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. 

Exploring Japan with Books and More

Disclosure: Tuttle Publishing gave me a copy of this book free of charge. 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.

In the next few weeks we will be sharing our exploration of Japan. We started our exploration with an exploration of cherries which we will post about as one of our Friday Fruit Explorations. When I went to look at books about cherries I was reminded of the Cherry Blossom Festival in Japan and thought it was the perfect tie in for our exploration. I contacted Tuttle Publishing and asked for some books about Japan and Japanese. Today I am going to share/review two of them with you. The first book is My First Book of Japanese Words: An ABC Rhyming Book by Michelle Haney Brown.

As with My First Book of Chinese Words which I reviewed in July, this book goes through the English alphabet sharing a Japanese word that starts with that sound. In the beginning the book has an introduction to Japanese as well as a pronunciation guide. To me one of the best part of these books is learning a bit about the culture and life in Japan. For example, t is for tanuki which is a raccoon dog. I did not know what a raccoon dog is, but found it interesting to see an animal we do not have that lives there. They also mention that Japan does not have skunks. Did you know that in Japan they have a version of Rock, Paper, Scissors? In this book you learn more about the train, food and animals of Japan. I find this book as a perfect introduction to studying Japan. It gives you an overview of things that are the same and different with our cultures and introduces the language at the same time.

The next book is Japanese Children's Favorite Stories by Florence Sakade. This is a fun book of traditional Japanese tales. This book has sequels since it has been so popular for sixty years. We love it! Hazel asks me to read her a couple of the stories each night. Through these traditional stories the reader learns a bit about Japanese culture. From the food and animals to jobs you see what life in Japan is and was like. Some stories talk about the islands of Japan and others tell you about things in the culture like tea, fans and such. The pictures are spread throughout the stories give a glimpse of the things that are happening in the stories as well as the traditional clothes.

These wonderful books are as always of the highest quality and well made. I love the books Tuttle Publishing puts out. They were the perfect introduction to a look at Japan. As I mentioned we will be exploring more about the country, language and culture in the next few weeks.

For some more on Japan check out:

• Sora and the Cloud
• Origami Butterflies
• Asian Kites
• Asian Pacific Island Heritage Month Blog Hop
• Asian-Pacific Island Book Round-Up
• Multicultural Christmas Books
• Play! Book Review
• Happy New Year Around the World
• My Multicultural Pinterest Board

Japanese Arts, Crafts and their Makers

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

This month is Asian Pacific Heritage Month and to celebrate it we are looking at Japan all month long for Multicultural Mondays. Last week we started with two picture books including one on the creation myth in Japan. Today we are going to look at the crafts and craftsmen/women of Japan as well as a round-up of Japanese-inspired crafts and artists. To begin this post I am sharing a new book that is being released tomorrow (May 12, 2020). It is Craftland Japan by Uwe Röttgen and Katharina Zetti.

Sophie Washington My BFF -- A book about friendship and standing up for yourself #readyourworld

 

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

Today is our last book for this year's Multicultural Children's Book Day which is tomorrow!! Be sure to come back tomorrow to check out the huge link party and be sure to sign up for the Twitter party! Today's book is a middle grade book (ages 8 to 12) about a Black girl and her friends. It is the tenth book in the Sophie Washington Series. It is Sophie Washington My BFF by Tonya Duncan Ellis. 

Mermaid Tales Book 18: Fairy Chase -- 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 been enjoying my reviews for Multicultural Children's Book Day? The big day is next Friday (1/29/21). You can stop by here to see the links of all the amazing books reviewed. I have shared some of the picture books with you--nonfiction and fiction as well as an easy reader. Today I am sharing an easy reader chapter book suggested for ages 6 to 9. The book itself is not all that multicultural but it is the 18th book in a series of 21 and the series itself is multicultural. The series is Mermaid Tales by Debbie Dadey and illustrated by Tatevik Avakyan. Today's book is Fairy Chase. 

