Underwater Adventure

   

Underwater Adventure is a wonderful book that has character customization that allows children to be the hero of there own story! Not only is can the main character in the book be customized, but the book can also be customized to be bilingual, allowing the reader to learn a new language.

Underwater Adventure begins with the child in the story celebrating his or her birthday by going to swim in a big pool for the first time. Once at the pool, an adventure begins where the child meets up with a dolphin, and gets introduced to other ocean life including a seahorse, octopus and an oyster bed of sleepy oysters.  The adventure continues when the two go on a rescue mission to help a turtle caught in a net.

Underwater Adventure is a great book for children ages 4-7, as it introduces young children to have a love of ocean animals, and features themes of bravery. Its wonderful customization features that include a custom child’s name, race, hair and  language, allows children of diverse backgrounds to see themselves in the book which also includes instills messages of activism and interest in learning a new language.

This month’s review is provided in celebration of Multicultural Children’s Book Day which is in its 5th year and was founded by Valarie Budayr from Jump Into A Book and Mia Wenjen from PragmaticMom. Its mission is to raise awareness of the ongoing need to include kids’ books that celebrate diversity in home and school bookshelves, while working diligently to get more of these types of books into the hands of young readers, parents and educators. Many thanks to TimTimTom Books, for providing the complimentary book for CalicoKidz.com to review! See a list of all author sponsors by visiting http://multiculturalchildrensbookday.com/2106-sponsors/2018-author-sponsors/.

2018 MCBD Medallion Sponsors

HONORARY: Children’s Book Council, Junior Library Guild

PLATINUM:Scholastic Book Clubs

GOLD:Audrey Press, Candlewick Press, Loving Lion Books, Second Story Press, Star Bright Books, Worldwide Buddies

SILVER:Capstone Publishing, Author Charlotte Riggle, Child’s Play USA, KidLit TV, Pack-n-Go Girls, Plum Street Press

BRONZE: Barefoot Books, Carole P. Roman, Charlesbridge Publishing, Dr. Crystal Bowe, Gokul! World, Green Kids Club, Gwen Jackson, Jacqueline Woodson, Juan J. Guerra, Language Lizard, Lee & Low Books, RhymeTime Storybooks, Sanya Whittaker Gragg, TimTimTom Books, WaterBrook & Multnomah, Wisdom Tales Press

Multicultural Children’s Book Day will hold a TWITTER PARTY sponsored by Scholastic Book Clubs: It is a super-popular fun annual Twitter Party, and will be held January 27, 2018 at 9:00pm.

Join the conversation to win a Grand Prize Book Bundle (12 books) that will be given away at the party! http://multiculturalchildrensbookday.com/twitter-party-great-conversations-fun-prizes-chance-readyourworld-1-27-18/

Connect with Multicultural Children’s Book Day on social media; look for the official hashtag #ReadYourWorld.

Free Multicultural Books for Teachers: http://bit.ly/1kGZrta

Free Empathy Classroom Kit for Homeschoolers, Organizations, Librarians and Educators: http://multiculturalchildrensbookday.com/teacher-classroom-empathy-kit/

Advertisements

Peas on Earth

What would the world be like if cats and mice got along? Or if everyone were friends like peanut butter and jelly? These ideas and more practical ones are introduced in the delightful board book Peas on Earth, which teaches peace, love and tolerance to the youngest of children through silly prose and refreshing ideas.

Peas on Earth advocates being friends to those who are different from us, with examples of dogs and cats being friends – and giving one another high-fives (insert giggle), as well as  examples of odd friendships such as elephants and mice sharing cheese, and giraffes helping turtles get to the top of a tree.

While riddled with silly not-so-practical suggestions, the book also provides more realistic solutions for world peace, and gets readers to ponder the idea of how saying “thank-you” and “please” more often could make a better world, that would be so much more pleasant that it would almost be like having a world where snowmen don’t melt, and vegetables taste like candy because the world would be so much happier.

Peas on Earth is available at Thriftbooks.com, Target, and Amazon.com. Get this delightful book today to begin teaching the idea of peace and tolerance to children, and do your part in helping our future generations make our world a better one.

Peas on Earth
Author: Todd H. Doodler/Todd

Here Is the World: A Year of Jewish Holidays

Today is day one of Hanukkah, and what better time to teach children about the Jewish culture than during one of the most important Jewish holidays. In Here is the World: A Year of Jewish Holidays, the book features Hanukkah and 10 more celebrations, including Yom Kippur, Purim and Passover.

Here is the World: A Year of Jewish Holidays teaches children about the symbols of different Jewish celebrations and their purposes through fun rhyme. One such symbol, the menorah – a type of candle holder used during Hanukkah is illustrated, as well as food eaten at the various celebrations including latkes at Chanukah/Hanukkah and matzah, (unleavened bread) at Passover.

