Hispanic Hertiage Month--Some Legends of Puerto Rico

Hispanic Heritage Month is every September 15th to October 15th. Last year we really focused on Mexico for Hispanic Heritage Month. We also have done two Mexican Cinderella tales in our Fairy Tales in Different Culture series (as well as a Hispanic American version). This year we are going to expand out a bit. You will be seeing some Hispanic Heritage posts in our Fairy Tales in Different Cultures series (including this week) as well as our Flamingo Friday posts. Today I am going to share with you two wonderful picture books that tell two legends from Puerto Rico. Before I begin with the books, I need to send out a huge thank you to Daria over at Daria Music for sending these great books to me. If you have not checked out Daria's site, you should. She has amazing CD's as well as a great monthly page with several giveaways each month. This month she is giving away a basket full of castanets and a set of fair trade zamponas.

A Look At Mexican Art -- Hispanic Heritage Month

This year for our Hispanic Heritage Month post I thought we would share a bit about artwork from Mexico. Mexico is the country of the month for Global Learning for Kids, so we have been looking at it quite a bit this month. More posts to follow on it. In previous years we have looked at Frida Kahlo, papel picado,  Jose Guadalupe Posada and Juan Quezada. We found even more books at the library about Frida Kahlo.

Ramadan in Singapore -- Ramadan for Kids, Global Learning for Kids & Asian Pacific American Heritage Blogs Series & Giveaway

For my final 2016 post for Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month I thought I would combine it with our Global Learning for Kids exploration of Singapore and kick off our Ramadan for Kids Blog Hop. Did you know about 15% of the Singapore population is Muslim (according to 2010 statistics)? There are 69 mosques in Singapore.  (Source) The Sultan Mosque or Masjid Sultan is considered one of the most important mosques in Singapore.

Nightfall at Sultan Mosque By Erwin Soo from Singapore, Singapore [CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Malaysian and Singapore Children's Favourite Stories -- Asian Pacific-American Heritage Month Review & Giveaway

Disclosure: Tuttle Publishing gave me copies of these books free of charge for this review. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation. As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation. 

May brings us into Asian Pacific-American Heritage Month. To celebrate I always like to read some Asian stories. Luckily I have a contact at Tuttle Publishing. Tuttle Publishing focuses on Asia in their books. They are also a supporter of the Multicultural Kid Blogs' Giveaway for this month. As such they sent me a copy of Malaysian Children's Favourite Stories by Kay Lyons and illustrated by Martin Loh which is the only prize from them I have not previously reviewed as well a copy of Singapore Children's Favourite Stories by Di Taylor and illustrations by LK Tay-Audouard. They have quite the selection of Asian countries for this series of books and I have to admit we have quite a few of them as well. Hazel always LOVES these books and never lets me donate them. Actually it looks like I am missing a few. I am guessing they may be hiding in Hazel's room.

Katie Chin's Everyday Chinese Cookbook -- Asian Pacific Heritage Month Series

Disclosure: Tuttle Publishing gave me a copy of this book free of charge for this review. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation. As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation. 

It is May and that brings several things. In the United States it means Mother's Day, the end of school is near and Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month. This post is the first of mine in the Multicultural Kid Blogs Asian Pacific American Heritage Month Blog Series and Giveaway. (Scroll down for the giveaway!) Today I am sharing with you a new cookbook from Katie Chin. This book is Katie Chin's Everyday Chinese Cookbook: 101 Delicious Recipes from My Mother's Kitchen with photographs by Masano Kawana. Katie Chin is sharing some of her mother's everyday recipes just in time for Mother's Day!!

Hispanic Heritage Month Blog Hop--Learning about Juan Quezada a Mexican Potter

Today starts this year's Hispanic Heritage Month. The theme this year is Celebrating Hispanic Heritage with Kids. To do this, I turned to books from the library. Anyone who reads Crafty Moms Share regularly knows I love to read books about other cultures and countries to Hazel. We both love to learn about them.  The first book we are sharing this month is The Pot That Juan Built by Nancy Andrews-Goebel. This is the story of Juan Quezada and his pottery.

Our Japanese Tea Party -- Exploring Japan with Tea Parties Around the World

Disclosure: Tuttle Publishing gave me copy of this book free of charge for this review. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation. As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation.


So last month our plan was to have a Japanese tea party for Tea Parties Around the World, but life interfered and our tea party happened in May instead, but this is perfect since it is Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month. So through April and into May we have been exploring Japan. Now Japan is known for its tea ceremony. It sounds so fancy and has an interesting history. To learn more about the tea ceremony we read Tea Ceremony by Shozo Sato. 

