What happens when you get your wish? That’s the question the students in my library inspired me to answer. I was working as an elementary school librarian in a Title I school in Northern Virginia. Every day, students came in asking for books on superheroes. There were not enough on their reading level to go around....
Guest post from Patricia Newman with Donna Rosenblum and Mehrdokht Amini
I usually write about nonfiction conservation topics that empower children to act as global citizens. When Donna Rosenblum, Executive Director of Reason2Smile, approached me with an idea for a book about the importance of education, I saw another way to empower young readers to act.
Approximately 262 million children worldwide did not attend school in 2017. Neema’s Reason to Smile illustrator Mehrdokht Amini comes from Iran, a country where access to education is not necessarily a right.
Donna and Mehrdokht know first-hand the challenges faced by children from extreme poverty or worn-torn countries. I thought you’d like to hear their messages from the front lines.
SO..what in the world is “On My Desk” anyway?
This series got started because, with my role as Project Manager, I get to enjoy the avalanche of amazing multicultural books for kids that are donated to our project. A good chunk of the year my office looks like a small bookstore and I love every second of it.
Being appreciative of every book that crosses my desk, I wanted to find a fun way to share those books with the loyal folks who show up here to read every week and support this non-profit. In that moment, On My Desk | #ReadYourWorld Kidlit Books for 2019 was born! It’s my way of sharing some amazing titles that don’t always get the attention they deserve.
So even though MCBD2019 hasn’t occurred yet (1/25/19), I am LOVING all of the amazing books all these wonderful multicultural books for kids that I am discovering every time I open the mail.
Here’s what the Mailman Book Fairy brought me this week:
Guest post from the co-founder of Globe Smart Kids, Anne Glick
No better way to start a new year than with Multicultural Children’s Book Day right around the corner! Excited to be a returning author sponsor with 10 diverse friendship stories, all bundled in a virtual library: One Globe Kids
The idea for One Globe Kids was born one afternoon while I read the children’s book Joyce’s Day to my then 3-year-old son in our apartment in New York City. The book was printed in South Africa in 1974 and given to me as a newborn present by my Aunt Joan in 1975. Its photos and simple text made Joyce’s day in South Africa relatable to me, a young, white girl living in small-town Illinois.
From beginning foreign language study in middle school to studying and working abroad, I strongly feel that my preparation for life in a diverse globalized world can be traced back to the simple curiosity I had for Joyce and her family.
I went looking for more “Joyce-like” books for my son Sebastian and found several beautiful, but basic, mostly illustrated, books about children in other countries. I did not find the personal, intimate, rounded stories that would make these children more familiar than foreign for him. And thus began my journey to make the international story series that I want to share with my kids, Sebastian and his two brothers, Willem and Josef.
It’s hard to believe our 6th Multicultural Children’s Book Day online and offline celebration is less than two months away.
Things are going at full speed here at MCBD headquarters and we want to make sure two critical deadlines don’t sneak up on our supporters, reviewers, and potential sponsors.
Sponsorship for Multicultural Children’s Book Day is not only a great way to support this event; it is an excellent way to get your name (and your books) in front of thousands of readers. All of our Sponsors get a name mention within the hundreds of reviews that get posted from December to January 25th and also on the sites of our 24+ CoHosts sites. The deadline for ALL Sponsor sign-ups is 12/15/18.