rodi Books, All Done Monkey, Barefoot Mommy, Biracial Bookworms, Books My Kids Read, Crafty Moms Share, Colours of Us, Discovering the World Through My Son’s Eyes, Descendant of Poseidon Reads, Educators Spin on it,  Growing Book by Book, Here Wee Read, Joy Sun Bear/ Shearin Lee, Jump Into a Book, Imagination Soup, Jenny Ward’s Class, Kid World Citizen, Kristi’s Book Nook, The Logonauts, Mama Smiles, Miss Panda Chinese, Multicultural Kid Blogs, Raising Race Conscious Children, Shoumi Sen, Spanish Playground

 

The Medallion Level Sponsors that Made the Event Possible

Children’s Book Council, The Junior Library Guild, TheConsciousKid.org.,

Super Platinum: Make A Way Media/ Deirdre “DeeDee” Cummings

GOLD: Bharat Babies, Candlewick Press, Chickasaw Press, Juan Guerra and The Little Doctor / El doctorcito, KidLitTV,  Lerner Publishing Group, Plum Street Press,

SILVER: Capstone Publishing, Carole P. Roman, Author Charlotte Riggle, Huda Essa, The Pack-n-Go Girls,

BRONZE: Charlesbridge Publishing, Judy Dodge Cummings, Author Gwen Jackson, Kitaab World, Language Lizard – Bilingual & Multicultural Resources in 50+ Languages, Lee & Low Books, Miranda Paul and Baptiste Paul, Redfin, Author Gayle H. Swift,  T.A. Debonis-Monkey King’s Daughter, TimTimTom Books, Lin Thomas, Sleeping Bear Press/Dow Phumiruk, Vivian Kirkfield,

 

The Author Sponsors that Made the Event Possible

2019 Author Sponsors

Julie Flett, Mehrdokht Amini, Author Janet Balletta, Author Kathleen Burkinshaw, Author Josh Funk, Chitra Soundar, One Globe Kids – Friendship Stories, Sociosights Press and Almost a Minyan, Karen Leggett, Author Eugenia Chu, CultureGroove Books, Phelicia Lang and Me On The Page, L.L. Walters, Author Sarah Stevenson, Author Kimberly Gordon Biddle, Hayley Barrett, Sonia Panigrah, Author Carolyn Wilhelm, Alva Sachs and Dancing Dreidels, Author Susan Bernardo, Milind Makwana and A Day in the Life of a Hindu Kid, Tara Williams, Veronica Appleton, Author Crystal Bowe, Dr. Claudia May, Author/Illustrator Aram Kim, Author Sandra L. Richards, Erin Dealey, Author Sanya Whittaker Gragg, Author Elsa Takaoka, Evelyn Sanchez-Toledo, Anita Badhwar, Author Sylvia Liu, Feyi Fay Adventures, Author Ann Morris, Author Jacqueline Jules, CeCe & Roxy Books, Sandra Neil Wallace and Rich Wallace, LEUYEN PHAM, Padma Venkatraman, Patricia Newman and Lightswitch Learning, Shoumi Sen, Valerie Williams-Sanchez and Valorena Publishing, Traci Sorell, Shereen Rahming, Blythe Stanfel, Christina Matula, Julie Rubini, Paula Chase, Erin Twamley, Afsaneh Moradian, Lori DeMonia, Terri Birnbaum/ RealGirls Revolution, Soulful Sydney, Queen Girls Publications, LLC

The Book Donators that Made the Event Possible

Alice Faye Duncan, Arte Público Press / Piñata Books, Authorhouse, Avant Learning, Baby Ventures Books, Beyond Words Publishing, Boystown Press, Brown Boy Brown Girl, Create Space, Crumpled Paper Publishing, David Michael Slater, Dreambuilt Books, Eifrig Publishing, Eva Harley Chiphe, Fig Factor Media, Flying Books House, Gaku Press, GIANT Graphics,  Islandport Press, Joy Sun Bear, Inc., Julia Inserro, JWS, Kar-Ben Publishing, Kidsjoy, Kind Eye Publishing, LLC, Kwill Books, Lantana Publishing, Maritza M Mejia, Mascot Books, MindView Press, MVP Kids Media, Nomad Press, Page Turner Publishing, PenMagicBooks LLC, Planting People Growing Justice, Sawaga River Press,  sHjstories, Tara Luebbe- author, Tuttle Publishing, Vision Your Dreams, Whimsical World, WOMAGIS, Write My Memoirs LLC,  Yorkshire Publishing,

 

The Book Reviewers  that Made the Event Possible

Over 500 and counting: The number of parents, caregivers, teachers, librarians, and young readers read diverse kidlit and YA books in honor of the event. These reviews can be seen on our every growing Big Giant Linky for 2019 here and here.

The MCBD Board of Advisors that Made the Event Possible

The Partnerships that Made the Event Possible:

THANK YOU Children’s Book Council (CBC) for yet another amazing CBC Book Jam filled with author visits and TONS of giveaways!

#ReadYourWorld Book Jam 2019 Cynthia Leitich Smith

Music Video! 

Thank you to Annie Lynn and Walt Wilcezewski for donating their time and expertise to create our first official Read Your World Multicultural Children’s Book Day Music Video!

Please support Annie Lynn on her website and YouTube channel!

Special thanks to the kids for their vocals on this song:  Havana Chapman-Edwards, Will, Hailey, and Amanda!

Website Support! Corey at Midstate Design is the guru who keeps the MCBD site running like a dream. We highly recommend his WordPress Care Package Extras Package.

Swag! The official supplier of our MCBD magnets is SwagChimp and they always came through for us!

