Multicultural Children's Book Day - Meet the Co-Hosts

Since it's inception, I've been participating as a children's book reviewer every January 27th for Multicultural Children's Book Day and I have seen it grow by leaps and bounds. So I was pretty excited when I was asked to be a co-host this year. Multicultural Children's Book Day was started in 2014 by Valerie Budayr from Jump Into A Book and Mia Wenjen from Pragmatic Mom as a way of celebrating diversity in children's books. It's mission has always been to "not only raise awareness for the kid's books that celebrate diversity, but to get more of these books into classrooms and libraries." 

But, we all know it takes a village and MCCBD would not be the success it has been without our wonderful sponsors - publishers and authors alike.  This year, we are welcoming a new sponsor, Scholastic Press, and we are thrilled to have their support.

You can find out more about all of our author and publisher sponsors and how to become one HERE. But hurry, the deadline to be included is December 31, 2016.

Calling All Readers:

Are you interested in receiving a FREE multicultural children's book to review for MCCBD 2017? We have a new perk this year and you don't have to be a blogger to participate. Of course, if you have a blog, you can still post your review there, but now readers will have the option to post on these social media platforms: Instagram, Facebook and YouTube. You can find out how to be part of this amazing day HERE

We are a nation of beautifully diverse people, of immigrants from all over the world and Multicultural Children's Book Day celebrates that diversity, stressing the importance of all children finding themselves reflected in the books they read, but also offering a window into other cultures, religions, ethnicities, sexual orientations, and disabilities that may be different from our own. Diverse books can help foster understanding, acceptance, and hope in our children now and for the future.

As with any event, success is measured by the strength and effectiveness of the team. MCBD's CoHosts are an example of just that.

The Multicultural Children’s Book Day CoHosts are a group of powerhouse bloggers and parents who all share the same passion for reading and understand the importance of diversity in children’s literature. They also act as ambassadors for MCBD’s yearly event by assisting in spreading the word, extending the event’s reach through social media and acting as hosts sites for the wildly popular book review/blog post link-up that occurs on the actual day of the holiday (1/27/17).

We are proud to introduce our sixteen CoHosts for our 2017 event below. These writers, moms, reviewers, book lovers and thought leaders were selected by the MCBD team because of their true dedication to supporting diversity in children’s literature and we would appreciate if you could take a few minutes and visit each of these excellent blogs and say "hello."

A Crafty Arab:

Kay Tarapolsi is a Libyan American artist who creates are to promote a positive image of Arab culture. Kay creates handmade Arab, Farsi and Urdu crafts and Cards. Check out her wares on Zibbet ( www.ACraftyArab.zibbet.com), Amazon, Etsy or select stores in Seattle, WA, Dearborn, MI, and Washington, DC.  The Arabic Alphabet Animal Poster became an idea back in 2002 when Kay received an alphabet poster (in English) by Jill M. Schmidt, a published illustrator of children's books. Kay realized there was a need for an Arabic poster that was bright, fun and colorful and began working with Jill in 2010 to create this product line. Kay teaches Arab art education to various schools in the Pacific Northwest and has been an artist in residence in several summer camps.

Connect with Kay on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Google+

All Done Monkey:

Leanna is a stay at home mother of two sweet, funny, rambunctious boys and a sweet baby girl! She draws inspiration from the writings of the Bahá'í Faith and tries to raise her Monkeys in a fun, spiritual, loving environment.  She and her husband, who is from Costa Rica, are raising their boys to be bilingual and bicultural but more importantly to be "world citizens." All Done Monkey is dedicated to sharing this journey with you!  All Done Monkey focuses on multiculturalism, children's education, natural parenting, and spiritual education.  Leanna is the co-founder of Bahá'í Mom Blogs and the founder of Multicultural Kid Blogs.

Connect with Leanna on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Google+

Books My Kids Read:

Michelle is a parent of two girls and a lover of all things children's
literature. Her blog was born out of a need to find appropriate reading
material for her advanced reader and has turned into a place to share
interesting books that her family has found. Michelle's passion about
multicultural children's literature stems from the fact that she is raising her
girls to be Jewish in a community where they are in a complete minority. In
addition, she loves finding books with really strong female characters who
stand up to outdated traditions. When not blogging, Michelle writes for a
local magazine, teaches Hebrew school, and share her love of books by being and independent consultant for Usborne Books & More.

Connect with Michelle on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram

Crafty Moms Share:

Carrie is a former high school math teacher and diversity club leader. Now, she uses her expertise to write about her adventures with her daughter, review books, and products, and share information. Crafty Moms Share is a place where Carrie share her ideas, knowledge and more and hosts link parties to allow others to share as well. She is a member of Multicultural Kid Blogs and a believer that we are all equal and need to be respected for our differences as well as out similarities.

Connect with Carrie on Facebook, Pinterest, Google+

Colours of Us:

Svenja is an adoptive mom and social worker, originally from Germany, living in South Africa. As a mom of a little African girl she always searches for multicultural children's books that have a positive message, and that do not support stereotypes. She shares her findings on her website, Colours of Us. Svenja is passionate about promoting diversity in children's literature and toys. She believes that all children deserve to see themselves reflected in the books they read and the toys they play with - because representation matters!

