Multicultural Children’s Book Day is coming up on January 25, 2019! The mission of MCBD is to bring awareness to diverse children’s books and get more multicultural books into schools and libraries. All children should be able to see themselves reflected in the books that they are reading. This day is all about promoting the wonderful diverse children’s books out there.

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Rice & Rocks

Rice & Rocks was written by Sandra L. Richards and illustrated by Megan Kayleigh Sullivan. This story follows a young boy named Giovanni as he prepares for Sunday dinner with his friends and family. When he learns that his grandmother is making rice and beans, he is embarrassed and worried that his friends will not like it. It is a traditional dish for his family from Jamaica, but he wonders what his friends will think of it.

When he shares his fears with his aunt, she takes him on a trip around the world with the help of his pet parrot. Together they discover that rice and beans is a tradition in lots of countries and cultures.

This book is a fun way to explore new traditions while showing kids that many of our traditions are more similar than we think. Giovanni learns that many of his friends’ families also have a traditional rice and beans dish. This unifying tradition reminds us that we are sometimes more alike than we are different.

I really like the message of the story, as well as the cultural tidbits spread throughout. The text includes a few words in different languages, and even introduces the reader to the official birds of Japan, Puerto Rico, and Louisiana. The illustrations are beautiful. They are full of color and textures, and the friendly birds they meet along the way are engaging and lifelike. There are lots of different races and skin tones depicted, giving lots of kids a chance to see themselves in the story.

Related Post: Celebrating Diversity with Multicultural Children’s Book Day!

Just Like You

Just Like You was written by Keosha Sath and illustrated by Yasushi Matsuoka. This book follows a young girl as she talks to her mother and learns about the different career paths that she can take. As she goes about the day asking questions, her mother answers them and explains about the many jobs that people have that help us. After each conversation, the little girl decides on another career that she wants to have. In the end, she decides that being a great mom is the job she wants the most.

This book is a great introduction to various careers and the ways that different people support our daily life. The conversational style of the text reads like familiar conversations that you have probably had with your kids. As the young girl asks questions that the reader has probably asked in real life, her mother uses the opportunity to introduce her to different jobs that she could have one day. The underlying message is that girls (and boys) can have any job that they set their mind to.

The text also encourages them to become the best in their chosen field. (The little girl doesn’t just want to be an astronaut, but wants to lead an astronaut crew, etc). The illustrations show the young girl doing some of the jobs that she is learning about. This may encourage kids to dream up their own future careers as well.

Related Post: Celebrating Families of All Kinds

More Information on Multicultural Children’s Book Day

Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2019 (1/25/19) is in its 6^th 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!

*View our 2019 Medallion Sponsors here: https://wp.me/P5tVud-
*View our 2019 MCBD Author Sponsors here: https://wp.me/P5tVud-2eN

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, Lori DeMonia, Claudia Schwam, 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. They 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 @McChildsBookDay 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 ( a prize every 5 minutes!). GO HERE for more details.

FREE RESOURCES From MCBD

Free Multicultural Books for Teachers: http://bit.ly/1kGZrta

A 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.

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