“No culture can live if it attempts to be exclusive” – Mahatma Gandhi
The big day is finally here! I know, I’ve been posting a ton about Multicultural Children’s Book Day, but I think it is such a fabulous idea. It is so important for kids, and adults for that matter, to see a variety of people, cultures and ideas in the books that they read. Our country is a melting pot, but in some areas it can be hard to realize that. Big cities get a very different perspective from the rest of the country. Books are a way to bring other cultures into your home and life and perhaps bring a bit of understanding about the way other people live. We should never stop learning about the people around us. I actually took the above quote from on of my fellow book bloggers, but it explains exactly what we are doing.
Multicultural Children’s Book Day: Celebrating Diversity in Children’s Literature is what will hopefully be an annual event organized by children’s reading and play advocates Valarie Budayr from Jump Into a Book and Mia Wenjen from Pragmatic Mom. Today, January 27th, we are celebrating diversity in children’s books. The event is sponsored by Wisdom Tales Press, Lee & Low Books,Chronicle Books, and Susan Daniel Fayad: Author of My Grandfather’s Masbaha.
In the past week, bloggers have started posting wonderful reviews of multicultural children’s books. There is such a wealth of great literature out there! Everyone will start linking up their posts today on Pragmatic Mom and Jump Into A Book – thanks to linky the links are the same on both page. These lists will be a great source for teachers, librarians and parents who are looking for new multicultural books for their kids or students. I myself wrote about Jewish books, Civil Rights, Folk Tales, and the great book How Far Do You Love Me? which spans the globe.
Here are some ways you can help 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.
As part of this great day, Valarie and Mia are giving away ten books from Barefoot Books! Click on the link below to enter the Rafflecopter. I for one would LOVE to win this set!
Today is also Holocaust Remembrance Day. Pragmatic Mom will be giving away a signed copy of Greenhorn by Anna Olswanger. I heard about this book last week in an article on the nerdybookclub by the Rabbi who told Anna Olswanger the story. It sounds absolutely amazing and one I would be happy to have on our bookshelf. To enter, enter the Rafflecopter on Pragmatic Mom’s page.
Participating in this event has been amazing for me. Please stop one of the official sites and check out the wealth of books out there.
Wonderful recap with the extra activities. Thanks for the shout out! Happy #MCKLitDay! ~Cool Mom for The Stanley & Katrina Gang
Thank you for all that you’ve done to promote the event. It is a great day. I thought that the books were to be posted on our blogs today. I like the book I selected, but I’ve reviewed so many more that are important in their own way. It is a wonderful event.
Thanks Patricia! There are so many great books. Until Mia at Pragmatic Mom mentioned the whole thing a number of months ago, I never even considered whether our books were multi-cultural or not, but a lot were. I know I’m not in the norm on that so it is nice to promote such a good cause.