Hello friends from all around the world!
I am so excited to share a special book with you about welcoming new students at your school for Multicultural Children's Book Day (MCBD) 2019!
MCBD, a non-profit organization, began six years ago by two kind ladies who love reading and sharing the world with others. Together, they created a day that celebrated books from around the world for kids, families and teachers. Now, their national event helps spread awareness for of different cultures and people across the globe. Talk about some amazing stuff!
Books are a great way to learn about the world and how other people live. Through reading we can discover much about ourselves, others and connect with each other.
Before we start, I have some important questions to ask you. Have you ever been to a new school? Have you ever had a new student in your class? Have you ever had to leave your home suddenly and live in a new city or country? Have you ever lost your home like my friend Tipah did in my new book? Well, if you have, you are definitely not alone. There are several kids and animals around the world that have had to leave their homes suddenly and start a new life somewhere new. It can be scary, sad, and stressful. But the book I am reviewing called Someone New, shares how it can also end up being a good thing too.
Someone New, written and illustrated by Anne Sibley O'Brien and published by Charlesbridge, is a story about three different kids from around the world that had to leave their homes to go to a new school.
Maria is from Guatemala, a small country south of Mexico in Central America. Jin is from Korea, a country that I have shared about before, that is next to Japan and located on the easternmost part of the continent of Asia. Fatimah is a new student from Somalia, the easternmost country of Africa, on the Horn of Africa. All three students are very nervous to be in a new country and school, as they have no friends and have to speak a new language. That is definitely not easy!
But the great thing I love about this book is that we get to learn what the current students feel when the new students arrive. The current students are curious and want to learn more about the new kids. They want to make friends with the new kids, but they see that they are nervous, quiet and frustrated, so they aren't quite sure how to approach them. Have you felt that way before when meeting a new student?
In my story, I have to learn to show compassion to the new animals in our forest and by showing respect, kindness and listening to their story. Then, I could feel what the new animals where feeling and better understand them. It also helped me put myself in their place and see why they were acting the way they were. That is power of compassion my friends and the current students in this book do the same thing!
At first, they feel uncomfortable and don't know how to help or interact with the new students. But when the students start talking and giving each other a chance, they start to really enjoy each other's company and find that they have a lot in common. One of the girls named Emma loves art and notices that new student Fatimah does too. Fatimah is just learning English and can't speak much, but when Emma, shows some kindness and gives her a drawing she made for her, it really brings happiness to Fatimah.
Fatimah then shares how she is a refugee and had to leave her home because others were trying to hurt her family and take her home. Emma feels bad for her and they talk about it while drawing out their feelings. As they become friends, Fatimah's drawings become happier and they learn more about each other.
So by showing some compassion and care and being patient, the kids all became friends and welcome the new students. Isn't that wonderful?! I hope more and more kids can read this book and learn how to act with compassion when they meet a new student, because almost all of you have or will.
For a brief glimpse at what someone new might have gone through to get to you, check out the video below. Maybe one of your questions will be asked and answered in it.
If you would like to read this book, you can check it out on Amazon with your parents. I really loved the colorful illustrations and hope you get to read it as well.
Well, thanks for joining me for this special book review for MCBD! Have a great day/night wherever you are in our amazing planet!
-Joy Sun Bear
Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2019 (1/25/19) is in its 6th 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 followingAuthor 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 andA 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 who 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 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. GO HERE for more details.
FREE RESOURCES From MCBD
Free Multicultural Books for Teachers: http://bit.ly/1kGZrta
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.
Like!! Great article post.Really thank you! Really Cool.