Multicultural Children's Book Day

#ReadYourWorld

New Diverse Kidlit Books that Embrace the Uniqueness of our World!

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Before we just in and start sharing the latest in amazing multicultural books that have come across our desks, we want to say this…

Thank you for supporting the diverse children’s literacy initiative Multicultural Children’s Book Day! Our 8th celebration will take place on January 29, 2021, and we cannot wait for the celebration to begin.

We always welcome quality, relevant, and literacy-related contributions from writers, authors, publishers, and organizations. We’ve had some really, really cool. If you are looking for guest posts about diverse books that focus on timely topics and unique language, there have been many on Multicultural Children’s Book Day blog recently.

Here are a few of the latest:

Author Idan Ravin shares his wonderful book about patience and one of our new mantras in life #FindYourCornbread HERE.

Author John Stickler shares his story of a surprise international prize for his delightful diverse book Maya and the Turtle HERE.

Maya and the Turtle: A Korean Folk Tale

Language Lizard has some ammmaaazzzing language tools, books, and resources for teachers, distance learners, and homeschoolers HERE.

We love it when we have guests on our blog that showcase books with hard-to-find languages.

We are thrilled that authors Monica Hernandez and Bilen Haile stopped by to share their Sri Lankan kidlit book…

… and we felt like we hit the lotto when Sandra Amoako stopped by to share her Ghanian (Twi) language book for beginning readers.

In our opinion, there can never be enough kids’ books available on the topic of unique family dynamics.

Kendra and Claire-Voe Ocampo, authors of the new LGBTQ children’s picture book, Mighty May Won’t Cry Today have penned a beautiful diverse story a little girl and her two moms that should be on every bookshelf.

**Discover even more excellent articles and posts about diversity, languages, equality, activism, and so much more on the MCBD blog HERE.

Ways to Get Involved in Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2021

Book Donation: Creators can donate books that will be reviewed and shared on social media.

Sponsorships: Sponsorships are directly connected to the yearly celebration itself and are a great way to tap into the hundreds-of-thousands of views our social media channels get from November to February 1. We have sponsorships at a variety of price points to fit any budget. All levels of Sponsorships for MCBD 2021 will open up September 1.

Do a Social Shout Out for your book or Favorite Author’s Book: Shout Outs are a one-time social media push on an author/diverse book’s behalf. Our Social Shout Outs are available all year long and act as a fundraiser for our Free Books for Classrooms Project. See samples of how awesome our Social Shout Out images look HERE.

Join our Exclusive MCBD Facebook Group: This group is a nice mix of parents, book reviewers, teachers, and authors, so you will be able to connect with like-minded people!

Guest posts: As you can tell, MCBD loves to welcome guest post ideas that are in alignment with our mission! For more information about guest posting for us, contact Becky at Becky@MulticulturalChildrensBookDay.com .

Be a Book Reviewer: We are always looking for people who would love a free diverse book in exchange for an honest review on social media during the month of January. If this is something you are interested in, subscribe to the MCBD blog and we will let you know as soon as the reviewer sign up is open September 1.

If you have any questions about Multicultural Children’s Book Day, contact Becky at Becky@MulticulturalChildrensBookDay.com 

 

Going Global with the “What’s That?” A Ghanaian bilingual book series

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{guest post by Sandra Amoako}

My name is Sandra Amoako and I am a Ghanaian mother of two, author, and publisher dedicated to creating unique, fun, and educational multicultural children’s books. The inspiration behind writing a bilingual, children’s book in Twi and English started when I was pregnant with my first child. I always had the vision to teach my children Twi and I realized that there was a need to publish bilingual children’s books when the kind of books I was looking for was unavailable in bookstores or online.

Twi, pronounced ‘chwee’ is a dialect of the Akan language spoken in southern and central Ghana mainly of the Akan people, the largest of the major ethnic groups in Ghana, West Africa.  It is the most widely spoken language in Ghana and is one of the three dialects of the Akan language, the others being Akuapem Twi and Fante Twi.

In addition to my Ghanaian cookbook, “Akwaaba:  A Taste of Ghana”, I have written and self-published two bilingual books for early learning in the “What’s That?” book series.

Books in Twi and English

All-encompassing and well rounded, I recommend these books to any family with young children.  They are a wonderful way to spark your child’s curiosity to learn the alphabets and numbers, understand that words convey meanings, and increase vocabulary while at the same time learning another language (Twi).

Wonderful Diverse Books in Twi and English

“My Numbers in Twi and English” is a colorful, illustrated, hardcover book that introduces the concept of numbers, counting, and vocabulary in English and Twi. The layout of the book showcases numbers 1 through 20.  Each page contains a number, unique illustrations in vibrant colors, and descriptions of the illustrations in both English and Twi.

Books in Twi and English

“My Alphabets in Twi and English” is a lively, illustrated, paperback book that introduces the concept of letters and vocabulary in English and Twi. This book features both the Twi and English alphabets and each page showcases each corresponding alphabet with colorful illustrations.

Books in Twi and English

For families with Ghanaian heritage, your children will connect with their heritage and culture and impress those around them! For non-Ghanaians alike, this will be a gateway to instill a love of the Twi language and hopefully travel to Ghana and experience the culture! The “What’s That?” bilingual book series is suitable for children of all ages and even adults! The great thing about these multifaceted books is that even if you cannot read or speak Twi, you will still be able to enjoy the English section with your children.

About Aliko Books

Alikobooks is a publishing company and was launched in 2009. Published works include the “What’s That” bilingual children’s book series which features “My First Numbers in Twi and English” and “My Alphabets in Twi and English”. Alikobooks is also the publisher of the Ghanaian cookbook “Akwaaba: A Taste of Ghana”.

Visit Alikobooks to learn more about ‘My First Numbers in Twi and English” and “ My Alphabets in Twi and English” .

https://www.instagram.com/alikobooks/

https://www.facebook.com/My-First-Numbers-and-Alphabets-in-Twi-and-English-218926474932553/

 

***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 **