I'm excited to be participating in Multicultural Children's Book Day 2020! This is my second year participating. I was gifted these books as a participant in this program and with the expectations of writing reviews about them. Last year I requested to receive a book for the age level I work with, but this year my own children, who are both South Korean and white, were on my mind, and I have been seeking out more books to read to them that have Asian American representation, so that is what I requested.
Brandon goes to Beijing
Brandon Goes to Beijing by Eugenia Chu tells the story of a boy who travels with his cousins and family to visit their grandparents in Beijing China. As they travel around the city, they learn and share different historical facts about some of the sites such as The Great wall of China and The Forbidden City. Along the way, Brandon thinks he spies a panda multiple times, but that couldn't be, right? Surely there isn't a panda following them.
There are some Mandarin Chinese words used throughout (the author noted it is Simplified Mandarin and with Pinyin pronunciation). A Preface at the front helps with pronunciation, and there's also a glossary at the back. The author, Eugenia Chu, even offers a video on Pinyin Pronunciation on her website and audio to go along with the text on her website. I appreciated learning more about the language and pronunciation. I also found the facts about the Forbidden City and the Great Wall of China very interesting; some of the facts went behind the ones I was taught as a student. I really enjoyed being able to hear the author's reading of the book. The details were a bit over the head of my 5 year old, but it'd be a good fit for a kid a few years older than her. I'm thinking 7 or 8 through 10.
I have not read a Katie Woo book before, but was eager to settle in to reading these Neighborhood books I was sent about her by Fran Manushkin and illustrated by Laura Zarrin to my 5 year old. They seemed like they would be at a good level for her.
In each of these four books I read from the series (Good Morning, Farmer Carmen!, Katie's Vet Loves Pets, Helping Mayor Patty, and Open Wide,Katie!), Katie interacts with different helpful people around her neighborhood including a farmer, mayor, veterinarian, and dentist. I appreciated the combination of the size of text, illustrations, and chapters. My daughter enjoyed the illustrations and felt accomplished that we read a book together with chapters that she understood for the first time. (She's not reading books on her own quite yet, but these will be great practice when she does.) I think it's great that this inclusive series shows different jobs and helpers in the community and explains them in an accessible way through the storytelling and plot. My five year old says that the veterinarian one (Katie's Vet Loves Pets) was her favorite. When asked why, she said that she "liked that people take care of stuff and make them healthy" and that she wants "people in the whole entire universe to be healthy!" She also mentioned liking Katie's colorful outfits (Katie's style is a bit similar to my daughter's - lots of colors and layers.) and giggled a few times. When we were done reading these four, she asked if I had another one! This was a good level read aloud for my 5 year old, so I would say 5 and up for reading aloud and good for independent readers learning to tackle books on their own. Here's some info from MCDB Organizers:
Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2020 (1/31/20) is in its 7th year! This non-profit children’s literacy initiative was founded by Valarie Budayr and Mia Wenjen; two diverse book-loving moms who saw a need to shine the spotlight on all of the multicultural books and authors on the market while also working to get those book into the hands of young readers and educators. Seven years in, MCBD’s mission is to raise awareness of the ongoing need to include kids’ books that celebrate diversity in homes and school bookshelves continues.
MCBD 2020 is honored to have the following Medallion Sponsors on boardSuper Platinum Make A Way Media/ Deirdre “DeeDee” Cummings, Platinum Language Lizard, Pack-N-Go Girls, Gold Audrey Press, Lerner Publishing Group, KidLit TV, ABDO BOOKS: A Family of Educational Publishers, PragmaticMom & Sumo Jo, Candlewick Press, Silver Author Charlotte Riggle, Capstone Publishing, Guba Publishing, Melissa Munro Boyd & B is for Breathe, Bronze Author Carole P. Roman, Snowflake Stories/Jill Barletti, Vivian Kirkfield & Making Their Voices Heard. Barnes Brothers Books, TimTimTom, Wisdom Tales Press, Lee & Low Books, Charlesbridge Publishing, Barefoot Books Talegari Tales Author Sponsor Link Cloudhttps://www.barefootbooks.com/l Jerry Craft, A.R. Bey and Adventures in Boogieland, Eugina Chu & Brandon goes to Beijing, Kenneth Braswell & Fathers Incorporated, Maritza M. Mejia & Luz del mes_Mejia, Kathleen Burkinshaw & The Last Cherry Blossom, SISSY GOES TINY by Rebecca Flansburg and B.A. Norrgard, Josh Funk and HOW TO CODE A ROLLERCOASTER, Maya/Neel Adventures with Culture Groove, Lauren Ranalli, The Little Green Monster: Cancer Magic! By Dr. Sharon Chappell, Phe Lang and Me On The Page, Afsaneh Moradian and Jamie is Jamie, Valerie Williams-Sanchez and Valorena Publishing, TUMBLE CREEK PRESS, Nancy Tupper Ling, Author Gwen Jackson, Angeliki Pedersen & The Secrets Hidden Beneath the Palm Tree, Author Kimberly Gordon Biddle, BEST #OWNVOICES CHILDREN’S BOOKS: My Favorite Diversity Books for Kids Ages 1-12 by Mia Wenjen, Susan Schaefer Bernardo & Illustrator Courtenay Fletcher (Founders of Inner Flower Child Books), Ann Morris & Do It Again!/¡Otra Vez!, Janet Balletta and Mermaids on a Mission to Save the Ocean, Evelyn Sanchez-Toledo & Bruna Bailando por el Mundo\ Dancing Around the World, Shoumi Sen & From The Toddler Diaries, Sarah Jamila Stevenson, Tonya Duncan and the Sophie Washington Book Series, Teresa Robeson & The Queen of Physics, Nadishka Aloysius and Roo The Little Red TukTuk, Girlfriends Book Club Baltimore & Stories by the Girlfriends Book Club, Finding My Way Books, Diana Huang & Intrepids, Five Enchanted Mermaids, Elizabeth Godley and Ribbon’s Traveling Castle, Anna Olswanger and Greenhorn, Danielle Wallace & My Big Brother Troy, Jocelyn Francisco and Little Yellow Jeepney, Mariana Llanos & Kutu, the Tiny Inca Princess/La Ñusta Diminuta, Sara Arnold & The Big Buna Bash, Roddie Simmons & Race 2 Rio, DuEwa Frazier & Alice’s Musical Debut, Veronica Appleton & the Journey to Appleville book series Green Kids Club, Inc. 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, Afsaneh Moradian, Agatha Rodi Books, All Done Monkey, Barefoot Mommy, Bethany Edward & Biracial Bookworms, Michelle Goetzl & Books My Kids Read, Crafty Moms Share, Colours of Us, Discovering the World Through My Son’s Eyes, Educators Spin on it, Shauna Hibbitts-creator of eNannylink, Growing Book by Book, Here Wee Read, Joel Leonidas & Descendant of Poseidon Reads {Philippines}, Imagination Soup, Kid World Citizen, Kristi’s Book Nook, The Logonauts, Mama Smiles, Miss Panda Chinese, Multicultural Kid Blogs, Serge Smagarinsky {Australia}, Shoumi Sen, Jennifer Brunk & Spanish Playground, Katie Meadows and Youth Lit Reviews FREE RESOURCES from Multicultural Children’s Book Day
1 Comment
|