Explore the world with diverse books and inspire your children and students to learn more about world culture through books!
These three multicultural children’s books I am about to share with you will take kids to experience Japan, to engage them in a story with a background set in Thailand, and to give them the opportunity to follow the dragon dancer and learn about the celebration of Chinese Lunar New Year.
Disclosure: Miss Panda received complimentary copies of the books below for review purposes, all opinions are my own.
BEATO GOES TO JAPAN
This is a wonderful introduction to Japanese culture for children. In this engaging story, BEATO explores Japanese culture with his newly met friend, Kazumi. From sushi to manners, from Mount Fuji to cherry blossom, from calligraphy to photo booth and much much more!
“What are the difference and similarity you find in Japanese culture and Chinese culture?” ask your children after reading this book. Compare a child’s native culture with the culture highlights included in this book!
This is the latest release of the BEATO GOES TO series. You can join BEATO for more world travel! Greenland, Indonesia, and Israel are waiting for you! Sucheta Rawal is an awarding-winning food and travel writer, and children’s book author.
MELA AND THE ELEPHANT
What a beautiful, fun, and adventurous story to teach kids that their kindness doesn’t need a reward in return. A calm and beautiful day turns into an adventure and an unforgettable experience. As Mela took the boat and left her young brother behind, she started a journey in the jungle. And, suddenly she realized that she really needs some help to get back home.
Who would help? The crocodile? The leopard? How about the monkeys? Mela offered each of the animals a little something, a little prize but would it work? This heartwarming story shares an authentic Thai tradition.
Dow Phumiruk, the author, was born in Bangkok, Thailand and came to the U.S. at a very young age. She shares the beauty of Thailand and Thai culture through MELA AND THE ELEPHANT. Dow included an author’s note with Thai traditions and language in this book.
DRAGON DANCER
This book will take you and your children into a story that happened on Lunar New Year’s Eve with Yao, the Singaporean boy. Yao’s grandfather used to be a dragon dancer. And, Yao is an emergent young dragon dancer.
He is going to dance with the sky dragon and go on an amazing adventure to travel into the culture, to dispell the bad luck from the year before. How can he be a successful dragon dancer and bring in the good luck for the new year?
The illustration and the layout of the pages provide children room for imagination. Follow Yao and ask if your children can hear the drum, the cymbal, the music, and the crowd. As you read and flip the pages, Dragon Dancer comes alive in this well-crafted tale.
Author Joyce Chng shares a culture note of Chinese Lunar New Year celebration with a personal touch. Children will see dragon dance in a different perspective after experiencing it with Dragon Dancer in this book.
The reading of inspiring books does not stop here. Here is only a beginning to more adventure, exploration, and learning.
Learning about the world, exploring different cultures, and traveling to a world of knowledge. Stories about science, history, geography, music, arts, people, languages, humor, books, storytellers, writers,… and many many more!
“Within books one can find a mansion of gold, within books one can find treasure.” said Emperor Shong Zhen Zong in China. Every Chinese child learns this poem at a very young age. 【書中自有黃金屋 書中自有顏如玉 -宋真宗 勸學詩】
So, Grab a book and share it with your children or your students. You will lead them to find treasure between the pages.
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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.
