The 2021 celebration includes 25 CoHosts and Global CoHosts, 23 Medallion (including Make A Way Media!), and 36 Author Level Sponsors that are all working together to support this important diversity in children’s literature initiative.
Thanks to over 700 dedicated book reviewers, 1400-1500+ diverse book reviews will be shared on social media during the last few weeks of January under the #ReadYourWorld hashtag.
To date, Multicultural Children’s Book Day (MCBD) has gifted over 9,000 diverse books to end-users.
Countries Represented via Book Reviewers, Sponsors, and Global CoHosts: USA, Germany, Greece, Australia, Mexico, Iran, India, UK, Canada, Philippines, South Africa, United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Hawaii, and New Zealand.
MCBD came from a seed of an idea thanks to two book-loving moms who noticed that finding children’s books that represented their family was ridiculously difficult. Determined to change that fact, they joined together to create a massive and vibrant online celebration that occurs on the last Friday of every January. Their mission was (and still is) to raise awareness for children’s books and the diverse authors, illustrators, and publishers that create these books while working on getting more of these books into classrooms and libraries. This non-profit also strives to shine the spotlight on the diverse books and authors that often get overlooked by mainstream publishing and media.
I’ve been fortunate to be part of Multicultural Children’s Book Day for several years now and I’ve always found that this team of hard-working people tries very hard to keep their finger on the pulse of what is happening in the world and where the gaps are in kidlit representation.
I even did a very nice Q&A with long-time Project Manager, Becky Flansburg, and our discussion was not only a perfect example of this non-profit’s dedication, but it was also proof of how much this initiative has benefitted me as a diverse picture book author. Read the full interview HERE.
How You Can Support Multicultural Children’s Book Day
Follow them on social media! This will help supporters get a more in-depth understanding of why their work is so important.
Donate to them directly to support the impact they have on getting these books directly into classrooms- right into the hands of teachers and children. Children need to see that the world is bigger than their backyard and we can achieve that when we all work together cooperatively.
We can all be leaders.
We can all be heroes.
A Summary of their 2021 Celebration (and Twitter Party!)
Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2021 (1/29/21) is in its 8th year! This non-profit children’s literacy initiative was founded by Valarie Budayr and Mia Wenjen; two diverse book-loving moms who saw a need to shine the spotlight on all of the multicultural books and authors on the market while also working to get those book into the hands of young readers and educators.
Eight years in, MCBD’s mission is to raise awareness of the ongoing need to include books that celebrate diversity in homes and school bookshelves. Read about our Mission & History HERE.
MCBD 2021 is honored to be Supported by these Medallion Sponsors!
FOUNDER’S CIRCLE: Mia Wenjen (Pragmaticmom) and Valarie Budayr’s (Audreypress.com)
Platinum Sponsors: Language Lizard Bilingual Books in 50+ Languages, Author Deedee Cummings and Make A Way Media
Gold Sponsors: Barefoot Books, Candlewick Press, Capstone, Hoopoe Books, KidLitTV, Peachtree Publishing Company Inc.
Silver Sponsors: Charlotte Riggle, Connecticut Association of School Librarians, Author Kimberly Gordon Biddle, Pack-N-Go Girls
Bronze Sponsors: Agatha Rodi and AMELIE is IMPRESSED!, Barnes Brothers Books, Create and Educate Solutions, LLC, Dreambuilt Books, Dyesha and Triesha McCants/McCants Squared, Redfin Real Estate, Snowflake Stories, Star Bright Books, TimTimTom Bilingual Personalized Books, Author Vivian Kirkfield, Wisdom Tales Press, My Well Read Child
MCBD 2021 is honored to be Supported by these Author Sponsors!
Poster Artist: Nat Iwata
Authors: Author Afsaneh Moradian, Author Alva Sachs & Three Wishes Publishing Company, Author Angeliki Stamatopoulou-Pedersen, Author Anna Olswanger, Author Casey Bell , Author Claudine Norden, Author Debbie Dadey, Author Diana Huang & Intrepids, Author Eugenia Chu & Brandon goes to Beijing, Green Kids Club, Author Gwen Jackson, Author Janet Balletta, Author Josh Funk, Author Julia Inserro, Karter Johnson & Popcorn and Books, Author Kathleen Burkinshaw & The Last Cherry Blossom, Author Keila Dawson, Maya/Neel Adventures with Culture Groove, Author Mia Wenjen, Michael Genhart, Nancy Tupper Ling, Author Natalie Murray, Natalie McDonald-Perkins, Author Natasha Yim, Author Phe Lang and Me On The Page Publishing, Sandra Elaine Scott, Author Shoumi Sen & From The Toddler Diaries, SISSY GOES TINY by Rebecca Flansburg and B.A. Norrgard, Susan Schaefer Bernardo & Illustrator Courtenay Fletcher, Tales of the Five Enchanted Mermaids, Author Theresa Mackiewicz, Tonya Duncan and the Sophie Washington Book Series, Author Toshia Stelivan, Valerie Williams-Sanchez & The Cocoa Kids Collection Books©, Author Vanessa Womack, MBA, Author Veronica Appleton & the Journey to Appleville book series
MCBD 2021 is Honored to be Supported by our CoHosts and Global CoHosts!
MCBD 2021 is Honored to be Supported by these Media Partners!
Check out MCBD’s Multicultural Books for Kids Pinterest Board!
FREE RESOURCES from Multicultural Children’s Book Day
Diversity Book Lists & Activities for Teachers and Parents
Homeschool Diverse Kidlit Booklist & Activity Kit
FREE Teacher Classroom Activism and Activists Kit
FREE Teacher Classroom Empathy Kit
FREE Teacher Classroom Kindness Kit
FREE Teacher Classroom Physical and Developmental Challenges Kit
FREE Teacher Classroom Poverty Kit
FREE Diversity Book for Classrooms Program
TWITTER PARTY! Register here!
Join us on Friday, Jan 29, 2021, at 9 pm EST for the 8th annual Multicultural Children’s Book Day Twitter Party!
This epically fun and fast-paced hour includes multicultural book discussions, addressing timely issues, diverse book recommendations, & reading ideas.
We will be giving away an 8-Book Bundle every 5 minutes plus Bonus Prizes as well! *** US and Global participants welcome. **
Follow the hashtag #ReadYourWorld to join the conversation, connect with like-minded parts, authors, publishers, educators, organizations, and librarians. See you all very soon on Twitter!
Hashtag: Don’t forget to connect with us on social media and be sure and look for/use our official hashtag #ReadYourWorld.