Sharing Saturday 15-42

Thank you to everyone who shared last week!! Once again I was blown away by the great ideas shared!!  Remember the features are just a sampling of the things shared so if you did not get a chance to check them all out, go back and be inspired! This week's features' themes are Pumpkins, Day of the Dead and Costumes and Scavenger Hunts and Fairy Races. Also a side note that last week I started another link party on Saturday night for crafts for any age person called Crafty Weekends. Our second party will be tomorrow night. Stop by to share your crafts, patterns, reviews of craft books, etc. And don't forget to share all things pumpkins (crafts, recipes, lessons, etc.) at my Pumpkin Link Party!

The Last Cherry Blossom -- a Multicultural Children's Book Day Review #ReadYourWorld

Disclosure: Kathleen Burkinshaw gave me a copy of this book free of charge for this review in return for an honest 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 January and that means Multicultural Children's Book Day is approaching. This year it is January 27th and I am co-hosting, so be sure to check back to see the amazing array of books reviewed for this great day.

Let's Read About Black Characters & People -- Round-Up of Children's Books

The other day as I talked to Hazel about current events on our walk and was telling her my plans for Crafty Moms Share, she said, "Did you ever notice that when there is a black person in a book there is just one in a group of white friends?" Oh, yes, we still have the token black person in our society of books and television shows. She even commented how sometimes the group is made up of one person of different races like in The Start-Up Squad Series. I recently read an article about how white people need to do more than talk to our kids about racism. Where we live, who our neighbors are, books we read/provide our kids, who our friends are, the diversity of the school we send our kids to all play a part in how our kids grow up and understand race relations. Now I cannot change your neighborhood or their school but I hope I can change the books in your house and your library. I asked some fellow bloggers as well as authors that are part of the Multicultural Children's Book Day group for any books, activities, and reviews they had with black people as the main characters. Today I am going to share a round-up of books shared and some others I found (on Amazon). I will link reviews and activities whenever possible. It is important that all of our kids read books that have people like them but it is also important that our kids read books with people who do not look like them. This will build their understanding and help them to grow and learn about race and culture and hopefully not be racist when they grow up. I have the books separated into picture books, fairy tales, chapter books/novels, and non-fiction/biographies. There are some separation within some of these genres as well. 

Welcome Back, Maple Mehta-Cohen -- a Multicultural Children's Book Day Review

 

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

Today I get to share another book for Multicultural Children's Book Day. It is a middle grades novel that has a main character who is the child of an Indian-American father and Jewish mother. Then at the end of fifth grade is diagnosed with dyslexia. The book is Welcome Back, Maple Mehta-Cohen by Kate McGovern. 

Mystery of the Min Min Lights - a Multicultural Children's Book Day Review

Disclosure: Janelle Diller of Pack-n-Go Girls sent me this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. 

It is hard to believe the Multicultural Children's Book Day is coming quickly. It is on January 27th and I am a co-host so be sure to come back and check out all the reviews at the link up!! 

First Generation -- a Multicultural Children's Book Day Review #readyourworld

Disclosure: I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review as part of Multicultural Children's Book Day. All opinions are my own.

Can we talk about immigration? I mean it is all over our news. In fact in many ways we can say immigration has shut down our government. But let's look at the positive side of immigration instead of all the bad news our politicians are throwing around. (And in my humble opinion I don't think any of Congress or the President should be paid during the shutdown. In fact I think their salaries and health care should be going to the out of work federal employees, but I don't like to talk about politics too much.) I have an amazing book to share with you today. Tomorrow is Multicultural Children's Book Day and the link-up will be right here tomorrow!! Be sure to come back and check out all the amazing books reviewed this year! The book today is First Generation: 36 Trailblazing Immigrants And Refugees Who Make America Great by Sandra Neil Wallace and Rich Wallace and illustrated by Agata Nowicka.

Orthodox Christian Holidays -- a Multicultural Children's Book Day Review

Disclosure: Charlotte Riggle sent me these books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. 

Do you know anyone who is Orthodox Christian? I have good friends who are Greek Orthodox so I have some idea of the Orthodox traditions, but of course they are also different for different cultures and areas. However today I am sharing some amazing books to share some Orthodox traditions around two holidays--St. Nicholas Day and Easter. These books are by Charlotte Riggle and illustrated by R.J. Hughes. Both books have the same characters in it: Catherine and her best friend Elizabeth and Catherine's family. Since St. Nicholas Day was last week (Wednesday), I will start with Saint Nicholas Day Snow. (By the way today is St. Lucia Day, but as I am running late on my December holiday posts that one will be late as well.)

The Book of Untold Stories -- a Multicultural Children's Book Day Review

 

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

Today I am going to share the first of many multicultural children's book that I am reviewing for the 9th annual Multicultural Children's Book Day. On January 28, 2022, I will be co-hosting Multicultural Children's Book Day and you can visit here to see all the books reviewed and share your own reviews! Today we are sharing The Book of Untold Stories: Fourteen Prompts to Spark the Imagination by Sherri Maret and illustrated by Thomas Hilley. This book is recommended for ages 5+.

Multicultural Children's Book Day BIG Link Party #readyourworld

 

Today is the day!! It is Multicultural Children's Book Day! What does this mean? Well, if you have been reading my posts all month you will know I shared five multicultural books this month in preparation for today. Many other people, bloggers, influencers, etc. have done the same thing on their blogs and social media. Today we all gather and share all of the reviews (as well as other multicultural book reviews) in a big link party (scroll down to join). 

Multicultural Books for Your 1st through 3rd Graders -- Multicultural Children's Book Day Review

Disclosure: Capstone Publishing gave me copies of these books free of charge for this review in return for an honest 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.

Today I get to share with you some fun multicultural books from a silver sponsor of Multicultural Children's Book Day. These group of nine books are a mix of picture books and easy reader chapter books. We will start with the amazing picture books. The first book is appropriate for January since it is about a girl who cannot wait to meet the POTUS when she goes to work with her mother at the White House. It is When Penny Met POTUS by Rachel Ruiz and illustrated by Melissa Manwill. 

Black History Month Books for Grades 3+

Disclosure: I was sent a copy of these books in exchange for honest reviews. All opinions are my own.

February has a lot packed in it this year. We have Valentine's Day and Chinese New Year, and I haven't even started on Black History Month. Today I am going to share two amazing resources for Black History Month. These books are for grades 3 or higher. Be sure to come back on Monday for my post for the Multicultural Kid Blogs Black History Month Blog Hop. The first book I want to share has been around for a couple of years and has received a few honor rewards. It is Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement by Carole Boston Weatherford and illustrated by Ekua Holmes. And the first thing I am going to say about this book is "WOW!!"

A Time to Dance Review #readyourworld

Disclosure: I was sent this book in exchange for an honest review as part of Multicultural Children's Book Day. All opinions are my own.

Imagine being at the top of your world. You just one a competition in your dream activity and then on the way to the press conference a horrible accident occurs and you lose a limb so your dream activity seems impossible. That is how this story begins. It introduces us to Veda who danced before she even walked. She is a young Indian woman trying to figure out life and live her dream. And then in a horrible accident she loses one of her legs. There was no way of saving it. Will she be able to walk again? Will she ever be able to dance? The book is A Time to Dance by Padma Venkatraman. 

Sharing Saturday 17-18

It is time for Sharing Saturday!! This is a link party to share all of your child-oriented crafts, crafts made for kids, activities and lessons as well as your parenting and/or teaching posts.

On Sunday night we also host Crafty Weekends for all your crafts (done by any age), patterns, and craft product reviews! It is the perfect place to share your creative side!! And for all of your cultural posts come share them at the monthly Creative Kids Culture Blog Hop.

