This Friday we celebrate the fourth annual Multicultural Children’s Book Day!
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As readers, reviewers, and writers this day is an excellent way to raise awareness of the ongoing need to include kidlit that address diverse topics and feature people of color. Even though census data shows 37% of the US population consists of people of color, only 10% of children’s books published have diversity content. Using the Multicultural Children’s Book Day holiday, the MCBD Team is on a mission to change all of that. You will find hundreds of book titles and reviews to read at this linky. Raising awareness of these titles will help you create a more diverse bookshelf, and make it easier to get these books into homes, schools, libraries, and into the hands of young readers. And for this reason, the co-creators of this unique event, Valarie Budayr from Jump Into A Book and Mia Wenjen from PragmaticMom have chosen #ReadYourWorld as the official hashtag.
ABC, ADOPTION & ME was sent to me by authors Gayle H. Swift, and Casey A. Swift to review. Published by WRB Publishing, the book has won recognition and many awards.
- Named a Favorite Read of 2013 by Adoptive Families national magazine
- Named a Notable Picture Book for 2013 by Shelf Unbound in their Dec/Jan 2014
- Honorable Mention – Gittle List of 2014;
- Finalist; IPNE 2014 Book Awards (Independent Publishers of New England)
- Honorable Mention 2014 Purple Dragonfly Book Award
ABC, Adoption & Me is an informational ABC concept book. Written from a child’s point of view, it skillfully addresses complex information about adoption, such as who can be adopted, feelings about birth parents, and the different ways to adopt, all explained in an age appropriate way for young children.
Page samples:
“C is for children. You can be adopted at any age, from tiny babies to teens.”
“M is for miss. Sometimes I miss my birth parents. I wonder if they miss me too.”
“O is for open adoptions. In open adoptions, adoptees know their birth parents. They visit each other and spend time together – a little or a lot.”
The illustrations are colorful cartoon-style drawings that show an array of multicultural characters and families. What I like most about this book is that it includes the challenges and difficulties kids face when adopted, in addition to the positive experiences. It also includes an introduction to show adults how to use the book. It mentions the Adoption-attunement Quotient (AQ) which considers how adoption influences a child. The book would be a valuable resource for caregivers, parents, and schools to use when discussing adoption. And especially helpful for adoptive families who want to talk about adoption with their adopted children. The authors have provided a very informative, inclusive, and kid-friendly guide on the subject.
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Current Sponsors: MCBD 2017 is honored to have some amazing Sponsors on board.[spacer height=”10px”] Platinum Sponsors include Scholastic, Barefoot Books and Broccoli. Other Medallion Level Sponsors include heavy-hitters like Author Carole P. Roman, Audrey Press, Candlewick Press, Fathers Incorporated, KidLitTV, Capstone Young Readers, ChildsPlayUsa, Author Gayle Swift, Wisdom Tales Press, Lee& Low Books, The Pack-n-Go Girls, Live Oak Media, Author Charlotte Riggle, Chronicle Books and Pomelo Books
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Author Sponsor include: Karen Leggett Abouraya, Veronica Appleton, Susan Bernardo, Kathleen Burkinshaw, Maria Dismondy, D.G. Driver, Geoff Griffin, Savannah Hendricks, Stephen Hodges, Carmen Bernier-Grand,Vahid Imani, Gwen Jackson, Hena, Kahn, David Kelly, Mariana Llanos, Natasha Moulton-Levy, Teddy O’Malley, Stacy McAnulty, Cerece Murphy, Miranda Paul, Annette Pimentel, Greg Ransom, Sandra Richards, Elsa Takaoka, Graciela Tiscareño-Sato, Sarah Stevenson, Monica Mathis-Stowe SmartChoiceNation, Andrea Y. Wang
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 work tirelessly to spread the word of this event. View our CoHosts HERE.
MCBD Links to remember:
- MCBD site: http://multiculturalchildrensbookday.com/
- Free Multicultural Books for Teachers: http://bit.ly/1kGZrta
- Free Kindness Classroom Kit for Homeschoolers, Organizations, Librarians and Educators
- Free Diversity Book Lists and Activities for Teachers and Parents
- Hashtag: Don’t forget to connect with us on social media and be sure and look for/use the official hashtag #ReadYourWorld
