Multicultural Children's Book Day

#ReadYourWorld

ON MY DESK: New & Fresh Diverse Kidlit {The November Edition}

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The ON MY DESK series was born a few years ago thanks to my role as Project Manager for Multicultural Children’s Book Day.

One of the many job perks is that I get to enjoy the avalanche of amazing multicultural books for kids that are donated to our project.  Seriously, from October to January, it’s like Christmas every day for my and a good chunk of the year my office looks like a small bookstore!

And I love every second of it.

I also discover a ton of new titles from new authors in my every day online travels. I am active in several children’s book/illustrator groups and the level of new talent is mind-blowing. Sometimes, I see a new diverse book and before I can even get my hands on a copy, I want to share news of it with the world.

Being appreciative of every book that crosses my desk (or comes across my radar) I wanted to find a fun way to share those books with the loyal folks who show up here to read every week and support this non-profit. At that moment (2+ years ago), the On My Desk blog post series was born! It’s my way of sharing some amazing titles that don’t always get the attention they deserve.

So even though MCBD2021 hasn’t occurred yet (1/29/21), I am LOVING all of the amazing books all these wonderful multicultural books for kids that I am discovering every time I open the mail.

Here’s what the Mailman Book Fairy brought me this week:

BLACK GIRL MAGIC SPRINKLES by Chaunetta and Trinity Johnson

“Even if you haven’t seen it, doesn’t mean you can’t achieve it; because with just a sprinkle of your Black Girl Magic, you can be it!”

Black Girl Magic Sprinkles is a story about a young girl named Trinity, who dreams of one day being a teacher. However, she is discouraged because she does not often see women who look like her in successful jobs. She stumbles upon a jar of Black Girl Magic Sprinkles and is shown endless opportunities. It takes this encounter for her to realize that Black Girl Magic lives within her and she can be anything she wants to be.

No Voice Too Small: Kids can make a difference, so can YOU!

One thing that gives me hope for the future are the voices of young people.

In No Voice Too Small, a number of authors come together to highlight the strength and fight of fourteen young people.

Fans of We Rise, We Resist, We Raise Our Voices will love meeting fourteen young activists who have stepped up to make a change in their community and the United States.

Mari Copeny demanded clean water in Flint. Jazz Jennings insisted, as a transgirl, on playing soccer with the girls’ team. From Viridiana Sanchez Santos’s quinceañera demonstration against anti-immigrant policy to Zach Wahls’s moving declaration that his two moms and he were a family like any other, No Voice Too Small celebrates the young people who know how to be the change they seek. Fourteen poems honor these young activists. Featuring poems by Lesléa Newman, Traci Sorell, and Nikki Grimes. Additional text goes into detail about each youth activist’s life and how readers can get involved.

Following the Footsteps by Tina Tedesco-Vella

This cute picture book alludes to relevant topics that children encounter in today’s social media runs the world. The beautifully illustrated story follows a young non-binary child named Taylor as well as their mom, dad, and two pet dogs, Charlie and Chester, as they go on a beach vacation.

The family is enjoying their time at the beach when Taylor gets separated from them and other beachgoers and begins to panic. Although Taylor is afraid of being lost, being an only child, they are used to finding ways of entertainment independently. As a way of distracting from the situation at hand, Taylor notices the sea life and rock pools and begins creating an imaginary game. They take in the surrounding environment including the big ocean and they begin to listen to the waves. Listening to the ocean, Taylor breathes in and out to try and breathe with the sounds of the waves to help relax.

Especially in the current state of the world, children can be anxious with everything going on and it is important for them to find something simple so they can destress from feeling overwhelmed and lost by going back to the simple things in life. Tedesco-Vella wanted to reflect non-binary persons by not giving the main character, Taylor, a gender and encourage readers to express their true selves.

Available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Balboa Press

SUMMARY OF THE Multicultural Children’s Book Day EVENT

FIRST, a giant blog tour —
Readers, parents, teachers, librarians, and caregivers are coming together to explore lots of books with diverse content and sharing their thoughts and feedback via book reviews, book lists, and links.

SECOND, a giant networking event —
This global event connects readers, caregivers, educators, librarians, non-profits, organizations, sponsors, co-hosts, bloggers, and thought leaders so we can all achieve a common goal of raising awareness on the importance of diversity in children’s and YA literature.

THIRD, a virtual book drive —
Through MCBD initiatives like the FREE Diverse Books for Classrooms Project, The Offline Classroom Swag Pack,  and continued outreach to underserved readers, proceeds raised during the course of this online event (and all year-long) go towards getting free multicultural books in locations where they are needed and into the hands of young readers.

Go HERE to read one of our recent blog posts, How to Tap Into the Buzz of a Multicultural Children’s Book Day Celebration.

​***Support the diverse children’s literacy initiative Multicultural Children’s Book Day! Our 8th celebration will take place on January 29, 2021. Creators can donate books that will be reviewed and shared on social media. We also have sponsorships at a variety of price points. For more information about Multicultural Children’s Book Day, please contact Becky at Becky@MulticulturalChildrensBookDay.com .

Where are the Diverse Holiday Books?

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{Guest Post By Deedee Cummings}

As I write this, I am sitting across from my young son, Nick, who is Black like me. He is reading a book with no pictures and his eyes are moving fervently as he scans the pages. I wonder what he is thinking as he reads the words and absorbs the story.

When I read a book, the words play like a movie in my head. I can see the characters and the scenes clearly. The best books seem to let me guide much of what this looks like. Most often, when I use my own imagination, the characters look like me and people I know. I assign myself the best roles of course. The roles that seem to be like me or that I aspire to be.

When Nick was younger, I would think about him throughout his school day and hope he was having fun or learning something exciting that would continue to spark his desire to learn. I often pictured him in class with his teacher reading to him. Perhaps because this was one of his favorite parts of the school day in the early grades. I could see him on the carpet in a circle as the teacher reads to the class and in my mind’s eye, I always pictured him hovering over the pages of the book, too eager to wait for the teacher to finish reading the page she was on and flash the illustrations to the circle.

This image would not always end well because I knew that what Nick was eager to see was someone who looked like him. A character in a book who, for once, he could relate to and be proud of as if it were Nick himself on that page. Nick would report the books they read in class and because the characters often did not reflect our background or our experiences, I had to work to actively counterbalance this at home.

There are more diverse books in publication now, making this mission less difficult- until the holidays arrive. Though the selection of picture books is better than it was five years ago, the selection of kid’s picture books with IBPOC is still pretty slim and that is especially true of holiday books that feature a little brown boy as the main character.

I remember feeling sad a few years ago that we had capped out our holiday collection with black characters in main roles. I had tried to continue our tradition of adding to our diverse holiday book collection every year, but it just seemed that we had bought every title that was available. We literally seemed to have them all.

How can that be possible? I recall thinking. But I also remembered this powerful quote: “If there’s a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.” ― Toni Morrison

I knew right then and there, that I would write the book I wished to see on my own home bookshelf: a book about a little brown boy who helps Santa save Christmas.

The result was my diverse holiday picture book, In The Nick of Time.

In The Nick of Time is a timely tale about a Little Brown Boy who Saves Christmas. Nick Saint never really put a lot of thought into his name until one snowy day in December when he accidentally receives a letter meant for Saint Nick. Realizing there is not much time left until Christmas, Nick opens the letter. The unexpected message inside ultimately leads him on a journey of understanding poverty, gratitude, and service to others while discovering the real meaning of the holiday spirit.

In The Nick of Time is a story that is beautiful and filled with messages that all children need to hear about poverty, gratitude, and service to others. We believe Santa would be so proud.

I know I am.

But most of all, I am proud that I took action to remedy the lack of diversity for my own son Nick, who is now 11.

I hope that hundreds of thousands of little Black children will grow up eagerly leaning over the pages of a newfound favorite book; a book that will have characters within the pages that look just like them.

I hope they will smile with satisfaction when they hear the words about a hero who saved the day; a hero they can completely relate to.

As this generation of readers grows older and move away from daily picture book reading, I know they will find it easier to read and visualize that they might actually be the hero in a story because that foundation has already been cemented through diverse picture books.

The imagination formed through picture books carries over to a lifetime of reading, visualization, and dreaming about who we are, what we can do, and what we can be.

There was a time when finding holiday picture books with Black characters (especially one with brown young boys) was super challenging and every year it seemed even harder to find a new title that we didn’t already own.

I remember grumbling to myself, why is it so difficult to keep building this collection? My family loves Christmas too, why can’t we be represented in the books my kids read?

What did I do? I took action. Please take a moment to visit the Make A Way Media blog and read my story Calling Out the Lack of Diverse Holiday Picture Books (And What I Did About It).