Shabbat, which begins on Friday evening and ends Saturday evening is a time of rest, and on Saturday, many go to synagogue, during which the men wear a yarmulke – a type of hat worn during special occasions. The tradition of Passover is featured, which is an eight day festival that celebrates the exodus of the Jews from Egypt. Purim is also featured, and is celebrated with a parade and and noisemakers called groggers. Purim celebrates the story of Esther, who saved the Jews from destruction. During Purim people attend synagogue in costume and make noise with groggers when the story is told during the service.

Here is the World: A Year of Jewish Holidays includes rhyme, and its beautiful illustrations give the reader a real sense of joyful celebration. While the explanations of each tradition aren’t explained fully until the end of the book in the glossary, it is a wonderful book for introducing young children to Jewish celebrations, as well as a great bedtime book and one for school book reports and/or projects.

With the world’s current state of political and religious uproar, Here is the World: A Year of Jewish Holidays is a great book to read to non-Jewish children to teach the the beauty of Judaism and instill an early sense of tolerance in young children.

Here is the World: A Year of Jewish Holidays
Author: Leslea Newman / Illustrator: Susan Gal

About CalicoKidz.com

CalicoKidz.com reviews books that celebrate diversity for young children ages 1-10. Our mission is to promote educational children’s books that give parents, librarians, and educators of children from diverse communities access to books that represent diverse communities, including those with special needs.

Our vision is to one day live in a world where love of diversity is the norm, and where all cultures, races and religions can exist together in harmony.

Thanksgiving is for Giving Thanks

Thanksgiving is tomorrow, and Thanksgiving is for Giving Thanks, is the perfect book to celebrate with a child! This simple yet poignant picture book for children ages 2-8 reminds children of the importance of being thankful for both the big and small things in life.

The narrator of the book shares his excitement about Thanksgiving; his anticipation of eating good food and seeing family. He speaks of how it is important to not only give thanks for the pumpkin pie and turkey that he will eat, but also for the things in his life that is sometimes overlooked. He gives thanks for his parents and grandparents, as well as his teacher and friends and even the things we take for granted such as sunny days and hot chocolate.

Thanksgiving is for Giving Thanks, is a wonderful book to read for bedtime to to children for Thanksgiving Eve, the night of Thanksgiving, or even the day after Thanksgiving. What I love most about the book, other than its message is the delightful, colorful illustrations of diverse children and adults and its simple message: lets not only give thanks on Thanksgiving, but always.

________________________________________

Thanksgiving is for Giving Thanks
Author: Margaret Sutherland / Illustrator: Sonja Lamut

November is Picture Book Month!

Activities, curriculum and freebies, OH MY! Find out how kids, parents, and teachers can celebrate Picture Book Month with bookmarks, crafts, teacher’s guides and more at:

 http://picturebookmonth.com/activities/

What is a Veteran Anyway?

Veterans Day is coming soon and what better way to celebrate than to read a book to a child that educates them on the sacrifices of our servicemen and servicewomen. What is a Veteran Anyway?  is the perfect book to read to kids about what a veteran is and does. Through emotional watercolor illustrations that tell the story of a veteran.

This wonderful picture book informs children on the many different roles that service men and women play, including construction, police, parachuters, pilots and mechanics (that are also women!). It’s culturally diverse illustration of diverse families make it not just a representation of military, but a representation of the diversity of America.

The book not only explains the many roles of our veterans served but also explains some of the sacrifices that veterans must make to serve our country. While children may know the sacrifice of time away from the family, the book also addresses the conditions service members endure, including:

• Going days or weeks without a shower, or change of clothes.
• Working in the field without running water or a bed to sleep
• Having to eat food from a pouch
• Serving in harsh weather, sometimes with no blankets surrounded by bugs and even rats!

A great part of the book is that it gives kids suggestions on how to thank a veteran for his/her service. If you want to instill a respect for veterans in children,  What is a Veteran Anyway? is a great book to begin with.

 

What is a Veteran Anyway?
Written by Rob Snyder l Illustrated by Ron Himler

The Porcupine and Skunk

To showcase the vibrant theme of our blog, BookBuzz4Kids.com is now CalicoKidz.com.  Like calico fabric, our blog is diverse and represents various cultures and communities. Now, ON TO OUR LATEST REVIEW!

The Porcupine and the Skunk is a story about Penelope the Porcupine and Edward the skunk who have no friends in the forest because being around them was not pleasant. The skunk was stinky, and the porcupine was prickly.

Since Penelope and Edward never get invited to birthday parties, and decide to move to the other side of the forest and build a house to protect themselves from predators.

Back in the forest, the small animals including the squirrels, chipmunks and others worry about contending with a wolf that has come to eat all the small animals. The small animals have a meeting to figure out how to protect themselves.

At the protest of a few, the small forest animals finally decide that they must seek refuge in Penelope and Edward’s home.  Although Edward the skunk and Penelope the porcupine are still hurt from being shunned earlier, they allow the small animals to seek safe haven in their home, and all the animals in the forest are safe from the wolf, and become friends.

The Porcupine and the Skunk teaches several good lessons all children should be taught including helping friends in their time of need and loving one’s neighbors despite differences.  It is an excellent book for storytime or bedtime. Learn about more books in the Frazier Tales series at www.fraziertales.com.