Sacagawea and the Shoshone -- Native American Heritage Month Series & Giveaway

Disclosure: Quarto Knows sent me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

As much as I love Native Americans, I tend to stick to the Wampanoag. Perhaps it is because they live in Massachusetts or because they are the ones in the "first Thanksgiving" story. Plus they are often the ones I see displays about or meet because of the locality. Well I already wrote a post about the Wampanoag for Multicultural Kid Blogs for our Native American Heritage Month Series this year and several over the years here, so today I decided to look at another tribe, the Shoshone. I am going to review one of the books that is a prize in our giveaway and take a look at one of the most famous Native Americans--Sacagawea and her tribe the Shoshone. Last month I had the pleasure of sharing another book that is one of our prizes--I Am Sacagawea by Brad Meltzer. I also reviewed a book about Sacagawea a few years ago. Today's book is Path to the Pacific: The Story of Sacagawea by Neta Lohnes Frazier. 

Metacomet (aka. King Philip) -- Native American Heritage Month Blog Series and Giveaway

For one of my posts in this year's Native American Heritage Month Blog Series and Giveaway, I thought it was about time I learned more about Metacomet. After all I went to a middle school named in his honor with his English name--King Philip. I knew King Philip was an Native American who had fought a big war, but that was about all I knew. I'm a little sad I didn't learn more about him while at a school named in his honor. Anyway we of course turned to the library.

Hispanic Heritage Month Celebrating with Music--Celia Cruz and Musical Crafts & Giveaway!!

As Hispanic Heritage Month continues on, we are sharing what we have been doing to learn more about Hispanic Music. A few years ago we made maracas, guiro, and a cajita based on Daria Marmaluk-Hajioannou's tutorials. We also made zampoñas and a rainstick previously (thanks to Daria). This year we got a free copy of Daria's latest e-book: 10 Musical Crafts to Celebrate Hispanic Heritage. You can get a free copy this month on her Monthly Song Page (and scroll down to enter a great giveaway). After this month you can purchase a copy on Teachers Pay Teachers.

Native American Heritage Month Series & Giveaway -- Review of Some of the Prizes

Disclosure: I was sent these products free of charge. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation. As always I am providing links to the book for your convenience.

Have you seen the amazing prizes we have put together for Multicultural Kid Blogs' Native American Heritage Month Series & Giveaway? If not, scroll down!! I helped find some of them and have some copies of them to review for you. I am going to do it by publisher but also go in order of the prizes. We will start with the Grand Prize and Quarto Knows. 

Learning about Juan Felipe Herrera and His New Book Imagine

Disclosure: Candlewick Press sent me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Today I am participating in Multicultral Kid Blog's Hispanic Heritage Month Blog Hop. I am going to share a new picture book by Juan Felipe Herrera called Imagine. It is illustrated by Lauren Castillo. When I read the book, I wanted to know more about the man who wrote it and I soon learned he is an interesting man to learn about and I thought I would share about Juan Felipe Herrera with you.

Math from the Middle East: Middle Eastern & Northern Africa Blog Series and Giveaway

This post is part of the Multicultural Kid Blogs' Middle Eastern and Northern African Heritage Month Blog Series and Giveaway. To enter the giveaway scroll to the bottom. I thought I would continue my look at multicultural mathematics by looking at some of the Middle Eastern mathematicians and mathematics from the Middle East. Unfortunately I was not able to find books that shared this information that Hazel could understand. I am sharing a bit about a few mathematicians and lessons to go with their discoveries as well as a bit on Islamic art and lessons as well.

Global Learning for Kids

Have you entered my current giveaway? This is one you do not want to miss!!

 I am joining a group of Multicultural Kid Blogs to start a new series called Global Learning for Kids. Each month we will explore a country with books, music, crafts, lessons, food, etc. and share our exploration as well as have a link party so the posts will be a one-stop place to get many resources on the chosen country. This month we are starting with Japan! I wrote an introduction to the country of Japan over at Multicultural Kid Blogs to kick off Global Learning for Kids as well as the Asian Pacific American Heritage Month Blog Series and Giveaway. (Make sure you stop by to enter the giveaway--there are some amazing prizes!!) We will be sharing posts about our exploration of Japan all month and later this month we will share two posts in the Blog Series and Giveaway (not having to do with just Japan). Make sure to follow this month!!

Since we are starting with Japan, I thought I would start with a round-up of everything we have already learned about Japan since we actually have quite a few posts with things about Japan in them.

Rigoberta Menchu

Back in August I had the pleasure of sharing She Takes a Stand: 16 Fearless Activists Who Have Changed the World by Michael Elsohn Ross. One of the amazing 16 women I read about was Rigoberta Menchú. I decided then to focus on Rigoberta for Hispanic Heritage Month (there is a giveaway below). I wanted to share her story with Hazel (though she got bored--I guess I'll have to wait a few more years) and you.  Rigoberta is an indigenous woman from Guatemala. She has dedicated her life to promoting indigenous rights in Guatemala. She received a Nobel Peace Prize in 1992.

Rigoberta with other Human Rights Activists in 1992 By Moya110 (Own work) 
[GFDL or CC BY-SA 4.0-3.0-2.5-2.0-1.0], via Wikimedia Commons

P'esk'a and the First Salmon Ceremony -- Book Review & Learning about the Sts'ailes People -- Global Learning for Kids

Disclosure: Groundwood Books gave me a copy of this book free of charge for this review. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation.  As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation.

November is Native American Heritage Month. With my love for Native American culture I love this heritage month!! I was thinking today about why I love Native American culture so much. It could be part of white man guilt over how they were treated (and are still being treated by our government), but I think it is more how they lived in harmony with the environment. I really love their stories and how they did not waste. The talents each group has was so amazing and it just seems so much more of what I see God wanting from us. They were usually good stewards of the earth. 

Since it is Native American Heritage Month, Global Learning for Kids is focusing on Indigenous People of North America.  Multicultural Kid Blogs is hosting its annual Native American Heritage Month Blog Series and Giveaway. We will be participating in the blog series later this month, but you can enter the giveaway now and the book we are sharing today is in one of the prize packs! Today we are sharing P'esk'a and the First Salmon Ceremony by Scot Ritchie. 

Juan Diego and Our Lady of Guadalupe: Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month

This is the third week of the Hispanic Heritage Month. We are participating in the Multicultural Kid Blogs Hispanic Heritage Month Blog Hop and Giveaway. You can enter the giveaway here by scrolling down as well. We are sharing something we have done to celebrate or learn about Hispanic cultures each week during the month. Today we are sharing the story of Juan Diego and Our Lady of Guadalupe. We discovered this story by reading The Beautiful Lady: Our Lady of Guadalupe by Pat Mora. There are however many books that discuss the story and the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. We also have enjoyed thus far Tomie de Paolo's Our Lady of Guadalupe. Here are some other books we found at the library that share some part of the story or how the festivals are celebrated.

The Golden Age of Islam/Baghdad -- Global Learning for Kids -- Middle Eastern and North African Heritage Month

August Multicultural Kid Blogs celebrates Middle Eastern and North African Heritage Month. This post is part of this series as well as the first of our Global Learning for Kids for August. Global Learning for Kids is exploring Iraq this month. This summer Hazel has really gotten into the Magic Tree House series and I was very excited to find one that takes Jack and Annie to Iraq. It was the perfect way to introduce this country to Hazel.

Native Americans of Cape Cod and Massachusetts

This summer while visiting my parents at Cape Cod, Steve, Hazel and I journeyed to the National Seashore Visitor's Center. It was the first time I took Hazel there and possibly Steve's first time as well. We watched the videos on how Cape Cod was formed and a bit of the history of Cape Cod. There is quite a bit of history. Then we went into the small exhibit room. In this room there was various exhibits about the people of the past on Cape Cod and of course included a Native American exhibit. I thought I took some pictures, but if I did they are lost. Part of the exhibit showed the structure of a wigwam and had other tools and parts of Native American life. But what struck me the most was the recordings of Native Americans and messages they have for all. One message was how it is important to know the history of the place you live. Knowing that history will enable you to understand the land and environment and preserve it as much as possible. I have been thinking about this ever since. It made me want to investigate the Native Americans of Cape Cod. After all so many things are named using Native American words like Nauset, Skaket, Namskaket, Mashpee, Cotuit, Hyannis, Sagamore and more. Even Massachusetts comes from Native Americans. In fact it is the tribe which lived in the Greater Boston area. (Source: The Wampanoags of Masspee) 

A Look at Japan for Asian / Pacific Island Heritage Month

Disclosure: I was sent these books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

May is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. Multicultural Kid Blogs is hosting a blog hop today for this heritage month and I decided to focus mostly on Japan. I have a bunch of fun books to share with you to help focus on Japan and its culture. It is a mixture of coloring books, origami kits, a novel and an Asian cookbook. The first book I am going to share is another book in the Friendship Dolls Series from Candlewick Press. I reviewed the other two previously. Today's book is Dolls of Hope by Shirley Parenteau.