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. 

Sharing Saturday 15-26

Thank you to everyone who shared last week!! We were visiting my parents last week, so I did not get an email out and the numbers were a bit low, but what was shared was amazing!! If you have not checked them out, you should. For the sampling of ideas from last week I went with Educational Features and Summer Project Features. Enjoy!!

Exploring India -- Resources and Craft

This month Global Learning for Kids is exploring India. We have been reading books about India, people from India, places in India and stories from India. Today I am sharing with you a bit about India as well as some of the resources we found (some we have read and some we have not read yet) as well as a craft Hazel did with instructions from a book and minimal help from me. First a bit about India.

The Republic of India is the seventh largest country by area and the second largest by population. It has over 1.2 billion people in it! It is a country in Southeast Asia. The capital is New Delhi. It has a long history which includes the start of four religions: Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism. Hinduism is the most prevalent religion there today. India has a caste system which is a social hierarchy. In 1947 the untouchables caste was declared illegal due to the discrimination that the people put into this caste endured. At many workplaces the caste system is not important.  Family is important in India and many live with  large patriarchal families. Many marriages are still arranged by the parents with the consent of the couple. Divorce rate is very low since marriage is considered to be for life.

Blueberries!! We Picked, We Baked & Cooked and Ate

Sharing Saturday is still open!! Please stop by to share your child-oriented posts and to be inspired by what others share!

So our plans for this past week were cancelled. Hazel had been so excited to go to the Cape since my sister who lives in North Carolina was there this week, but we didn't have a bed to sleep in and the two-hour trip each way (and more with Boston traffic) would be too much for one day with a 3-year-old. So to keep her from being upset I planned some fun days for us. On Thursday we planned to go blueberry picking. The weather forecast was not cooperating, but we tried to chance it. I called an organic farm a friend had told me about but they had all of their pick your own blueberries on hold until next week, so I googled and found this family owned home that opens up their blueberry grove to be picked if you have an appointment. So I made an appointment for early in the morning hoping we would beat the rain.

We drove up to these nice couple's house. She had warned me not to get out of the car until they came out since they have guard dogs. They also have free-range chickens which Hazel loved seeing and hearing. They had a beautiful grove of many blueberry bushes. Hazel had so much fun we picked an extra pint! Our plan was to make blueberry jam so we would have it for Christmas gifts. Then we talked about blueberry pie and blueberry muffins and of course eating the blueberries on the way home and bringing some to Nonni since Hazel played at her house the next day. So we picked three quarts and one pint of blueberries. It did rain a bit on us, but it was only sprinkles so we stayed picking.

On our way home we stopped at the store for a pre-made pie crust. I figured with all the cooking we had planned we didn't need to make the pie crust as well. (This was the night we made the pancit as well.) We got home and had a quick lunch and then got to work. The first thing we did was the pies.

Hazel started mixing the filling. I decided not to make a big pie, but mini pies so we would not use all of our extra blueberries. (The jam recipe called for 5 pints, which is 2.5 quarts.) A full pie calls for a pint of blueberries and we still wanted some to eat and some for muffins. I went searching for mini pie recipes and then realized I would need mini pie pans. However, I found this recipe that used a muffin pan! I combined the filling recipe with my traditional one from Better Homes & Garden Cookbook. We used 2 cups of blueberries, 1/4 cup of sugar, 1 tablespoon of flour, 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon, a dash of nutmeg, a bit of lemon zest and mixed them all together and let them sit.

Then our next challenge was to find something to cut a four-inch circle. I found a lid to something that was four inches in diameter and it worked. Then we used some cookie cutters for the pie tops. I would change the recipe and use foil muffin liners next time. These were horrible to get out of the pan even with plenty of cooking spray.

While the blueberry pies were in the oven, Hazel had the best time playing with the scraps of pie crust. She made a house. She decided not to put a roof on it.

Then she put a mirror and a person in her house.

Can you see the person? It is the bump in the middle. The mirror is the flattish piece against the far edge.

