Last Monday was a busy day. Valarie from Jump Into a Book and I co-hosted Multicultural Children’s Book Day along with more than 80 wonderful bloggers:
2GirlsLostInaBook · 365 Days of Motherhood · A Bilingual Baby · A Library Mama · A Simple Life, Really? · Africa to America · After School for Smarty Pants · All Done Monkey · Andi’s Kids Books · Anita Brown Bag · Austin Gilkeson · Barbara Ann Mojica · Between The Covers · Bookish Ambition · Books My Kids Read · Bottom Shelf Books · Cats Eat Dogs ·Chasing The Donkey · Children’s Book-a-Day Almanac · Children’s Books Heal · Church o Books · CitizenBeta · Crafty Moms Share · Discovering The World Through My Son’s Eyes· Early Words · Flowering Minds · Franticmommy · Gathering Books · Geek Club Books · GEO Librarian · GIFT Family Services · Gladys Barbieri · Going in Circles · Growing Barefoot Bookworms · Growing Book by Book · iGame Mom · I’m Not The Nanny · InCulture Parent · Itsy Bitsy Mom · Just Children’s Books · Kid Lit Reviews · Kids Yoga Stories · Kid World Citizen · Kristi’s Book Nook · Mama Lady Books · Mama Smiles · Mission Read ·Monkey Poop · Mother 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 Preschooler · Rapenzel Dreams · Randomly Reading · Reading Through Life · School4Boys · Sharon the Librarian · Spanish Playground · Sprout’s Bookshelf · Squishable Baby · Stanley and Katrina · Svetlana’s Reads and Views · Teach Mama · The Art of Home Education · The Brain Lair · The Educators’ Spin On It · The Family-Ship Experience · The Good Long Road · The Yellow Door Paperie · This Kid Reviews Books · Trishap’s Books · Unconventional Librarian · Vicki Arnold · We3Three· World for Learning · Wrapped in Foil
Thank you also to our sponsors: Wisdom Tales Press, Susan Daniel Fayad, Lee and Low Books, and Chronicle Books.
We had 144 (and counting!) posts linked up and I thought I’d share a few of the books with you today.
From Story Snug: Anna Hibiscus picture book series by Atinuke
Anna Hibiscus lives in amazing Africa and her stories reflect the culture and traditions of the country but also show her engaging in activities that are enjoyed throughout the world. Splash, Anna Hibiscus! is the story of Anna Hibiscus’ day at the beach, an activity that we also enjoy.
From Mother Daughter Book Reviews: The Red Sash by Jean E. Pendziwol, illustrated by Nicolas Debon
The Red Sash is an excellent picture book depicting the history of the fur trade in Canada and introducing children to the importance of the relationships among the First Nations and Métis people of Canada, the French Canadian voyageurs, and the British-based North West Trading Company. While these relationships were at often times tenuous, this story focuses on the cultural pride of the Métis people who played a key role in the fur trade of the 1800′s. I highly recommend this book as an excellent resource in elementary schools across Canada as a way to educate children about the fur trade industry and the important role of the voyageurs in Canadian history. Ages 5+
From Marie’s Pastiche: Ruby’s Wish by Shirin Yim
This picture book is a historical story based on the true story of the author’s grandmother. Ruby is an engaging character, a young Chinese girl who lives in a wealthy household, and has the opportunity to attend grade school. However, the expectation is that she marry once she graduates, while her brothers attend university. Not content with this, Ruby does manage to persuade her grandfather, the patriarch who makes these decisions, to allow her to attend.
From Discovering the World Through My Son’s Eyes: The Tooth Fairy Meets El Ratón Pérez by René Colato Laínez
Miguelito loses a tooth, and both the Tooth Fairy (she collects lost teeth from children in United States, and English-speaking countries) and El Ratón Pérez (he collects lost teeth from children in Latin America, and Spain) are going to claim the tooth, but they are both surprised to see each other. El Ratón Pérez already has the tooth, and they start fighting over who gets to keep it.
From Teach Mama: 10 Must Read Multicultural Children’s Books
My top five must-read multicultural children’s books are:
- Cora Cooks Pancit, by Dorina K. Lazo Gilmore | Little Cora learns the art of cooking pancit with the help of her mama on a rare day when her brother and sisters are out of the house.
- The Legend of the Indian Paintbrush, by Tomie de Paola | I love Tomie de Paola’s take on this Indian legend about how a young boy, the artist of his tribe, creates a painting to fulfill his Dream-Vision.
- So Far from the Sea, by Eve Bunting | The Iwasaki family visits Manzanar, where Japanese were interned during WWII, and little Laura says goodbye to her Grandfather in a touching and memorable way.
- The Legend of the Bluebonnet, by Tomie de Paola | The story of a courageous Comanche girl and how she parts with her most prized possession in order to help her people is moving and unforgettable.
- Mama’s Saris, by Pooja Makhijani | I have always loved the grace and beauty of not only the sari but the story of how important it is for a little girl to wear a sari like her mother.
I hope this list and the Kid Lit Blog Hop help you discover a few new and wonderful multicultural books for kids!
Here are some great multicultural books for kids from the last Kid Lit Blog Hop:
Snacks for Max: Good-bye Baby Max byDiane Cantrell, illustrated by Heather Castles
Generation iKid: 5 Books to Celebrate the Chinese New Year
Discovering The World Through My Son’s Eyes: Mama Panya’s Pancake by Mary and Rich Chamberlin, illustrated by Julia Cairns
What Do We Do All Day?: Chinese Folk Tales for Kids
Welcome to the 32nd Kid Lit Blog Hop where twice per month (the 1st and 3rd Wednesday) we continue to develop a dynamic and engaged community of children’s books bloggers, authors, publishers, and publicists. So, you are always more than welcome to join us by popping in a post and hopping around to meet some of your fellow Kid Lit bloggers and authors!
Happy Hopping everyone and enjoy the Hop!
Kid Lit Blog Hop Rules *Please Read*
1. We ask that you kindly follow your hostesses. You can follow us any way you choose (Email, GFC, Twitter, Facebook, G+, Pinterest, etc.), but we’ve added our preferences below. If you could just give us a quick “follow” or “like” that would be much appreciated! Make sure to leave us a message if you are following us (i.e., on Twitter or Facebook or on our websites) and we will be sure to follow you back. Thanks! 🙂
Hostesses:
Renee @ Mother Daughter Book Reviews Facebook * Twitter
Jaymie @ Snacks for Max Twitter * Facebook
Katie @ Youth Literature Reviews Twitter * Facebook
Julie Grasso, Author/ Blogger Twitter * Facebook
Cheryl Carpinello, Author / Blogger Twitter * Facebook
Reshama @ Stacking Books Twitter * Facebook
Stacie @ BeachBoundBooks Twitter * Facebook
Destiny @ Reading and Sharing Twitter * Facebook
Lina @ Best 4 Future: Bringing Up Baby Bilingual Twitter * Facebook
Mia @ Pragmatic Mom Twitter * Facebook
2. Link up any Kid Lit related post. This can be a link to a children’s book review, a discussion about children’s literature/literacy, or a post on a recently-read children’s book or one that you love from your childhood.
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3. Please visit AT LEAST the TWO LINKS directly ahead of your own and leave them some love in the form of a comment. We are trying to build a community of bloggers, readers, parents, authors, and others who are as passionate about children’s literature as we are so please CONNECT and follow any or all of the blogs that interest you!
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Interested in co-hosting the Kid Lit Blog Hop? Please email renee @ motherdaughterbookreviews (dot) com and put Co-Hosting Blog Hop in the subject line.
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Wow – thanks for featuring Ruby’s Wish!
Someone who posts really wonderful interviews with authors of multicultural books for young people (though more middle-grade/YA than children’s), and who writes them, too, is Mitali Perkins. She’s the author of Bamboo People, and her blog is Mitali’s Fire Escape (I will send you a link by email). She used to live in the Boston area, so I wonder if you’ve maybe heard of her? (Now she’s in California.)
Meanwhile, what a bouquet of excellent-looking links you’ve got here–will check them out in slow time.
Hi Asakiyume,
What a great reminder! She used to live in my town (Newton, MA) and she came to my daughter’s book club when we discovered she was nearby for Rickshaw Girl … and she is so nice! I love her books too! She moved to San Francisco but I hear she comes back once a year to do school visits!
Thanks for the link-up, and for hosting the Hop! I’m excited to see Cora Cooks Pancit on your list – my mother-in-law is Filipina, and finding books for the kids that feature that heritage is challenging.
Hi Katy K.,
You are right! I haven’t seen many Filipina books for kids. I know all about Pancit because one of my best friends growing up was also Filipina and I ate at her parents house A LOT!! In fact, her mom taught me how to make Pancit because I loved it so much! And I cook Adobo for my kids!!! I’ll have to do some research to make a list!
What an amazing list of wonderful books. It is such a helpful resource, thank you x
Thanks so much Kirsty!!
The illustrations of Ruby’s Wish are wonderful. Congrats for co-hosting this event
Thanks so much Giora! Ruby’s Wish caught my eye too because of the gorgeous illustrations! On my list to read!
I’m still discovering wonderful books for my kids from your Multicultural Children\\\’s Book Day. For example I need to include The Red Sash to my list for my Canadian husband to read to them! And thank you for hosting the kidlitbloghop.
Hi Kriss,
I’m so glad that you are finding the Multicultural Children’s Book Day link up helpful! That was our dream!!! I hope your husband likes The Red Sash!
Thank you for introducing me to the world for kid book blogs! It’s really expanded our selection at home- even my husband has noticed the improved choices from the library!
Hi Amy G,
Your comment makes me so happy! Welcome! We are so glad that you are here!