Today I’m bringing an extra-special book to you. It appeals to me for many personal reasons. I’ve participated in Multicultural Children’s Book Day since it’s inauguration and we’ve been paired with some great books. I don’t think Becky knew how good her matching was this year…
I received an email from Natasha Moulton-Levy introducing herself and sharing her book with us. The kids were in bed when I first opened the file. But after only an introductory paragraph I had to shut down for the night and wait until the morning when I could share it with Tristan and Kallista.
No Limits No Boundaries!
What was this book, already, you ask? The name of it is No Limits: No Boundaries, My Journey Through The ABC’s. It was a collaborative process between mother and son. And if that isn’t enough to make you interested; here’s what immediately caught my attention about 12-year-old Julian English. He was born also prematurely; 4 weeks earlier than Tristan, in fact. And their birthdays are only about a week apart (though Julian is 4 older). Happy 13th Birthday, Julian!
Julian suffered some brain damage and learns best through association and experiences so his family do their best to source inexpensive flights and experiences for him both close to home and around the world. What an amazingly supportive family; and what a way to learn and bond together!
No Limits: No Boundaries! goes through the A-Z of places and experiences that Julian has explored. For each letter Natasha gives sentence or two about the location and Julian tells us something that was interesting or important to him about that trip.
Yes, of course, I’m showing you two places that are special to me; I’ve lived in Japan so was naturally drawn to this page, and Dublin is only 3 hours away by bus from Belfast (and it holds great memories for my own children). And making memories and learning don’t have to be done so far away. A trip to the local zoo is also good for children. And the Special Olympics! What a fabulous achievement for Julian!
This is just such a fun book; it’s full of colour, children can learn about 26 places around the world, and they can hear what another child thinks about each place. It’s very inspirational for armchair travellers, aspiring authors, premature children (and their parents).
The timing for us is perfect as the children and I are currently a small part of a bit international project that will bring resources to parents of preemies during their first days home from hospital. Isn’t it strange how things come together like this?
Kid Inspired Printable
Tristan loved the concept of this book and likened it to some notebooking pages he filled in during our camping trip last summer; drawing pictures and saying what he had done or seen each day. With this in mind, and with Tristan’s guidance, I put together a few pages that you can download and your children can start their own book of experiences.
This is a great way to include some writing into the day, and children will love going back over their book to see what they’ve done, and they’ll soon be seeking out places to go for each letter of the alphabet. Just put the letter in the upper corner, fill in the date and location, and fill in what was special or memorable about the experience. Use photos, sketches, or ticket stubs to complete the pages.
Download My Life Adventures Scrapbook Templates here
More Information
If you’d like to know more or would like to follow Julian and Natasha, you can connect with them through their website, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Multicultural Children’s Book Day
Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2017 (1/27/17) is its fourth year and was founded by Valarie Budayr from Jump Into A Book and Mia Wenjen from PragmaticMom. Our 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.
Despite census data that shows 37% of the US population consists of people of color, only 10% of children’s books published have diversity content. Using the Multicultural Children’s Book Day holiday, the MCBD Team are on a mission to change all of that. This event has also proven to be an excellent way to compile a list of diverse children’s book titles and reviews for parents, grandparents, educators and librarians to use all year long.
Kindness Kit
MCBD’s Has a Freevdownloadable Kindness Classroom Kit for Educators and Homeschoolers here.
Read Your World: A Guide to Multicultural Children’s Books for Parents and Educators
This brand-new book brings together booklists from blogging and author contributors who have participated in Multicultural Children’s Book Day. Each list is created around a topic or theme. Themes include Diversity as Everyday, Africa, Antarctica, Australia, Asia, Middle East,South America, World Religion, LGBT, Special Needs, Latin America, Asian American, African American and much more.
This ebook will be FREE to everyone January 26th-January 30th. For people who have KindleUnlimited it’s free for them all of the time. Click here for more information or to purchase.
Other Resources
- Free Multicultural Books for Teachers
- Free Diversity Book Lists and Activities for Teachers and Parents
MCBD 2017 is honored to have some amazing Sponsors on board.
Platinum Sponsors:
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 Sponsor include:
Karen Leggett Abouraya, Veronica Appleton, Susan Bernardo, Kathleen Burkinshaw, 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
We’d like to also give a shout-out to MCBD’s impressive CoHost Team who not only hosts the book review link-up on celebration day, but who also work tirelessly to spread the word of this event. View our CoHosts HERE.
For more information about Multicultural Children’s Book Day, connect with them on Facebook and Twitter (use #ReadYourWorld).