Then the pies were done. Like I said they were not easy to get out, so they were not all pretty. This one however came out perfectly!

All right this is getting a bit long so you will have to wait until later in the week for our blueberry jam and blueberry muffins. Have you done anything special with blueberries this summer?

This is where I share...

Themed Play Dates -- Oriental Trading Products Review

Disclosure: I was sent these items to review free of charge from Oriental Trading. All opinions in this post are my own. I did not receive any other compensation for this review. I am including links to the products for your convenience but do not receive anything if you buy from them.

Perhaps it is my love of planning parties and such, but I love throwing themed play dates for Hazel and her friends and Hazel really enjoys them. This summer we have had or will have three different themed play dates and we used some products from Oriental Trading to make them even more fun. The themes are fairies, mermaids and Bible stories: Creation and Noah's Ark. 

Christmas Around the World - Christmas in Kenya

I joined an amazing group of bloggers put together by Beth at Living Life Intentionally to present Christmas Around the World. Each blogger is presenting how Christmas or a winter holiday is celebrated in different countries around the world. Some will be writing from their own experiences and some, like me, will be writing based on research. Today I present Christmas in Kenya.

Source

Multicultural Christmas Books

I promised last week to share some of the multicultural Christmas books we have been reading and/or have found. Today is the day to share! Now you may be asking why share books about other cultures. First I know I want my daughter to know about other cultures and show respect for all. Second, I think it is important to see books with people besides our own kind. The world is a diverse place and to be a part of it, we need to understand a bit about each other so we can find a way to be at peace with one another.

The books I am sharing I have divided into a few categories. The first is different culture books--they contain more than one culture in each book.

• Santa's North Pole Cookbook by Jeff Guinn is a book with recipes from all over the world. I find food a wonderful way to share cultures with Hazel.
• Three Wise Women by Mary Hoffman is one of my favorite Christmas books. It is about three women who see the star and follow it. They do not know how long they walk, but they know they must follow the star. They meet and walk together and find the stable with Joseph and Mary. Each finds a gift to give the baby. One woman brings bread she was baking, one tells stories and the third has only her young son, but he reaches out to the baby and shows love.
• Elijah's Angel by Michael J. Rosen is a story told by a young Jewish boy about his neighbor and friend, Elijah. Elijah is an elderly black man and a barber and woodcarver. As their friendship grows from visits after school, Elijah gives his young friend a Christmas angel he has carved. The Jewish boy is afraid to show the angel to his parents, but he loves it and his parents give him a way to accept a Christian gift and still be Jewish.

Now the groups are divided mostly by race. The largest group of books I found include Hispanic people. We have not found time to read all of these thus far, but I wanted to share them for you. I will give brief summaries and/or thoughts on the ones we have read.

•  A Doll for Navidades by Esmerelda Santiago is a wonderful story about Three Kings' Day and a young girl hoping for a doll. Her younger sister is also hoping for a doll. The younger one gets the doll they both want and the older girl must learn to deal with getting something else. It was a wonderful introduction for us to Three Kings' Day and the three kings instead of Santa Claus.
• Federico and the Magi's Gift by Beatriz Vidal is another story about Three Kings' Day. A young boy is afraid he will get nothing for Three Kings' Day since he was reprimanded for doing something wrong that day. It is his story about waiting for the Three Wisemen to bring the gifts.
• Carlos, Light the Farolito by Jean Ciavonne
• Nine Days to Christmas: A Story of Mexico by Marie Hall Ets and Aurora Labastida
• Mimi's Parranda by Lydia M. Gil
• La Noche Buena: A Christmas Story by Antionio Sacre is told by a young girl who is spending Christmas with her Cuban American father and his family in Miami for the first time. She discovers why her father describes Christmas Eve as the best night of the year.
• Grandma's Gift by Eric Velasquez is a story about a Puerto Rican boy spending the Christmas vacation with his grandmother. After preparing the Puerto Rican meal, they go to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the boy sees for the first time that he wants to become an artist. The grandmother gives him the perfect gift--a set of paints.
• Too Many Tamales by Gary Soto
• The Night of Las Posadas by Tomie dePaula is a wonderful story with a Christmas miracle/mystery in it. It describes the tradition of the Night of Las Posadas through the story. 
• Mama Had to Work on Christmas by Carolyn Marsden
• A Pinata in a Pine Tree by Pat Mora
• When Christmas Feels Like Home by Gretchen Griffith
• Three books on the story of the first poinsettia: each tells the tale of a poor child ashamed to go to mass in Mexico without a gift for Jesus and being told by an angel to bring weeds that become beautiful red flowers.
• Pablo's Christmas by Hugo C. Martin is a story of a young Mexican boy who has to take care of his family when his father leaves to find work in America. Pablo is not sure how he is going to make Christmas happy for his family and especially his young sisters. 