Go HERE to learn more about In The Nick of Time and all of Deedee’s diverse picture books.

About Deedee Cummings

Deedee Cummings

 

 

As a therapist, attorney, author, and CEO of Make A Way Media, Deedee Cummings has a passion for making the world a better place. All eleven of Cummings’ diverse picture, poetry, and workbooks for kids reflect her professional knowledge and love of life. In her award-winning 2019 picture book, This Is the Earth  Cummings uses bold and bright illustrations to share a message of peace, love, respect, compassion, inclusion, and how everyone is a steward of the world in which we live. Her newest release, In The Nick of Time (November 2019) is the story of a little brown boy who saves Christmas.

Cummings has spent more than two decades working within the family therapy and support field and much of her writing share her experiences of working with kids in therapeutic foster care. She is also the founder and creator of the Louisville Book Festival; a literacy-based celebration that will occur in Louisville, KY on October 23rd and 24th, 2020.

How to Tap Into the Buzz of a Multicultural Children’s Book Day Celebration

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As you know, our online event/holiday takes place the last Friday of every January so this year it will fall on 1/29/21and this will be our EIGHTH Multicultural Children’s Book Day celebration!

Multicultural Children’s Book Day (MCBD) is an online and offline celebration that attracts thousands of supporters, educators, parents, caregivers, book reviewers, and quality authors and publishers who join forces to shine the spotlight on diversity in children and YA literature.

Celebrated annually on the last Friday in January, this global non-profit offers a plethora of free resources, teaching tools, booklists, downloads, and a year-around initiative to get multicultural and diverse books into the hands of young readers. To date, they have donated over 8,000 books to underserved kids, classrooms, and organizations, and that number continues to climb.

SO if you are an author or publisher of a diverse children’s or YA book, we want to work with you!

SUMMARY OF THE Multicultural Children’s Book Day EVENT

FIRST, a giant blog tour —
Readers, parents, teachers, librarians, and caregivers are coming together to explore lots of books with diverse content and sharing their thoughts and feedback via book reviews, book lists, and links.

SECOND, a giant networking event —
This global event connects readers, caregivers, educators, librarians, non-profits, organizations, sponsors, co-hosts, bloggers, and thought leaders so we can all achieve a common goal of raising awareness on the importance of diversity in children’s and YA literature.

THIRD, a virtual book drive —
Through MCBD initiatives like the FREE Diverse Books for Classrooms Project, The Offline Classroom Swag Pack,  and continued outreach to underserved readers, proceeds raised during the course of this online event (and all year-long) go towards getting free multicultural books in locations where they are needed and into the hands of young readers.

 

How to Tap Into the Buzz of the MCBD 2021 Celebration

We would love to have you participate in our upcoming event and here are a few ways you can do so:

Donate Books: 

As a non-profit, book donations help us fulfill our mission! Here’s why:

We typically have hundreds signed up to receive a free diverse book for our Free Diverse Books for Classrooms Project so any and all donations are appreciated.

We also have 500+book reviewers signed up to review diverse children’s books on their blogs or on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube channels in honor of our online (and off) literacy celebration. 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.

Twitter Party Prizes: Our wildly successful MCBD Twitter Party is attended by tons of educators, parents, and librarians. Donated books that are chosen for Twitter Party prizes will gain exposure and visibility not only during the party but also during the marketing of the Twitter Party as well.

INTERESTED? Awesome! Go here to sign up as a book donator and send a copy diverse book to the below address. The book you send will then be donated to a classroom.

**NOTE: We do not limit book reviewers to just bloggers. There are many book-lovers and educators who have vibrant social media channels we have opened up review options to include social media to give those who are not bloggers a chance to share books with their followers.

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. As we enter our 8th year, this global celebration has reaped the benefits of thousands of supporters and readers along with name recognition. Our #ReadYourWorld hashtag trends on Twitter every year and on and offline celebration in honor of the 1/29/21 event has gone global as well.

IN A NUTSHELL: We have the eyes and ears that authors, literacy organizations, and publishers wish to reach. Our Instagram account has over 15K followers and our Pinterest Board offers a six-figure reach on a regular basis as well

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 20+ CoHosts sites. Go here to learn more: https://multiculturalchildrensbookday.com/sponsorship/sponsorship-info/

The Private MCBD Facebook Group

Our vibrant and active Facebook Group is a wonderful mix of parents, teachers, social influencers, bloggers, authors, caregivers, and publishers. Go here to join.

Connect with us on social media: 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

 

A Bilingual Story About Conservation & Cooperation

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“The sun beats down relentlessly on a scorched landscape where nothing is growing. Buffalo is listless and desperately looking around for something to eat. Then, one evening he finds a white biscuit in a small pool of water. But, he is not the only animal to see it and a great fight begins… But all is not what it seems.”

Language Lizard’s newest bilingual storybook offering, The Biscuit Moon, is an engaging bilingual story about a distressed traveler.

THE BISCUIT MOON (BILINGUAL CHILDREN'S BOOK)

THE BISCUIT MOON (BILINGUAL CHILDREN’S BOOK)

 

As we follow Buffalo’s journey, we explore the concepts of climate change, scarcity, and the need to share precious resources.


bilingual book for kids

Powerful Tale About the Need for Cooperation

 

In The Biscuit Moon readers meet Buffalo and Lion, and the delicious biscuit that never was. This is a discussion-provoking story about scarcity and greed, and ultimately the wisdom of cooperation.

The Biscuit Moon is available in English with Albanian, Arabic, Bengali, Bulgarian, Burmese, Chinese-Simplified, Chinese-Traditional, Farsi, French, German, Haitian Creole, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Karen (Sgaw), Korean, Kurmanji Kurdish, Sorani Kurdish, Lithuanian, Oromo (their newest language offering), Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Somali, Spanish, Swahili, Tagalog, Tigrinya, Turkish, Urdu, Vietnamese, and Yoruba. 

Teacher’s Notes and Classroom Resources Available

Teachers can use this engaging story to spark discussions about climate change, its effects on wildlife, and why it’s important to conserve and share precious resources. The story can also be read as a metaphor for communities making a new life far away from home. 

Teachers and homeschooling families can access extensive teacher’s notes and activities that use The Biscuit Moon, along with links to child-friendly resources about climate change, on Language Lizard’s Free Multicultural Lesson Plans page.

Fun Facts about Language Lizard

Language Lizard is a longtime sponsor of Multicultural Children’s Book Day and a current 2021 Platinum Sponsor.

The Company is located in Basking Ridge, NJ, and can be reached at 1-888-LLIZARD (888-554-9273) or info@LanguageLizard.com . For address information and to contact Language Lizard using their online form, click here.

Their products have been well-reviewed by critics, families, and teachers. Click here to read reviews and awards on specific products. Click here to read Testimonials by Language Lizard’s customers.

***Support the diverse children’s literacy initiative Multicultural Children’s Book Day! Our 8th celebration will take place on January 29, 2021. Creators can donate books that will be reviewed and shared on social media. We also have sponsorships at a variety of price points.***

**If you have questions about Multicultural Children’s Book Day, how to get involved, or how to get free books for your school or classroom, email Kristi at Admin (at) MulticulturalChildrensBookDay (dot) com **

Wiggles, Stomps and Squeezes: a Picture Book about Sensory Differences

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{Guest Post by Jodi Murphy, Geek Club Books}

Rebecca (Bex) Burgess, an illustrator and comic artist from the UK, went viral when the autistic community and educators discovered their graphic illustration, “Understanding the Spectrum.” The comic was the first of its kind to explain autism from a neurodiverse perspective AND created by an autistic artist. It’s been viewed and downloaded millions of times.

Rebecca Burgess

 

Bex has played an important role in the education and advocacy work we do at Geek Club Books too. They illustrated our Hear Our Voices, End Autism Awareness, and Actually Autistic Adults in the Real World comics, all being used by parents and educators to help others understand the autism experience. These comics are being used in training programs, presentations, and in classrooms.

All of Bex’s hard work has led to their talent finally being recognized in the book publishing world. Bex has been working on, not one, not two, but three upcoming books for publishers, one that I’ll be reviewing on Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2021.

Wiggles, Stomps and Squeezes Calm My Jitters Down

Wiggles, Stomps and Squeezes Calm My Jitters Down is a picture book about sensory differences. Created by an autistic artist, this new book explains autism from a neurodiverse perspective.

a picture book about sensory differences

It will also be released in Spanish: Meneos, Pistones, Y Apretones Para Calmar Mi Cosquelleo. I caught up with the author, Lindsey Rowe Parker, and Rebecca Burgess to talk about Bex’s journey as an illustrator and why Lindsey chose them to illustrate her book.

