The A – Z Of Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2018

It is time once again for the best literacy event of the year:  Multicultural Children’s Book Day. I am over the moon excited to partner with them as well as share their amazing resources. The Multicultural Children’s Book Day (MCBD) mission aligns closely with mine. They too seek to teach children reading skills and strategies with diverse and multicultural books.

This upcoming year on January 27th, 2018, I am co-hosting the event with 20 other authors, illustrators, teachers, and literacy enthusiasts.  Their non-profit organization has reached millions of people around the world. They have ensured thousands of books have made it into the hands that need them most.

This project is run by a team of volunteers who are children’s book activists like myself and simply seek to make a better world one reader, and one book at a time.

Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2018

The purpose of the event 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.  In 2017, the event had almost 4 billion impressions on social media.

“Now more than ever, children need to see themselves reflected in the pages of the books they read. Readers of all ages need to be able to “read their world” to both see themselves, and those are who different. Whether by culture, religion, sexual orientation, special needs or ethnicity.”

– Becky Flansburg

So how do you get involved and help children all over the world learn how to read through diverse and multicultural books? Below are a few action steps you can take right now.

Free Classroom Empathy Kit

The MCBD team just completed the 2018 Classroom Empathy Kit. This kit’s emphasis is on understanding and empathizing with immigrants and refugees. Additionally, the empathy kit includes a robust book list. As a follow up, there are excellent multicultural games as well as activity ideas to do with children of all ages. This beautiful classroom empathy kit is also free to parents, educators and librarians.

You can also grab your free Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2018 poster. This beautiful poster can be a visual reminder of the value of diversity in our world. A beautiful addition your classroom, playroom, library, or hallway from award winning author and illustrator Aram Kim. Click the picture to download or the link above.

Read Your World: A Guide to Multicultural Children’s Books for Parents and Educators

This wonderful eBook brings together a round up of multicultural book lists from co-hosts as well as authors who have participated in Multicultural Children’s Book Day. Each list is created around a topic or theme. Themes include Geography, World Religion, LGBT, Special Needs, and much more.

Sponsor the Event

Lastly, I urge you to consider giving back through sponsoring the 2018 event. From donating books to Platinum sponsorship, every contribution large or small is greatly appreciated and put to excellent use. Authors and illustrators, as well as friends and book enthusiasts; we encourage you to get involved so that every child has a chance to see themselves reflected in a book.

• Platinum (Limit 3) $1,500
• Gold (limit 6) $750
• Silver $425
• Bronze $225
• Author’s Sponsorship (no limit) $100
• Friends of MCBD (charitable donations-no limit) $25.00
• Donate Books
• Share this post and tag friends, teachers, and your favorite authors and illustrators on social media; be sure to use the hashtag #readyourworld

Click HERE for more Sponsorship Information. Don’t forget to spread the message of inclusion through diverse books in every home and classroom by using the sharing buttons below.

Get diverse books into the hands of those who need them most. #readyourworld Share on X

Share Book Reviews

Calling all those with social media; MCBD is offering a FREE diversity book to review on your social media platforms: Instagram, Facebook and YouTube. There is an optional book extension activity to blog posts.

The only rules for this book review opportunity are:

1. to have a love of diversity in children’s literature and be willing to share on your social media platforms
2.  When signing up to be a book reviewer, simply indicate which platform(s) you plan to post your review on in the “blog URL” space on the below Google sign up form.

For more details on how the book review process works through MCBD 2018, click HERE.

Free #diversebooks in exchange for social media reviews from @MCChildsBookDay! #readyourworld Share on X

Join our Facebook group of like minded allies for diverse books today to share your reviews so we can support your efforts.