• Home
  • Our Shop
  • About Us
    • About MKB
    • Our Shop
    • MKB Board
    • Editorial Board and MKB Administrators
    • Our Contributors
    • For Bloggers: Join MKB
    • Books and Products from Our Members
    • Cultural Resources
    • Contact Us
  • Product Promotion Services
  • Blog Hops & Series
    • Holidays Around the World
      • Martin Luther King Day
      • Chinese New Year
      • Purim
      • Passover
      • Easter Around the World
      • Ramadan
      • Hajj (Eid al Adha)
      • Rosh Hashanah
      • Day of the Dead
      • Diwali
      • Hanukkah
      • Christmas in Different Lands
    • Heritage Months
      • Black History Month
      • Women’s History Month
      • Asian-Pacific Islander Heritage Month
      • Middle Eastern and North African Heritage Month
      • Hispanic Heritage Month
      • Native American Heritage Month
    • Blogging Carnivals
    • Creative Kids Culture Blog Hop
    • Global Learning for Kids
  • Resources for Raising Global Citizens
  • Privacy Policy

Multicultural Kid Blogs

For families and educators raising world citizens, through arts, activities, crafts, food, language, and love.

Support Multicultural Children's Book Day!

January 27, 2014 by Mary Kinser

Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedinmailby feather

 

Support Multicultural Children's Book Day - Multicultural Kid BlogsThis post is part of Multicultural Children’s Book Day.  For more details and to link up your own book review, see the bottom of this post.

I’m a librarian and lifelong lover of children’s literature. But it took becoming a parent for me to realize just how white most children’s bookshelves really are.

Our family, like many, was formed through adoption, and like a growing number of households, we are a transracial family. As my husband and I waited to bring Sprout home, we did all the things everyone does to prepare – buying clothes, toys, a crib, and of course loads of children’s books. We got books from friends and family, from coworkers and neighbors. Many of these books were favorites of the gift-givers, and the love and care with which they were selected spoke to us.

But the whiteness, the sheer lack of diversity of many of the characters, did not.

We knew our family was unique, distinct, and we were fine with that. But we also knew that for our son, growing up in a family where his face and features didn’t match that of mom and dad, it would be important for him to see himself mirrored in the world around him. So I put my librarian skills to work and began seeking out books that would broaden and enrich Sprout’s world — books with characters who resembled him, and those that didn’t, with storylines from around the globe and themes that celebrated various cultures. I took classes in multicultural children’s literature and wrote papers on the benefits of embracing diversity in library collections. I discovered the benefits of diverse reads not only to mirror the experience for children of color, but also to increase empathy and understanding in white children as well.

What I found through my research is shocking, but true — while thousands of children’s books are published each year in the United States alone, the percentage of books by and about people of color remains frighteningly low (for specifics, check out the work of the Cooperative Children’s Book Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, which publishes a yearly report on the state of diversity in children’s books).

So, what’s a concerned parent to do? Well, the first step is obvious – make a concerted effort to diversify your children’s bookshelves. Seek out events like this one, where multicultural literature is celebrated and examples of the genre brought into the spotlight. Follow bloggers like those involved with Multicultural Kid Blogs, to give your kids a global perspective and find stories from around the globe. And above all vote for diversity in children’s literature – support publishers like our amazing sponsors, with your dollars and with your library checkouts. Because one thing is clear: the world’s a wild, wonderful and diverse place, and our children’s bookshelves should definitely be the same.

Sprout's BookshelfMary Kinser is a librarian and the mother of a gorgeous four-year-old boy from Ethiopia, lovingly nicknamed Sprout. She writes about diversity and adoption in children’s literature at her blog Sprout’s Bookshelf. You can also find her on Facebook, Twitter (@SproutsBkshelf), and pinning all things kidlit at Pinterest.

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

Multicultural Children's Book DayDespite census data that shows 37% of the US population consists of people of color, only 10% of children’s books published have diversity content.  To combat this problem, Mia of Pragmatic Mom and Valarie of Jump Into A Book/Audrey Press created Multicultural Children’s Book Day: Celebrating Diversity in Children’s Literature. 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.

We are so pleased to be participating in this worthwhile project.  Many of our member blogs are also taking part (see list). For all of the book reviews (and more!) follow the Multicultural Books for Kids board on Pinterest. For more details on this great event, visit Multicultural Children’s Book Day: Celebrating Diversity in Children’s Literature.

You can find more great book blogs to follow in our member blogroll.  You can also follow our own Multicultural Kids’ Books Pinterest Board.

Sponsors

We are grateful to our wonderful sponsors, who made this event possible:

Wisdom Tales Press (who published the book reviewed here), Chronicle Books, Lee & Low Books (read my review of their wonderful books), and Susan Daniel Fayad, author of My Grandfather’s Masbaha.