Thank you to everyone who shared with us at our last party! It was a small party but full of great ideas!  Our features are just a sampling of them so if you haven't checked them all out, you should! This week we have one group of features. The top row is in honor of some May "holidays". 

Saraswati's Way -- Multicultural Children's Book Day Review

Disclosure: Monika Schroder gave me a copy of this book free of charge for this review in return for an honest 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.

Can you believe Multicultural Children's Book Day is on Friday? I cannot wait to see all the great books reviewed in the link up on Friday. I am a co-host so you can see them here!!

Intrepids -- Middle School Book Review -- Multicultural Childrens Book Day

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

Do you like science fiction and fantasy? I never really consider myself a lover of either genre but I think I am fooling myself because the fantasy books I have reviewed here I love and here is another great one! It is Intrepids by Diana Huang. 

Biographies of Black People for Grades 3-5 -- Multicultural Children's Book Day Review

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

It is January and that means Multicultural Children's Book Day is coming. This year it is scheduled for January 31, 2020, and I will be cohosting it so be sure to tune in then to see all the amazing books shared. Today I get to share three books from Capstone Editions. This collection of books share a look into the lives of three black Americans that you may or may not have heard of but are perfect books for the upcoming Black History Month. They are all recommended for grades 3 to 5. We will start with Ona Judge Outwits the Washingtons: An Enslaved Woman Fights for Freedom by Gwendolyn Hooks and illustrated by Simone Agoussoye. 

Hidden Women -- a Multicultural Children's Book Day Review

Disclosure: Capstone Publishing sent me this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Have you seen Hidden Figures? It is in Hazel's top three favorite movies of all times. Our family went to see it on Martin Luther King Day last year. Last year I wrote about the real women in the story for Black History Month. And before the movie I had done a post about Katherine Johnson for a previous Black History Month. Needless to say this is a topic near and dear to us. I jumped at the chance to review a new book called Hidden Women: The African-American Mathematicians of NASA Who Helped Win the Space Race by Rebecca Rissman. 

Water Is Water - a Multicultural Children's Book Day Review

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

It is hard to believe Multicultural Children's Book Day is less than a week away!! I still have several books to review for it, so keep looking this week!! Today I get to share with you a beautiful book with a STEM focus. I love when picture books have lessons in them and this one does. It is Water Is Water by Miranda Paul and illustrated by Jason Chin. 

Queen Goharshad -- Brave with Beauty -- a Multicultural Children's Book Day Review

 

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

Have you ever heard of Queen Goharshad? She was queen of Khorashan back in the 1400s. Khorashan was in present day Afghanistan, Iran and Turkey. She is remembered for the buildings she built including the Goharshad Mosque (in present day Iran) and for supporting the arts. Today I get to share with you a wonderful picture book based on this amazing woman and her accomplishments. The book is called Brave with Beauty: A Story of Afghanistan by Maxine Rose Schur with art by Patricia Grush, Robin Dewitt, and Golsa Yaghoobi. It is recommended for ages 7 to 9.

Dinner on Domingos -- a Multicultural Children's Book Day Review

 

Disclosure: I was sent a copy of this book in exchanged for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Does your family or did your family have a tradition of Sunday dinner? I remember when I was young, we would gather at my grandparents' house for Sunday dinner. Often it would be a steak dinner or some type of beef I believe, but that is not really a memory, but more information told to me. The memory I have is when my cousin was a baby. I remember his holding my finger with his little hands for hours. I was finally not the baby of the family anymore. The funny thing is I don't remember his younger sister as a baby, but I remember him. Today I get to share with you a story about a Sunday dinner tradition in an Ecuadorian-American family and it has a family recipe to try at the end!! (We tried it and I loved it!!) The book is Dinner on Domingos by Alexandra Katona and illustrated by Claudia Navarro. This book is recommended for ages 5 to 8 and this review is for Multicultural Children's Book Day! Join us here, we are co-hosting, on January 28th for the BIG LINKY of all the Multicultural Children's Books and the celebration. There is more information about it all below!