Multicultural Children’s Book Day is on January 27, 2016 and in preparation for it, the kids are reading a variety of multicultural books, with LouLou starting off the year having completed her first ever Pack-n-Go Girls book, Mystery of the Golden Temple by Lisa Travis.
What is Multicultural Children’s Book Day?
Multicultural Children’s Book Day‘s mission is to not only raise awareness for the kid’s books that celebrate diversity, but to get more of these of books into classrooms and libraries. The MCCBD team’s mission is to spread the word and raise awareness about the importance of diversity in children’s literature. Our young readers need to see themselves within the pages of a book and experience other cultures, languages, traditions and religions within the pages of a book. The co-creators of this unique event are Mia Wenjen from Pragmatic Mom and Valarie Budayr from Jump Into a Book/Audrey Press. You can find a bio for Mia and Valarie here.
With a mission as great as that, we couldn’t wait to participate, raise awareness for such a great initiative, and encourage our family & friends to spread the word. As world-schoolers, we are always seeking new books to read that enrich the kid-foodies knowledge of the world through fairytales, or through cooking.
I find the Pack-n-Go Girls book series a great addition to our reading list because they inspire girls to be adventurers. Mystery of the Golden Temple inspired LouLou to add Thailand (Chiang Mai in particular) to the list of countries she wants to travel to. Thailand is a country full of traditions and customs very different to that of the US. The book does a great job explaining all these cultural differences in a way that was easy for LouLou to understand.e.g.”Khun Mali. It’s like saying Mrs. Molly in English. In Thailand, they use Khun to show respect like we use Mrs. in the States…the Thai people use first names afterwards.”
Another great lesson the book’s main character, Jess, taught LouLou was how to be tactful especially when it relates to cultural differences. It’s something the kids have also learned during their travels, which I find is molding them into sensitive and understanding human beings. Like the character Jess, they have also learned to make friends even when language proved to be a barrier, teaching them to be understanding, patient, and most of all, resourceful.
While we decide on our travel plans for 2016, we’ve been experiencing Thailand the best way we know how: through its cuisine! Just the other day the kids learned how to make coconut sticky rice, which we shared on the blog: How To Cook That: Thai Coconut Sticky Rice. What we love most about our culinary adventures is that LouLou & Jaf have fun trying new things when they’re young. They enjoy visiting new countries, and sampling the local cuisine. Our family motto when it comes to food is to try something once before we decide whether or not we like it. It has made for some interesting experiences like the time LouLou ate three bowls of snail soup in Morocco!
Thanks to all the sponsors & 12 amazing Co-Hosts (you can view them here) that made the Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2016 possible.
Multicultural Children’s Book day 2016 Medallion Level Sponsors! #ReadYourWorld
Platinum: Wisdom Tales Press * StoryQuest Books*Lil Libros
Gold: Author Tori Nighthawk*Candlewick Press*Bharat Babies
Silver: Lee and Low Books*Chronicle Books*Capstone Young Readers*NY Media Works, LLC/KidLit TV
Bronze: Pomelo Books* Author Jacqueline Woodson*Papa Lemon Books* Goosebottom Books*Author Gleeson Rebello*ShoutMouse Press*Author Mahvash Shahegh* China Institute.org*Live Oak Media
Thank you so much for being a part of Multicultural Children’s Book Day.
I like the way this series incorporates travel and world cultures. Thanks for the recommendation!
Anytime! My daughter enjoyed reading it and now wants the series! 🙂