Connect with Svenja on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Google+

The Educators' Spin On It:

Kim Vij is a certified teacher with over 20 years of experience using her Bachelor's Degree in Early Childhood Education. She moved from the traditional classroom to raise her 3 children and to be an advocate for early childhood education using a much larger platform online. She's an organizer of the Virtual Book Club for Kids and coauthor of the popular website The Educators' Spin On It. When she is not creating or pinning ideas for kids for their 1.6 million Pinterest followers, you will often find Kim speaking at events, hosting twitter chats or discussing with a friend at a play date about how to help their child learn with developmentally appropriate strategies. Here's how you can join her weekly Virtual Book Club.

Connect with Kim on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest

Amanda Boyarshinov is a National Board Certified teacher with oodles of experience in early childhood education. She holds a bachelor's degree in elementary education and a master's degree in Reading for grades K-12. You will often find her in her backyard exploring nature with her kids or doing a hands-on science project at the kitchen table. She loves to walk her dog and snuggling up with a good book when she isn't elbow deep in baking blueberry muffins in the kitchen. She shares educational activities for children ages 0-7 at The Educators' Spin On It. Here are some of her tips on building a diverse bookshelf.

Connect with Amanda on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram

Explore Amanda and Kim's newly published book, 100 Fun & Easy Learning Games for Kids: Teach Reading, Writing, Math and More with Fun Kid Activities.

Franticmommy:

Becky Flansburg is a blogger and Virtual Assistant from Minnesota who writes about parenthood topics and moms in business. As Project Manager for Multicultural Children's Book Day, blogger, WAHM, and freelance writer, Becky knows being a mom is The.Best.Thing.Ever and Team Family is #1. Her goal with Franticmommy is to provide tips, ideas, products and services to help other women realize their dreams of business ownership while also sharing the "holy crap' moments of parenthood and life.

Connect with Becky on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram

Growing Book by Book:

Jodie Rodriguez has a passion for helping caregivers nurture our youngest readers. As a former National Board Certified early-childhood, elementary teacher and administrator, she has worked with thousands of families and educators providing the best literacy practices. She lives near St. Louis, Missouri and now stays home with her two young sons. She is the creator/founder of Growing Book by Book, where you will find book lists, book related activities and literacy tips and tricks for kids ages 0-8 years old.

Connect with Jodie on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest 

Imagination Soup:

Melissa Taylor, MA, is an education expert and Pinterest influencer as well as a mother, teacher, and freelance writer. She writes and award-winning learning blog, Imagination Soup, and freelances for publications online and in print, including Sylvan Learning, Random House, USA Today Health, The Writer, and Scholastic Parent and Child.  Connect with Melissa on

Connect with Melissa on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Google+

Kid World Citizen:

Becky Morales started Kid World Citizen as a way to share ideas from her classroom and activities that she did with her kids. Becky is and adoptive mom and the cultures in her household include Mexico, China, Ethiopia, and African American, but she has expanded the blog to include cultures from around the world. Becky loves meeting other globally-minded parents and teachers and sharing ideas to expose kids to world cultures. She has also written a book to help teachers and homeschoolers increase global learning with their kids (and in it, there is a booklist of over 300+ excellent multicultural titles for elementary learners).

Connect with Becky on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Google+

Mama Smiles:

MaryAnne was raised in five countries on three continents. She currently lives in California with her husband and their four children. MaryAnne blogs at Mama Smiles about building a rewarding family life through mindful parenting and educational and creative family activities. MaryAnne has a Masters in Education and PhD in medicine. She enjoys freelance writing and photography.

Connect with MaryAnne on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Google+

Multicultural Kid Blogs:

Multicultural Kid Blogs is a supportive community which brings together parents, educators, bloggers, writers and artists from across the world. Our mission is to inspire and support parents, caregivers, educators raising the next generation of global citizens through arts, activities, crafts, food, language, and love. We do this by creating educational and parenting content which celebrates global cultures, languages and belief systems and by promoting diversity in all its forms while recognizing our common concerns and dreams for our children.

Connect with Multicultural Kid Blogs on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Google+

Randomly Reading:

Alex Baugh is a former 4th grade classroom teacher and homeschooler with one Kiddo. She is also on a children's book award granting committee, where they read over 6,000 books a year. Alex's experience has made her very aware of the responsibility we all have when it comes to the multicultural content of children's literature and she shares that in every blog post she writes for Randomly Reading.

Connect with Alex on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Google+

The Jenny Evolution:

The Jenny Evolution is a parenting lifestyle blog focused on topics moms care about. From important parenting tips to family meals to simple kid activities, moms want information they can immediately use and have fun with. The Jenny Evolution is focused on articles that enrich family life without making it complicated...because who has time for that?

Connect with Jenny on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Google+


The Logonauts:

Katie is a life-long reader and enjoys ensnaring others in the web of life-long reading. As a traveler, photographer, and former archaeologist, she has visited four five continents (honeymoon in Morocco!), numerous countries, and 41 of the 50 US states. She loves introducing her students to the wider world and fostering their excitement about other countries and cultures. Lononaut is a word invented by Katie and three of her pre-service teacher colleagues while creating a unit on vocabulary-building and word roots. It has as its roots logo (Greek for word and naut (Greek for ship or nautae, Latin for sailor): word sailor. In their estimation then, a logonaut is someone who sails on the sea of words and shares an appreciation and love of the power of words and language.

Connect with Katie on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Google+ 

Youth Literature Reviews:

Katie Meadows is a mother, wife, and book lover from the Pacific Northwest. As a bookseller, Katie spent years helping children, parents, and educators find the perfect book. In 2012, she launched Youth Literature Reviews, a blog that features book reviews and carefully curated book lists for children of all ages, from babies to teens.

Connect with Katie on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest