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Monday, January 21, 2019

Multicultural Children's Book Day 2019

Climbing the Stairs
Climbing the Stairs by Padma Venkatraman
This is my third year participating in the Multicultural Children's Book Day.  The official day this year is 1/25/2019.  For more specifics about Multicultural Children's Book Day read on following my review of this book.

Padma Venkatraman, the author, graciously sent me this book to review.  Her publisher was speak (imprint of Penguin Group).  This is a YA book that follows the life of Vidya, a fifteen year old living in British-occupied India during WWII.  Vidya's physician, follows Ghandi's non-violence approach to dealing with the British who oppress them.  Her father's non-violence approach, along with Vidya's own careless act changes her family's life forever.  Without giving too much away her family due to this huge change has to move back to her father's home.  In that home Vidya, her brother Kitta, mother and father (amma and appa) are treated poorly by her father's older brother, his wife, and their daughter (who is Vidya's) age.  

Vidya is struggling to stay independent during this new living situation.  She does not want to be married off.  She wants to finish school and attend college, but her family's new situation doesn't make this dream seem feasible.  Meanwhile, her brother is trying to figure out his own way in this Indian world of non-violence vs. violence, British-occupied vs dream for India's independence.  He was fixated on the WWII going on around them, and he feared war was coming for them in the near future.  

One thing I would have appreciated more during this story was more focus on historical highlights from that era.  I was given glimpses of WWII, but would have appreciated more of that story woven into Vidya's.  

This is a great book that talks about cultural issues: caste system in India, women's place in Indian culture, religious implications into their everyday lives, and specifically the non-violence vs violence approach to gaining freedom.  I feel this last topic can be applied to so many different cultures, other than the Indian one.  It is a universal argument that will go until the end of time.  

I think this is a great book for late middle school and high school students.  I also enjoyed it and feel any adult would find it a quick, easy, meaningful read.  I give this book four stars.  #ReadYourWorld

Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2019 (1/25/19) is in its 6th year and was founded by Valarie Budayr from Jump Into A Book and Mia Wenjen from PragmaticMom. Our mission is to raise awareness of the ongoing need to include kids’ books that celebrate diversity in homes 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 2019 is honored to have the following Medallion Sponsors on board
Medallion Level Sponsors Honorary: Children’s Book Council, The Junior Library Guild, TheConsciousKid.org. Super Platinum: Make A Way Media GOLD: Bharat Babies, Candlewick Press, Chickasaw Press, Juan Guerra and The Little Doctor / El doctorcito, KidLitTV, Lerner Publishing Group, Plum Street Press, SILVER: Capstone Publishing, Carole P. Roman, Author Charlotte Riggle, Huda Essa, The Pack-n-Go Girls, BRONZE: Charlesbridge Publishing, Judy Dodge Cummings, Author Gwen Jackson, Kitaab World, Language Lizard – Bilingual & Multicultural Resources in 50+ Languages, Lee & Low Books, Miranda Paul and Baptiste Paul, Redfin, Author Gayle H. Swift, T.A. Debonis-Monkey King’s Daughter, TimTimTom Books, Lin Thomas, Sleeping Bear Press/Dow Phumiruk, Vivian Kirkfield,


MCBD 2019 is honored to have the following Author Sponsors on board Honorary: Julie Flett, Mehrdokht Amini, Author Janet Balletta, Author Kathleen Burkinshaw, Author Josh Funk, Chitra Soundar, One Globe Kids – Friendship Stories, Sociosights Press and Almost a Minyan, Karen Leggett, Author Eugenia Chu, CultureGroove Books, Phelicia Lang and Me On The Page, L.L. Walters, Author Sarah Stevenson, Author Kimberly Gordon Biddle, Hayley Barrett, Sonia Panigrah, Author Carolyn Wilhelm, Alva Sachs and Dancing Dreidels, Author Susan Bernardo, Milind Makwana and A Day in the Life of a Hindu Kid, Tara Williams, Veronica Appleton, Author Crystal Bowe, Dr. Claudia May, Author/Illustrator Aram Kim, Author Sandra L. Richards, Erin Dealey, Author Sanya Whittaker Gragg, Author Elsa Takaoka, Evelyn Sanchez-Toledo, Anita Badhwar, Author Sylvia Liu, Feyi Fay Adventures, Author Ann Morris, Author Jacqueline Jules, CeCe & Roxy Books, Sandra Neil Wallace and Rich Wallace, LEUYEN PHAM, Padma Venkatraman, Patricia Newman and Lightswitch Learning, Shoumi Sen, Valerie Williams-Sanchez and Valorena Publishing, Traci Sorell, Shereen Rahming, Blythe Stanfel, Christina Matula, Julie Rubini, Paula Chase, Erin Twamley, Afsaneh Moradian, Lori DeMonia, Claudia Schwam, Terri Birnbaum/ RealGirls Revolution, Soulful Sydney, Queen Girls Publications, LLC


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 works tirelessly to spread the word of this event.

View our CoHosts HERE.
Co-Hosts and Global Co-Hosts A Crafty Arab, Agatha Rodi Books, All Done Monkey, Barefoot Mommy, Biracial Bookworms, Books My Kids Read, Crafty Moms Share, Colours of Us, Discovering the World Through My Son’s Eyes, Descendant of Poseidon Reads, Educators Spin on it, Growing Book by Book, Here Wee Read, Joy Sun Bear/ Shearin Lee, Jump Into a Book, Imagination Soup, Jenny Ward’s Class, Kid World Citizen, Kristi’s Book Nook, The Logonauts, Mama Smiles, Miss Panda Chinese, Multicultural Kid Blogs, Raising Race Conscious Children, Shoumi Sen, Spanish Playground


TWITTER PARTY Sponsored by Make A Way Media: MCBD’s super-popular (and crazy-fun) annual Twitter Party will be held 1/25/19 at 9:00pm.E.S.T. TONS of prizes and book bundles will be given away during the party. GO HERE for more details.