New Kid -- 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.

Are you getting excited for Friday? It is hard to believe Multicultural Children's Book Day 2020 is almost here. Today I get to share another amazing book with you for it. But before we talk about the book by Jerry Craft I need to also mention that Jerry Craft is the artist who designed this year's poster! You can see it to the right as well as after my review and before the information about Multicultural Children's Book Day. Thank you, Jerry, for creating such a beautiful poster!

Global Kids: 50+ Games, Crafts, Recipes & More from Around the World -- Multicultural Children's Book Day Review

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

For today's multicultural review I am sharing a neat set of cards to teach kids about different cultures of the world. It is Global Kids: 50+ Games, Crafts, Recipes & More from Around the World by Homa Sabet Tavangar and Sophie Fatus.  

Learning about Japan for Asian Pacific American Heritage Month Week 1

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

Wow, April was a bit of a strange month with the stay at home order. It is hard to believe it is May. Our weather is finally starting to warm back up. April was the coldest April on record here and until this weekend our warmest day in 2020 was in January! May is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. Multicultural Kid Blogs has stopped doing its monthly heritage month series but I still wanted to share about it. So this year as I looked at my resources (aka my review shelf) I noticed a definite theme of Japan. So I am going to try to post on Mondays sharing different resources on Japan and Japanese culture. And it makes the most sense to begin with well the beginning. So our first book today is Kojiki: The Birth of Japan by Kazumi Wilds. 

Opening the Road -- Multicultural Children's Book Day Review #readyourworld

 

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

It is here!! I finally get to begin sharing all the wonderful books I get to review for Multicultural Children's Book Day! The official day with the link party to share all the reviews is January 29th, next Friday! Between now and then I get to share eight books with you (and then I donate them to Hazel's school or our public library). The books I got this year have a wide range from history, travel to fantasy and more. I thought with it being Martin Luther King Day I would start by sharing a book about a Black man. The book is Opening the Road: Victor Hugo Green and His Green Book by Keila V. Dawson and illustrated by Alleanna Harris. This book is being released on January 26, 2021 but you can pre-order it today. It is a perfect book for Black History Month (February)!

Multicultural Books for Different Ages

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

Today is Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. birthday. I have been sharing many of my past posts about Dr. King on my Facebook page this weekend. Be sure to check them all out plus the review I wrote over at Multicultural Kid Blogs this month. 

Announcement: Multicultural Children's Book Day Twitter Party (and Giveaways)

Please join us for our Multicultural Children's Book Day

Win 1 of 12 Book Bundles! Giving away Book Bundles every 6 minutes!

Twitter Party

Friday, January 27th

9 pm to 10 pm EST

Hashtag: #ReadYourWorld

We will be discussing the state of children's book publishing and giving away diversity book bundles every six minutes! We invite EVERYONE to join us: authors, publishers, parents, caregivers, librarians, KidLit lovers. You don't have to be an author or publisher sponsor to join us! Let's talk about our favorite multicultural and diverse children's books, authors, and illustrators!

How do you join the Twitter party? Just use hashtag #ReadYourWorld to find us. When you tweet, use the hashtag so everyone can find you!

Register below to be able to win!!

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. 

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. 

My Love for You Is Like a Garden with Free Printable Match Game and Flower Craft Round-Up

 

Disclosure: I was sent a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I am working with The Children's Book Review and Flying Cardinal Press for this blog tour post. I will receive a small stipend for posting my review.

Spring is in the air! I see the tips of our daffodils, tulips and irises poking out of the soil between the mounds of snow. Spring is my favorite season. I love watching the world come back to life. I saw my first robin last week, so I know the warmer weather will be here soon. That means it is time to think about my garden. Today I am sharing a beautiful book comparing love to a garden. I made a match game with the beautiful illustrations and have a round-up of flower and garden crafts as well as a giveaway!! It is fun post! The book is called My Love for You Is Like a Garden by Laura Smetana.