Participating Member Blogs

For more reviews of great multicultural books, visit the wonderful blogs below:

A Bilingual Baby · Africa to America · After School Smarty Pants · All Done Monkey · Chasing The Donkey · Crafty Moms Share · Discovering The World Through My Son’s Eyes · The Good Long Road · InCulture Parent · Kid World Citizen · Mama Smiles · Multicultural Kids Blog · Open Wide The World · Spanish Playground · Sprout’s Bookshelf · Squishable Baby · The Art of Home Education · The Educators’ Spin On It

Link Up Your Review

Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedinmailby feather
The following two tabs change content below.
  • Bio
  • Latest Posts

Mary Kinser

Latest posts by Mary Kinser (see all)

  • Martin Luther King Day Books - January 5, 2015
  • Support Multicultural Children's Book Day! - January 27, 2014

Filed Under: Books for Children, Teaching Diversity Tagged With: children's books, children's literature, diversity in children's literature, multicultural children's books, multicultural kids' books

Subscribe to our mailing list

* indicates required

Comments

  1. PragmaticMom says

    January 27, 2014 at 5:41 am

    Thank you so much for your support of Multicultural Children’s Book Day! We are hoping to raise awareness and get more children’s books with diversity themes into the hands of kids!

    We really appreciate your perspective as a librarian and a multi-racial family! I really enjoy reading your book selections on Sprout’s Bookself as well — you constantly introduce me to new, wonderful picture books! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

  2. Mary @ Sprout's Bookshelf says

    January 27, 2014 at 12:43 pm

    Thank *you* Mia for hosting this fantastic event! You know it’s a cause I feel passionately about, and I’m so thrilled to see so much awesome buzz about diverse literature today!

  3. Kriss MacDonald says

    January 27, 2014 at 4:07 pm

    I’ve been loving discovering so many fantastic books in the Multicultural Children’s Book Day. It’s so important exposing and introducing children to such a diversity of books which will enrich their lives. I’ve shared The Colour of Home with its important message about an immigrant child who has fled violence and has to adapt to his new home and school.

  4. Amy says

    January 27, 2014 at 6:51 pm

    Great initiative and nice timing!

  5. Lisa Lewis, MD says

    February 7, 2014 at 11:56 am

    What a great post! So many libraries need more Multicultural Children’s books. Thank you for helping increase awareness. I like the reviews added, I am slowly making my way through them.

  6. :Donna Marie says

    June 11, 2014 at 12:17 pm

    I love this! Just tweeted about it @writersideup 😀

Trackbacks

  1. Celebrating Diversity in Children's Literature says:
    January 27, 2014 at 5:14 am

    […] Daughter Book Reviews · Mrs AOk · MrsTeeLoveLifeLaughter · Ms. Yingling Reads · Multicultural Kids Blog · My White Board · One Sweet World · Open Wide The World · P is for […]

  2. Multicultural Children's Book Day: A Recap and Some REALLY Big Thank Yous - Jump Into A Book says:
    February 2, 2014 at 4:05 am

    […] Daughter Book Reviews · Mrs AOk · MrsTeeLoveLifeLaughter · Ms. Yingling Reads · Multicultural Kids Blog · My White Board · One Sweet World · Open Wide The World · P is for […]

  3. MCCBD Recap and Some Really BIG Thank YOUS! - Multicultural Children's Book Day says:
    February 22, 2015 at 2:52 am

    […] with Love  Mother Daughter Book Reviews Mother of the World· Mommy Wife & Life ·  · Multicultural Kids Blog ·Muslimah Mommy  · P is for Preschooler  Parenting and Teaching Multiculturally·Pre-K […]

  4. Highlighting Multicultural Children’s Books & Kid Lit Blog Hop | PragmaticMom says:
    September 24, 2015 at 5:49 am

    […] Yingling Reads · Multicultural Kids Blog · My White Board · One Sweet World · Open Wide […]

Follow Us!

Follow Us on FacebookFollow Us on Google+Follow Us on TwitterFollow Us on PinterestFollow Us on RSSFollow Us on Instagram

Anti-Bullying Resource FREE Download

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

Grab Our Button!

grab button for Multicultural Kid Blogs
<div class="multicultural-kid-blogs-button" style="width: 200px; margin: 0 auto;"> <a href="https://multiculturalkidblogs.com/" rel="nofollow"> <img src="https://multiculturalkidblogs.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/button-take-3.jpg" alt="Multicultural Kid Blogs" width="200" height="200" /> </a> </div>
Multicultural Children's Book Day Co-Host

Archives

Copyright © 2023 · Lifestyle Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.Accept Read More
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT