Multicultural Children’s Book Day: Celebrating Diversity in Children's Literature

multicultural childrens book day

Welcome to my blog post celebrating multicultural children's literature. I've read many great books in this genre due to my love of geography and learning about other cultures.  Unfortunately it's an area of children's literature that still lags behind other genres, which is why this celebration was created, to bring attention to the issue and encourage readers of all kinds to read more of this kind of book. Special thanks to Lee & Low for my review book! Please enjoy looking around and I hope you join us in this celebration!

CO-CREATORS and HOSTS

The co-creators of this unique event are Mia Wenjen from Pragmatic Mom and Valarie Budayr from Jump Into a Book/Audrey Press. 
Valarie Budayr


Valarie Budayr of Jump Into a Book is a best-selling children’s author of The Fox Diaries: The Year the Foxes Came to our Garden and The Ultimate Guide To Charlie and The Chocolate Factory. She is passionate about making kid’s books come alive and is proud to be a play and reading advocate. Valarie’s mission is to inspire children,families, and communities, to experience and create our world together while having fun.
MiaMedium
Mia Wenjen from Pragmatic Mom is a Harvard grad with a love of children’s books (picture books through YA) and sneaking in teachable moments in art, science, math, foreign language and language arts. Mia is passionate about getting kids excited about reading and helping parents ensure that their child is successful at school.


Mission: Despite census data that shows 37% of the US population consists of people of color, only 10% of children’s books published have diversity content. Using the Multicultural Children’s Book Day, Mia and Valarie are on a mission to change all of that. Their mission is to not only raise awareness for the kid’s books that celebrate diversity, but to get more of these types of books into classrooms and libraries. Another goal of this exciting event is create a compilation of books and favorite reads that will provide not only a new reading list for the winter, but also a way to expose brilliant books to families, teachers, and libraries.

For more information about this event, check out the webpage here.

Here are some ways you can help us celebrate Multicultural Children’s Book Day


  • Have children bring in their favorite multicultural book to school on this day and share it with the class.
  • Have a special Multicultural Children’s Book Day book read aloud time.
  • Create a Multicultural Children’s Book Day display around the classroom or library.
  • Read Around the Continents and Countries. Great resources list a JumpIntoaBook.com andPragmaticMom.com
  • Visit The Multicultural Children’s Book Day page at Jump Into a Book.
  • Visit our Multicultural Books for Kids Pinterest Board for more reading ideas.
  • Do a craft or activity presented on Jump Into a Book or Pragmatic Mom which relates to the many cultures in our world. Here are a few of our favorites:
Read Around the Continents: South AmericaAfricaEastern EuropeWestern Europe.
REVIEW

THE MONSTER IN THE MUDBALL by S.P. Gates
Lee & Low, 2013
Provided by publisher for review
All opinions expressed are solely my own.

Jin, a young boy who suffers from dyspraxia (clumsy child syndrome) must face a truly terrifying monster after his baby brother inadvertently sets it loose after a 20-year imprisonment. But what can he do against a creature with increasingly dangerous abilities that continue to develop. With the help of Mizz Z, a chief inspector of ancient artifacts of power, and his sister, Frankie, Jin must find a way to get the monster back in her ball of mud or face losing their little brother forever.

The Monster in the Mudball provides quite an entertaining read for middle graders or anyone who enjoys a good monster story. Zilombo, the monster, is a creepy and dangerous antagonist, but Jin, Frankie, and Mizz Z are pretty awesome protagonists and Smiler (the baby) provides plenty of exasperating humor. What I especially liked though were the cultural elements sprinkled through the story that play a rather critical role in what happens. Jin's Chinese grandparents make Chinese dragons for a living which I found fascinating as well as the idea of dragon dancing. I never really thought before about the fact that operating one of those big dragons is much more of an art than a science. Overall, a great multicultural fantasy that I truly enjoyed and can recommend.

SPONSORS
Wisdom Tales Press
Wisdom Tales Press is a children’s book imprint of World Wisdom for the purpose of sharing the wisdom and beauty of cultures around the world with young readers and their families. Visit Wisdom Tales Books.

Chronicle Books


One of the most admired and respected publishing companies in the U.S., Chronicle Books was founded in 1967 and over the years has developed a reputation for award-winning, innovative books. Recognized as one of the 50 best small companies to work for in the U.S. (and the only independent publisher to receive this award), the company continues to challenge conventional publishing wisdom, setting trends in both subject and format, maintaining a list that includes illustrated titles in design, art, architecture, photography, food, lifestyle and pop culture, as well as much-admired books for children and ancillary products through its gift division. Chronicle Books’ objective is to create and distribute exceptional publishing that’s instantly recognizable for its spirit, creativity, and value. For more information about Chronicle Books, visit www.chroniclekids.com.
Lee & Low Books
LEE & LOW BOOKS is a award-winning children’s book publisher focusing on diversity. Our books are about everyone, for everyone. Our goal is to meet the need for stories that all children can identify with and enjoy. We publish picture books, middle grade, and YA titles, including bilingual books under our CBP imprint and science fiction and fantasy under our Tu Books imprint.

Susan FayadAuthor Susan Fayad


Susan Daniel Fayad, author of My Grandfather’s Masbaha was written as a tribute to her father to honor him in the eyes of her children. Fayad wrote the book to highlight Lebanese culture while emphasizing a universal theme of appreciation and counting your blessings. You can connect with Susan on Twitter (@grandadmasbaha ) or Facebook.


Support our MCCBD Review  Bloggers!


60+ wonderful bloggers stepped forward and agreed to review multicultural children’s books for our special event. Please take a moment to visit these bloggers, read their reviews and say “thank you” for spotlight all of the amazing books, authors and publishers.

2GirlsLostInaBook · 365 Days of Motherhood · A Bilingual Baby · A Simple Life, Really? · Africa to America · After School Smarty Pants · All Done Monkey · Andi’s Kids Books · Anita Brown Bag  · Austin Gilkeson · Barbara Ann Mojica ·  Books My Kids Read · Bottom Shelf Books · Cats Eat Dogs · Chasing The Donkey · Children’s Book-a-Day Almanac · Children’s Books Heal · Church o Books · CitizenBeta · Crafty Moms Share · Discovering The World Through My Son’s Eyes · Early Words · Flowering Minds · Franticmommy · Gathering Books · GEO Librarian · Gladys Barbieri · Going in Circles · Growing Book by Book · iGame Mom · I’m Not The Nanny · InCulture Parent · Itsy Bitsy Mom · Kid World Citizen · Kristi’s Book Nook · Mama Lady Books · Mama Smiles · Mission Read · Mother Daughter Book Reviews · Mrs AOk · MrsTeeLoveLifeLaughter · Ms. Yingling Reads · Multicultural Kids Blog · One Sweet World · Open Wide The World · P is for Preschooler · Rapenzel Dreams · School4Boys · Sharon the Librarian · Spanish Playground · Sprout’s Bookshelf · Squishable Baby · Stanley and Katrina · Teach Mama · The Art of Home Education · The Brain Lair · The Educators’ Spin On It · The Family-Ship Experience · The Yellow Door Paperie · This Kid Reviews Books  · Trishap’s Books · Unconventional Librarian · Vicki Arnold · We3Three · World for Learning · Wrapped in Foil 

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