For our Native American Stories, we did not get a chance to read or even find too many at the library. However each of these books share different tribes stories of Christmas. Some are the traditional Christmas story in Native American pictures and others are more modern stories and/or memories of tribe members. Then there are a few that are Christmas songs--two of which are The Huron Carol.  Instead of giving each description I thought I would share this great YouTube video of The Huron Carol.

For our African Descent books, I found nine plus the two from Kenya I shared last year: A Kenyan Christmas by Aunty Kiko and A Kenya Christmas by Tony Johnston. Some of these are about African Americans, some from Africa and one is from Trinidad. One of these books reminded me a of a dear friend with an angel collection. She tended to buy any black angel she found since they were not easy to find here.

For our Asian Christmas books, I found a few picture books and a couple chapter books (the last two). 

• Yoon and the Christmas Mitten by Helen Recorvits tells the tale about a young Korean girl who wants to celebrate Christmas now that she lives in America or at least she wants Mr. Santa Claus to come to her house like he will for the other boys and girls at her school. 
• Tree of Cranes by Allen Say is about a young Japanese boy and his mother preparing for the boy's first Christmas.
• The Stone by Dianne Hofmeyr is a Persian legend about the magi. This is a story that Hazel and I both really enjoyed. Each magi brings a gift for what he thinks the new king will be and when he accepts each gift and gives them a gift of a stone in return they are puzzled, but realize he is all three things: Healer, Ruler and Holy One.
• Mama Bear by Chyng Feng Sun is a story about a young Chinese American girl who wants to find away to buy an expensive teddy bear for herself and her mother for Christmas. Her mother needs to fix the heater and cannot afford to buy it for her. The girl discovers some important lessons throughout the story.

Those are the multicultural Christmas books we are checking out this year. Do you have any to add to the list?



If you are looking for some books about the nativity check out here.

Year of the Rooster-- Reviews & More to Celebrate the Chinese New Year -- MKB Chinese New Year Blog Hop

Disclosure: I was sent 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. 

The lunar new year which is celebrated in China as well as many other countries
 is January 28th this year. We will be saying goodbye to the monkey and enter the Year of the Rooster in the Chinese Horoscope. We have had a fun year of the monkey and are looking forward to the year of the rooster.  To teach Hazel more about the Chinese culture we have enjoyed two books written for the year of the rooster. Both are bilingual books. The first is called The Year of the Rooster by Oliver Chin and illustrated by Juan Calle.

Spring and Muffins

Yesterday and today feel like spring. It has been close to 60 if not over 60 and we are loving it. However we still have the feeling of brown all around us. Everything still looks brown. We see a few spots of spring bulbs starting to break through the earth, but not enough to change the overall color you see. We found a book at the library about this, And Then It's Spring by Julie Fogliano. This book literally talks about how everything is brown and you plant seeds and wait and wait and then one day suddenly everything is green. It is a great book for this time of year at least around here.

This morning we decided to make muffins before heading to school. I pulled out my Deceptively Delicious cookbook (by Jessica Seinfeld) and amended her applesauce muffin recipe. The recipe can be found here. I used whole wheat flour and used raw carrot puree instead of the butternut squash puree.

