Celebrating Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2019 with Kitab World
Multicultural Kid Blogs is excited to be celebrating Multicultural Children’s Book Day, an annual literary celebration that highlights children’s books reflecting diverse families and cultures.
As a parent with a multicultural family who also values travel, participating in Multicultural Children’s Book Day provides an opportunity for me to discover new books and build our family’s ever-growing library of diverse kid lit! This year to celebrate, we read two books from Kitab World, an independent publisher and online indie bookstore. Kitab World features books from South Asia.
Books from an Independent Publisher
Kitab World’s has a beautiful website. I love the array of books available through their online store. My 7 year-old and I snuggled up and read Room In Your Heart and The Boy Who Asked Why.
Room in Your Heart
Room In Your Heart is a lovely picture book set in Bhutan. The book reflects the spirit of hospitality present in Bhutan. The old woman in the story manages to accommodate more and more visitors in her small house. It astounds her visitors. The story reflects the reality that if you have room in your heart, you will also have room in your home.
We have a small home, so I think my son really enjoyed this story. He could connect with it even though it takes place in a country far from us. I loved that the book included facts about the country of Bhutan as an extended learning component. I recommend making room on your bookshelf for Room In Your Heart.
The Boy Who Asked Why
The Boy Who Asked Why tells the story of ‘Babasaheb’ Bhimrao Ambedkar, who energized the struggle against caste prejudice in India. My 7-year-old enjoyed reading this with me, but I do think it might be more engaging for slightly older children. I look forward to reading it with my 9-year-old as well.
The Boy Who Asked Why makes for a wonderful book to open up discussions of injustice and prejudice in the world. Babasaheb, an Untouchable in India, became a lawyer who fought to change those laws and perceptions.
The Importance of Multicultural Children’s Books
As we read, we connected his story with stories of the Civil Rights struggle in the United States. We discussed children being left out or made fun of for being different. The book not only tells a real-life story in a compelling way, (accompanied by beautiful artwork) but can also be utilized as a tool for discussions. Discussions about difference, injustice, bullying, perceptions and more. I loved the way this book focused on the question of “why”–a simple query that can change the world.
These two books reminded me of why Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2019 holds so much importance. We really enjoyed participating again this year! How is your family celebrating Multicultural Children’s Book Day this year?
Want to read more about the importance of reading multicultural children’s books?
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Multicultural Children’s Book Day Book Reviews
Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2019 (1/25/19) is in its 6th year and was founded by Valarie Budayr from Jump Into A Book and Mia Wenjen from PragmaticMom. Our mission is to raise awareness of the ongoing need to include kids’ books that celebrate diversity in homes and school bookshelves while also working diligently to get more of these types of books into the hands of young readers, parents, and educators.
MCBD 2019 is honored to have the following Medallion Sponsors on board
Medallion Level Sponsors
Honorary: Children’s Book Council, The Junior Library Guild, TheConsciousKid.org.
Super Platinum: Make A Way Media
GOLD: Bharat Babies, Candlewick Press, Chickasaw Press, Juan Guerra and The Little Doctor / El doctorcito, KidLitTV, Lerner Publishing Group, Plum Street Press,
SILVER: Capstone Publishing, Carole P. Roman, Author Charlotte Riggle, Huda Essa, The Pack-n-Go Girls,
BRONZE: Charlesbridge Publishing, Judy Dodge Cummings, Author Gwen Jackson, Kitaab World, Language Lizard – Bilingual & Multicultural Resources in 50+ Languages, Lee & Low Books, Miranda Paul and Baptiste Paul, Redfin, Author Gayle H. Swift, T.A. Debonis-Monkey King’s Daughter, TimTimTom Books, Lin Thomas, Sleeping Bear Press/Dow Phumiruk, Vivian Kirkfield,
MCBD 2019 is honored to have the following Author Sponsors on board
Honorary: Julie Flett, Mehrdokht Amini, Author Janet Balletta, Author Kathleen Burkinshaw, Author Josh Funk, Chitra Soundar, One Globe Kids – Friendship Stories, Sociosights Press and Almost a Minyan, Karen Leggett, Author Eugenia Chu, CultureGroove Books, Phelicia Lang and Me On The Page, L.L. Walters, Author Sarah Stevenson, Author Kimberly Gordon Biddle, Hayley Barrett, Sonia Panigrah, Author Carolyn Wilhelm, Alva Sachs and Dancing Dreidels, Author Susan Bernardo, Milind Makwana and A Day in the Life of a Hindu Kid, Tara Williams, Veronica Appleton, Author Crystal Bowe, Dr. Claudia May, Author/Illustrator Aram Kim, Author Sandra L. Richards, Erin Dealey, Author Sanya Whittaker Gragg, Author Elsa Takaoka, Evelyn Sanchez-Toledo, Anita Badhwar, Author Sylvia Liu, Feyi Fay Adventures, Author Ann Morris, Author Jacqueline Jules, CeCe & Roxy Books, Sandra Neil Wallace and Rich Wallace, LEUYEN PHAM, Padma Venkatraman, Patricia Newman and Lightswitch Learning, Shoumi Sen, Valerie Williams-Sanchez and Valorena Publishing, Traci Sorell, Shereen Rahming, Blythe Stanfel, Christina Matula, Julie Rubini, Paula Chase, Erin Twamley, Afsaneh Moradian, Claudia Schwam, Lori DeMonia, Terri Birnbaum/ RealGirls Revolution, Soulful Sydney, Queen Girls Publications, LLC
We’d like to also give a shout-out to MCBD’s impressive CoHost Team who not only hosts the book review link-up on celebration day, but who also works tirelessly to spread the word of this event. View our CoHosts HERE.
Co-Hosts and Global Co-Hosts
A Crafty Arab, Agatha Rodi Books, All Done Monkey, Barefoot Mommy, Biracial Bookworms, Books My Kids Read, Crafty Moms Share, Colours of Us, Discovering the World Through My Son’s Eyes, Descendant of Poseidon Reads, Educators Spin on it, Growing Book by Book, Here Wee Read, Joy Sun Bear/ Shearin Lee, Jump Into a Book, Imagination Soup, Jenny Ward’s Class, Kid World Citizen, Kristi’s Book Nook, The Logonauts, Mama Smiles, Miss Panda Chinese, Multicultural Kid Blogs, Raising Race Conscious Children, Shoumi Sen, Spanish Playground
TWITTER PARTY Sponsored by Make A Way Media!
MCBD’s super-popular (and crazy-fun) annual Twitter Party will be held 1/25/19 at 9:00pm.E.S.T. TONS of prizes and book bundles will be given away during the party. GO HERE for more details.
FREE RESOURCES From MCBD
Free Multicultural Books for Teachers: https://wp.me/P5tVud-1H
Free Empathy Classroom Kit for Homeschoolers, Organizations, Librarians, and Educators: http://multiculturalchildrensbookday.com/teacher-classroom-empathy-kit/
Hashtag: Don’t forget to connect with us on social media and be sure and look for/use our official hashtag #ReadYourWorld.
Jennifer Fischer
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They both sound like beautiful books, and I’ve added them to my list!
Thank you for your support of Multicultural Children’s Book Day from the very beginning!
So happy to support such a wonderful initiative!