Multicultural Children's Book Day

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Women in STEM: One Step Further by Katherine Johnson {Giveaway!}

February 22, 2021 by Valarie Budayr

 

Welcome to the One Step Further Blog Tour!

To celebrate the release of One Step Further by Katherine Johnson and her daughters Joylette Hylick and Katherine Moore, and illustrated by Charnelle Pinkney Barlow on January 5th, blogs across the web are featuring exclusive photos and stories from the life of NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson, plus 5 chances to win a hardcover copy!

With ONE STEP FURTHER, author Katherine Johnson shares what it was like for her daughters to be a part of her history-making path. Filled with personal reflections, exclusive family archival photos, and striking illustrations, readers will be immersed in this deeply personal portrayal of female empowerment, women in STEM, and the breaking down of race barriers across generations. Historical notes, photo/illustration notes, and a timeline put the story into a historical and modern-day context. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Author Visits, Book review, Guest Posts Tagged With: #ReadYourWorld, book review, books about social justice, books about women in STEM, Children's Book Author, diverse books, diverse picture books, Katherine Johnson, Multicultural Books for kids, Multicultural Children's Book Day Spotlight, multicultural children's book publisher

Surrounded by Superheroes: Diverse Book Celebrations from MCBD2021

February 7, 2021 by Valarie Budayr

We did it! Another wildly successful Multicultural Children’s Book Day is complete. Once again, 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. [Read more…]

Filed Under: 2021 MCBD, Book review, MCCBD News, Multicultural Booklist Tagged With: #ReadYourWorld, book review, Children's Book Author, diverse picture books, diverserkidlit, Multicultural Author, Multicultural Books for kids, Multicultural Children's Book Day, multicultural children's book publisher

Music Carries Language and Culture for Kids

February 4, 2021 by Valarie Budayr

{Guest Post by Jesse Lewis, Music Producer, and Sound Director, at TA-DA! Language Productions}

Sound and music is a point of entry for the next generation. Just like food and diverse books, music carries language and culture for kids.

So, I noticed that when music comes on, she stops everything and stares far away.

That thousand-yard stare is usually one I see in our 4-month-old right before the diaper… uh, right before he looks at me and grins… [Read more…]

Filed Under: Diverse Book Review, Guest Posts, Teacher Tools Tagged With: #ReadYourWorld, diverse books, diverse picture books, foreign language for kids, language and culture, language and culture for kids, Multicultural Author, Multicultural Books for kids

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

November 19, 2020 by Valarie Budayr

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 .

Filed Under: Multicultural Booklist, On My Desk Tagged With: book review, diverse books, diverse picture books, on my desk, On My Desk | More Great Diverse Books for Kids

Where are the Diverse Holiday Books?

November 11, 2020 by Valarie Budayr

{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.

Filed Under: Author Visits, Book review, diversity in children’s books, Guest Posts Tagged With: #ReadYourWorld, book review, Children's Book Author, Deedee Cummings, diverse books, Diverse Holiday Books, diverse holiday picture book, diverse picture books, Multicultural Author

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