Hazel helping puree the carrots

I also used more carrots than called for (either squash or carrot in the book). Hazel has no problems eating most vegetables so she doesn't mind me putting them in. Her father on the other hand doesn't really eat enough vegetables so we do try to hide them in things for him.

Hazel mixing the dry ingredients

Hazel of course did the mixing and pouring of measured ingredients. Her technique has definitely improved.

Cracking an egg

She has gotten better with eggs as well, but still needs to do them in a separate bowl so we can get all the shells out.

We ate them warm for breakfast and then rushed off to school. It was one of the first times we were not the first ones in class there. They are changing the start time next week since everyone always comes late to our class. Oh, well. The muffins were delicious!

Oh, and why did we bake muffins today. So we would have something to link up at

Won't you join us over there!! Thanks, Kelly for hosting a great baking party!

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Get ready to start exploring!

The Pinterest Scavenger Hunt has officially begun!

This contest is sponsored by Multicultural Kid Blogs to celebrate the official launch of our website.

The Scavenger Hunt will run from July 15 to July 28. Participants have until July 31 to submit their entries, and the drawing will take place on August 1.

You could win one of four fabulous prize packages!

Details about the Scavenger Hunt can be found below.

Today's Clue 

Travel the world to stretch the week.

 Now take a look around on this site and try to find the post that fits the clue. Once you think you've found it, pin it to the Pinterest Board you've created just for this contest.

Be sure to pop over to The Art of Home Education for the other clue for today. A full schedule and rules of the game can be found below. Don't forget to enter the Rafflecopter at the bottom for more chances to win!

How to Play:

Create a Pinterest board specifically for the contest and name the board "Multicultural Kid Blogs Pinterest Scavenger Hunt." Each day a new clue (or two!) will be revealed. Follow the clue to the blog of the day and pin the post described in the clue. (Any image from the post is fine). In the Rafflecopter below, enter the link to the Pinterest board you created for this contest. The Rafflecopter will also have lots of other ways to earn extra entries. The only required entry is the link to your Pinterest board. Please note: You can enter the Rafflecopter at any point during the contest. Obviously your board won't be complete until the end of the contest, but you can enter the link in the Rafflecopter before then. If your name is drawn at the end of the contest, we will check your board at that time. The final clue will be given July 28. Participants will have until midnight Pacific time on July 31 to finalize their boards. The drawing will take place on August 1. Winners must have pinned all of the correct posts to their board. Winners will be notified via email and must respond within 48 hours or another name will be drawn. Good luck, explorers!

Our Fabulous Prizes

GRAND PRIZE PACKAGE (Total Value $128.74)

Language Learning Box Set (3 DVDs) from Little Pim ($49.95): The Little Pim Box Set Volume I is a great way to introduce young learners to over 180 words and phrases in the language of your choice related to daily routines, food, and playtime! Winner can choose the language of the prize from among those available from Little Pim. (US Shipping Only. If the grand prize winner is located outside the US, the Language Learning Box Set will become part of the 1st prize package).

3 Month Subscription from Little Passports ($41.85): Little Passports is a unique subscription based service that can take your family on an adventure to learn about culture and history from all 50 states and across the world. With this educational, monthly package, kids will become excited about geography, history, and culture by following the world travels of characters Sam and Sofia on their magic scooter! Winner chooses between World and USA editions.

Luke's Beach Day storybook from Kids Yoga Stories ($15.95): Yoga-inspired story set on an Australian beach

The Skin You Live In book from Squishable Baby ($16): A book that celebrates the beauty in all of us.

One copy of Be Bilingual: Practical Ideas for Multilingual Families (eBook) from Be Bilingual ($4.99): A well-researched yet highly readable book on raising bilingual children.

