Celebrating Multicultural Children Through Literature + Book Review #ReadYourWorld

There are many ways to spread and celebrate culture to teach our kids important lessons about who they are. As a multicultural author, I believe that celebrating multicultural children through literature is one of the most magical ways in which we can connect our real life stories to the magic our sons and daughters experience through characters. In an increasingly multicultural environment it is imperative that we support books that highlight those stories and contribute to a society with more understanding.

That’s why I’m so excited to be participating in Multicultural Children’s Book Day for a second year in a row. In 2016, I was honored to be one of the participating authors with my book ‘La Familia Cool: El tesoro más valioso / The most valuable treasure’. As you all know, I’m a strong believer in celebrating multicultural children in our everyday lives, providing for them a safe space in which they can flourish and grow not only as confident individuals, but as citizens of the world who will make a more peaceful and harmonious society.

Today, as we celebrate Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2017 and bloggers around the world unite in celebrating multicultural children with a very diverse and colorful selection of more than 150 books, I am reminded of the beauty of our shared experiences as humans, and how our kids laugh, wonder, cry, and follow characters that look different and tell different stories, and at the same time take them through the same emotions.

It makes me feel hopeful about the future of our earth as we exchange stories and raise the next generation of global citizens; even when the statistics are still against us. We know that now 37% of the United States population consists of people of color, and in contrast, only 10% of the children’s books that are published have diverse content. I love that the Multicultural Children’s Book Day is on a mission to change those numbers, because I share that mission as well.

Celebrating Multicultural Children at Home With Trey Jones!

I was happy to received I’m Trey Jones and I know it! to review as a part of the Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2017 celebration as I’m always looking for books with characters that my children can relate to right away, just by looking at it. That’s what happened with Trey Jones, he was a character I liked just by seeing the cover and as I read the story, before sharing it with my kids, I knew my boy would definitely connect with him and would laugh at some of the things he experiences.

Written by Monica Mathis-Stowe and illustrated by Nada Serafimovic, I’m Trey Jones and I know it! is a fun story about a boy who has to introduce himself on the first day in school and despite a couple of incidents he remains cool and confident. Being the first book of the series, I love that they started with Trey introducing himself in school, that makes it easy for all kids to relate to.

This is a great book to start conversations about things that happen in the school environment, like being embarrassed because you fell or feeling sad because your classmates laugh at you. It also shows kids that it is okay to have an accident and still be confident, to know who they are.

Trey Jones is a very confident first grader who loves his family and feels proud of them and who he is. Having a main character of color that exudes these qualities is a great asset for parents who are raising multicultural kids and want to show them positive examples in difficult situations.

My kids really enjoyed this story and I know it will be part of many bedtime reading times.

I’m a Rapper and I Know it!

For the continuation of the series, Monica Mathis-Stowe and Nada Serafimovic, bring us our very cool and confident Trey Jones as a rapper with some very creative lyrics that not only rhyme and are fun, but have positive messages throughout. Trey Jones is a character that little boys are going to love because of his simple, yet, fun ways.

I’m glad I had the opportunity to review them and share them with my kids. We are always looking for creative new stories to read as we continue our multicultural journey.

About Multicultural Children’s Book Day

The 4th Annual Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2017 continues celebrating multicultural children since it was founded in 2013 by Valarie Budayr from Jump Into A Book and Mia Wenjen from PragmaticMom. Their mission is to raise awareness on the ongoing need to include kid’s books that celebrate diversity in home and school bookshelves while also working diligently to get more of these types of books into the hands of young readers, parents and educators.

MCBD 2017 Supporters
MCBD 2017 is honored to have some amazing Sponsors on board. Platinum Sponsors include Scholastic, Barefoot Books and Broccoli. Other Medallion Level Sponsors include heavy-hitters like Author Carole P. Roman, Audrey Press, Candlewick Press, Fathers Incorporated, KidLitTV, Capstone Young Readers, ChildsPlayUsa, Author Gayle Swift, Wisdom Tales Press, Lee& Low Books, The Pack-n-Go Girls, Live Oak Media, Author Charlotte Riggle, Chronicle Books and Pomelo Books

Author Sponsors Include
Karen Leggett Abouraya, Veronica Appleton, Susan Bernardo , Kathleen Burkinshaw, Delores Connors, Maria Dismondy, D.G. Driver, Geoff Griffin, Savannah Hendricks, Stephen Hodges, Carmen Bernier-Grand,Vahid Imani, Gwen Jackson, Hena, Kahn, David Kelly, Mariana Llanos, Natasha Moulton-Levy, Teddy O’Malley, Stacy McAnulty, Cerece Murphy, Miranda Paul, Annette Pimentel, Greg Ransom, Sandra Richards, Elsa Takaoka, Graciela Tiscareño-Sato, Sarah Stevenson, Monica Mathis-Stowe SmartChoiceNation, Andrea Y. Wang

Awesome CoHosts:
Also, shout-out goes to the amazing team that has served as CoHosts for this year’s book reviews and link-up on celebration day; who also work tirelessly to spread the word of this event. View our CoHosts HERE.