Interview with Rebecca Burgess and Lindsey Rowe Parker

Bex, what has been your journey to becoming an illustrator?

Although I studied illustration in Uni, I don’t think this actually contributed very much to the steps towards doing this as a job, although it was very fun at the time. Most steps I have taken are from different areas which have all accumulated together over the years.

What was most useful was taking part in the small press comic scene from age 13 onwards. I learned how to make and self-publish comics alongside other artists at conventions, and selling self-published comics is still a source of money now. All the artists on the small press scene talked on forums/groups, and we all became friends over many years. These friends, who were older and further along in their careers, were the people who sent me my first big jobs that paid enough for me to go full time, where I helped out as a colourist for their work.

It took a long time to improve my art and get decent work like this, so this took many years even after Uni. I drew my ‘Understanding the Spectrum’ comic in 2016 just for fun, and although the comic itself is purposely free, it has gotten me several job opportunities after going viral and getting noticed by people wanting artwork for various projects. Last year I took part in a ‘twitter pitch’ where you pitch a book via twitter to agents/editors. This has led to me getting an agent, which has helped me open up further avenues of places to get work in the book industry.

Lindsey, how did you discover Bex and decide they were right for your book?

Wiggles Stomps and Squeezes

I knew that I wanted to partner with an illustrator that understood these experiences, and I found Rebecca Burgess on Twitter. The kidlit community on Twitter is a great place to find talent, and Rebecca is a gem. From their first concept sketches, I knew they were absolutely the perfect person to bring this story to life. Their approach to the characters and their relationship was humbling to me, you can feel the support and love in their illustrations.

Bex, what has the experience been like working with Lindsey on a children’s book about sensory differences?

It was really nice to work on a text that perfectly describes how I often feel! It was very validating and made me think about how I wish I could have had words to describe certain feelings that made me really stressed when I was a kid, especially the ‘jitters’. This made the book really fun to draw as well, it’s always the nicest when you can draw something you have an emotional connection to.

Lindsey, how has it been working with Bex on your book?

Wiggles Stomps and Squeezes

Bex has an incredible way of breathing life and joy and feeling into their illustrations. I could feel that looking at their previous work on Twitter. As I dug around a little more, I also realized how much they love and support the neurodivergent and autistic communities. The compassion and understanding they have of the nuances of these lived experiences bring such warmth to the illustrations, it is such a gift for me that they were open to working on this project. I jumped for joy, seriously out of my chair when they said yes!  We live an ocean away from each other, yet our working relationship is professional, easy, and so rewarding.

Lindsey, what were your first impressions when you saw Bex’s illustrations bring your story to life?

I cried happy tears. I ran through the house dancing. I showed my friends and family. I believe when you work with someone with immense talent, you get out of their way and let them do what they do best. And so it was with this process. I, of course, had ideas of what the story looked like in my head, but this is not just for me. So, I gave Bex carte blanche on character development and how they wanted to bring the story and sensations to life. They exceeded my wildest expectations. We are very lucky that our publisher also saw the vision, and trusted us to move forward with minimal changes. It has been a unique and wonderful experience to have this amount of control and creative collaboration through this process.

Bex, will this be your first published book, and are you hoping to illustrate more children’s books?

Nope! My first published book is being released in October 2020- How to be Ace, published by Jessica Kingsley Publishers and another in the future I can’t talk about right now.

And, yes, I have lots of ideas for picture books myself, and I love doing this style of artwork so it would be great if I can be the artist for other picture books!

Thank you both for talking about your upcoming book! I look forward to reviewing it for #ReadYourWorld on January 29, 2021.

Ways to Connect with Rebecca Burgess and Lindsey Rowe Parker:

Read about A Day in the Life of Rebecca Burgess

Rebecca Burgess on Instagram – @theorahart

Author Lindsey Rowe Parker on Instagram – @wigglesstompsandsqueezes

Preorder Wiggles, Stomps and Squeezes Calm My Jitters Down on Amazon

Jodi Murphy is the founder of Geek Club Books, an autism nonprofit committed to creating a world where autistic individuals are fully accepted, valued and have a voice. She is the producer of the Dorktales Storytime Podcast, a family-fun series of geeky retellings of classic fairy tales and true stories about hidden heroes of history. Previously, Jodi was a freelance marketing specialist working for clients in a variety of industries, a journalist in the luxury lifestyle industry, and co-founder of Nesting Newbies, one of the first independent lifestyle digital magazines.