1st PRIZE PACKAGE (Total Value: $104.88) US shipping only

Two books from Lee & Low ($29.90):

Rainbow Stew by Cathryn Falwell: Released in May 2013, Rainbow Stew follows three African American children and their grandfather as they pick fresh vegetables in his garden to cook up a lunch on a rainy afternoon.

How Far Do You Love Me? by Lulu Delacre: From the Swiss Alps Mountain Range to the Great Barrier Reef, How Far Do You Love Me? takes readers across the seven continents in a new take on the "I love you" game.

Educational toy from Plushkies ($24.99): Plushkies are educational toys in the shape of countries to awaken a curiosity in kids about the world, travel, & culture.

Spanish language bundle from Spanish Playground ($20): traditional wooden toys and digital downloads. Wooden chicken paddle toy and wooden top (una pirinola) to play "toma todo." Digital downloads of Spanish language story-coloring book Los pollitos and animal activity cards.

One copy of the Bamboo Dance and one passport ($14.99) from Hartlyn Kids: An illustrated children's book about the day in the life of a child in the Philippines. The book contains a mock passport sticker. Also included is an accompanying mock passport.

Caxixi Woven Rattle From Africa from World Music with Daria ($10): Awesome fair trade woven rattle from Ghana

One copy of Be Bilingual: Practical Ideas for Multilingual Families (eBook) from Be Bilingual ($4.99) See details above

2nd PRIZE PACKAGE (Total Value: $36.99)

Fire and Gold digital download from Nightingale Creations ($10): A CD on the theme of tests and difficulties

2 sets of postcards and a notepad from Paper Papel Papier ($22): eco & multilingual-friendly paper goods

One copy of Be Bilingual: Practical Ideas for Multilingual Families (eBook) from Be Bilingual ($4.99) See details above

3rd PRIZE PACKAGE (Total Value: $29.95)

One copy of Ramadan Cookbook and Meal Plan (eBooks) from MarocMama ($18): Two ebooks featuring traditional (and some less traditional!) Ramadan recipes and meal ideas

One copy of Coconut Oil For Your Skin (eBook) from Hybrid Rasta Mama ($11.95): an eBook filled with nourishing and simple recipes for skin care and hair care products featuring coconut oil as the main ingredient.

 

Scavenger Hunt Schedule

(Visit the Scavenger Hunt main page for a full list of clues as they are revealed).

July 15

All Done Monkey

Crystal's Tiny Treasures

July 16

The Squishable Baby

SpanglishBaby

July 17

Be Bilingual

July 18

the piri-piri lexicon

MommyMaestra

July 19

Creative World of Varya

Expat Life With a Double Buggy

July 20

Sprout's Bookshelf

Mouse Grows, Mouse Learns

July 21

Open Wide the World

MotherTongues

July 22

MarocMama

Head of the Heard

July 23

For the Love of Spanish

July 24

InCultureParent

Moms Gone Global

July 25

Crafty Moms Share

The Art of Home Education

July 26

The European Mama

Spanish Playground

July 27

Vibrant Wanderings

A Hotchpotch Hijabi in Italy

July 28

Kids Yoga Stories

Adventure Bee

Final day to enter the contest is July 31, 2013, at midnight PDT. Drawing will take place on August 1, 2013.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Happy New Year!! And now onto the birthday party pictures

Happy New Year to you and your family!! I hope 2012 is your best year yet in every way!

I promised to share pictures from Hazel's third birthday party, so this is the post. You may remember I shared the invitation, the favors and some decorations, decorations done with My Memories, and birthday hats and more decorations previously. So I won't repeat those at least not too much.

Sharing Saturday 16-51

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(I'm hosting it over at Multicultural Kid Blogs). We also are hosting a Virtual Holiday Cookie/Treat Swap Around the World. Stop by to share your cultural treats and learn about various holiday traditions & recipes!!

Thank you to everyone who shared with us at last week's party! With the start of December we have a large number of Christmas posts being shared. Our features are just a sampling of them so if you haven't checked them all out, you should! This week we have two groups of features: Christmas and Others.