SwagChimp

The Dream Team that Makes This Event (and Future MCBD Celebrations) Possible

And a final thank you to the team that makes the magic happen during the months before, during, and after each Multicultural Children’s Book Day: Co-founders Valarie Budayr and Mia Wenjen, Project Manager, Becky Flansburg, and Social Media Manager, Susan Mayfield. Thanks to lots of coffee, naps, meetings, giggles, and trust, this team continues to move mountains year after year.

Multicultural Children’s Book Day Free Resources

Throughout the months of November-January, leading up to the celebratory day, educators, librarians and parents can start planning and preparing with FREE activities available today at www.multiculturalchildrensbookday.com

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 and Parents: Curated lists of books about diverse topics including: countries, religions, holidays, ethnicities, in addition to special needs and LGBTQ. http://bit.ly/1kGZrta

Share a Classroom Celebration: Teachers who host a celebration in the classroom can send in a picture of their party to receive 3 free diverse books and a swag pack as a thank you.  Teachers and librarians can enter their event info HERE (https://multiculturalchildrensbookday.com/category/offline-classroomlibrary-event-project/)

Don’t forget to connect with Multicultural Children’s Book Day on social media and be sure and look for/use our official hashtag #ReadYourWorld.

 

Reading Your World via an Online Children’s Book Celebration

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Six years!

Can you believe MCBD is in its SIXTH YEAR?! The Multicultural Children’s Book Day team couldn’t be proud of the success we’ve achieved and the people we’ve touched along the way.

Multicultural Children's Book Day 2019 Poster

Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2019 Poster

Our mission is to not only raise awareness for the kid’s books that celebrate diversity but to get more of these of books into classrooms and libraries. [Read more…]

How to Become a Multicultural Children’s Book Conquistador! By Ruben Watson

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“Daddy, daddy, look- I finally found one!” My daughter Savannah yelled to me in the middle of the Barnes and Noble bookstore. You see, a few months earlier my lovely wife and I decided that we were going to infuse Kwanzaa into our family holiday celebrations. The only problem was that we both grew up in homes where Kwanzaa was not celebrated, so we took it upon ourselves to research and discover all the elements of celebrating the historic holiday.

During our time studying common Kwanzaa customs and rituals, we discovered that unwrapped “zawadi” (which is Swahili for gifts) should be given to our children. The gifts must also be beneficial to improving children’s cultural development and growth. My idea for providing zawadi to our children was to buy them books with African-American characters.  Which brings us back to my daughter yelling at the top of her lungs in Barnes and Noble. She was screaming out of excitement and pure joy because we had been searching for multicultural children’s books for the past two hours at a various book stores in our community. Unfortunately, the book we found was the only one that had a character of color in the entire store. The joyful expression my daughter had on her face when she discovered that book transformed into pure frustration for me.

I unknowingly assumed that buying multicultural children’s books at a mainstream bookstore would be an easy process. I was wrong. Not only did we have to search harder for multicultural children’s books at every store we visited, we also had to check with store associates for independently published books which, in most cases, were not available. I drove home with my family in utter disbelief.  Instead of giving up altogether, I switched gears to my last resort of purchasing multicultural children’s books on the internet.

A couple weeks after Kwanzaa, I spoke to my wife about my frustrations of not being able to find more books with characters our children could identify with at our local bookstores. My wife listened to me, shrugged then gave me the best advice I ever received. She said “Why don’t you just write a book for the kids?” She spoke those words with such nonchalance but she was 100% correct!

I had never wrote a children’s book in my life so I had no idea where to start. One thing I did have was over 12 years of experience writing rhymes and poetry but that decreased drastically after our children were born. I did additional research on how to write a book and get published, and after two years, I was finally able to publish my first children’s book (Which is ironically available at Barnes & Noble)

“Where is My Grandpa?”

 

Ruben Watson

So my suggestion to you if you can’t find multicultural children’s books at your local book store would be to do the following things:

  1. Search the internet- There are many dedicated sites that have expansive selections of Multicultural books.
  2. Search local used book stores- There are so many hidden treasures waiting to be discovered!
  3. Exchange books with fellow parents, coworkers, and family members– Because that’s what friends are for!
  4. Review and purchase books recommended by the MCCBD – For obvious reasons!

Diversity booklist and resources for parents and teachers

Following these tips should help you out if you are experiencing challenges finding multicultural books for your kids or students at local book stores. If that doesn’t work, you may want to do what I did and write a book for your kids. Good luck conquistadors!

Ruben is an educator by day and an author by night. His love for writing was sparked by his passion for reading. As a young child, Ruben was captivated by the knowledge and adventures he experienced every time that he opened a book. Ruben possesses a Master’s Degree in K-12 Education Administration and his motto that he shares with young children is “Readers are Leaders”.You can connect with Ruben on Facebook & Twitter at: 

 

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Presenting #ReadYourWorld Book Jam 2017

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The clock is ticking, the calendar is flipping and MCBD 2017 is getting closer and closer!

Things are coming together beautifully as the MCBD Team works frantically to pull in more children’s book reviewers and get teachers and classrooms signed up for the Free Diversity Book for Your Classroom Library campaign.  There is SO MUCH exciting things going on and this online event is shaping up to be yet another exceptionally successful celebration of diversity in children’s literature. We are also very excited about the quality Medallion Level Sponsors and Author Sponsors who have already signed on to be part of this event on 1/27/17.

We are also thrilled to be working with the Children’s Book Council to spotlight 24 diversity authors and illustrators in celebration of Multicultural Children’s Book Day! They will each be sharing eight multicultural children’s books during the months of January and February.

#ReadYourWorld Book Jam 2017 with Children's Book Council

Presenting #ReadYourWorld Book Jam 2017

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