FREE RESOURCES From MCBD
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/


Sunday, January 6, 2019

2018 Year in Review of Books

  •  My goal was 100 books in 2018 and I ended up reading 118.  Out of those 118 books:  38 were audiobooks.  24 books were 5 stars, 56 - 4 stars, 28- 3 stars and 10 - 2 stars.  My favorite overall book of this past year was:  The Address by Fiona Davis.  Other top picks: Educated by Tara Westover, Bring Me Back by B.A. Paris, The Great Alone by Krsitin Hannah, and Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell.    My favorite nonfiction book was: Girl Wash Your Face by Rachel Hollis. My favorite book club book was: The Music Shop by Rachel Joyce.  Authors I discovered for the first time this past year and I will be reading in the future:  Lisa Jewell, Jenny Colgan, and Colleen Hoover.  This year I started reading and reviewing books for some various publishers and I enjoyed some of them, but not all of them.  With such little time in life I'm going to be a little pickier about signing up to review books this coming year, as I have so many "to be read" books already on my list. 
  •  So now that my "big year of reading" is over what's in store for 2019.  I have a goal of not buying any books in 2019.  I cancelled my Book of the Month subscription (they'll only let you skip 3 months of book picks).  I am going to work on reading what I already have on my shelves, borrowing books from friends, and of course checking out plenty of books at my favorite libraries. I'd love to hear what some of your favorite reads were this past year and of course what your reading goals for this coming year are.  
YOUR 2018 BOOKS
  • You Are the Beloved by Henri J.M. Nouwen
  • A Girl's Guide to Moving On by Debbie Macomber
  • We Hope for Better Things by Erin  Bartels
  • I Think You're Wrong (But I'm Listening) by Sarah Stewart Holland
  • I'd Rather Be Reading by Anne Bogel
  • Alaskan Holiday by Debbie Macomber
  • Goodbye, Paris by Anstey Harris
  • Simply Irresistible by Jill Shalvis
  • Relish by Lucy Knisley
  • All Your Perfects by Colleen Hoover
  • Yoga Mind by Suzan Colon
  • Dash & Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn
  • The Pearl That Broke Its Shell by Nadia Hashimi
  • The Minimalist Home by Joshua Becker
  • The Endless Beach by Jenny Colgan
  • Educated by Tara Westover
  • Still Me by Jojo Moyes
  • The Red Ribbon by Lucy Adlington
  • Happily by Kevin A.  Thompson
  • A Sparkle of Silver by Liz Johnson
  • The Year of the Dog by Grace Lin
  • It's All Under Control by Jennifer Dukes Lee
  • The Masterpiece by Fiona  Davis
  • Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
  • A Place for Us by Fatima Farheen Mirza
  • Girl, Wash Your Face by Rachel Hollis
  • Silencing Insecurity by Donna  Gibbs
  • Of Mess and Moxie by Jen Hatmaker
  • Love and Other Train Wrecks by Leah Konen
  • Thirsty for More by Allison Allen
  • The Hidden Staircase by Carolyn Keene
  • Watch Me Disappear by Janelle Brown
  • The Dinner List by Rebecca Serle
  • The Brave Art of Motherhood by Rachel Marie  Martin
  • I Found You by Lisa Jewell
  • Not the Boss of Us by Kay Wills Wyma
  • A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler
  • The Female Persuasion by Meg Wolitzer
  • An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
  • The Life-Giving Leader by Tyler Reagin
  • 7 by Jen Hatmaker
  • The Daily Question For You and Your Child by Waterbrook
  • The Cafe by the Sea by Jenny Colgan
  • The Secret Life of Violet Grant by Beatriz Williams
  • Love and Ruin by Paula McLain
  • Bring Me Back by B.A. Paris
  • 61 Hours by Lee Child
  • The War I Finally Won by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
  • Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur
  • The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
  • The Girl Who Takes an Eye for an Eye by David Lagercrantz
  • The Road Back to You by Ian Morgan Cron
  • The Ensemble by Aja Gabel
  • Little Beach Street Bakery by Jenny Colgan
  • The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah
  • Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata
  • I'll Be Your Blue Sky by Marisa de los Santos
  • The Dry by Jane Harper
  • This Is the World by Miroslav Sasek
  • The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert
  • The Wedding Date by Jasmine Guillory
  • Force of Nature by Jane Harper
  • The Life and Times of Martin Luther by Meike Roth-Beck
  • We Were the Lucky Ones by Georgia Hunter
  • The One by Kiera Cass
  • The Seventh Most Important Thing by Shelley Pearsall
  • The Immortalists by Chloe  Benjamin
  • The Elite by Kiera Cass
  • The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne
  • Book Scavenger by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman
  • The Women in the Castle by Jessica Shattuck
  • The Selection by Kiera Cass
  • The Loveliest Chocolate Shop in Paris by Jenny Colgan
  • Yes Please by Amy Poehler
  • The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
  • Sourdough by Robin Sloan
  • The Painter by Peter Heller
  • Hallelujah Anyway by Anne Lamott
  • The Dollhouse by Fiona  Davis
  • Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell
  • Present Over Perfect by Shauna Niequist
  • The Making of a Chef by Michael Ruhlman
  • The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
  • The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell
  • The Address by Fiona  Davis
  • The Heart's Invisible Furies by John Boyne
  • The Reason You're Alive by Matthew Quick
  • Heartburn by Nora Ephron
  • Life from Scratch by Sasha Martin
  • Mrs. Fletcher by Tom Perrotta
  • Necessary Lies by Diane Chamberlain
  • Nightbird by Alice Hoffman
  • Radical Lutherans/Lutheran Radicals by Jason A. Mahn
  • Why Not Me? by Mindy Kaling
  • The Bookshop on the Corner by Jenny Colgan
  • The Poet's Dog by Patricia MacLachlan
  • When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi
  • Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate
  • The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde
  • The Trespasser by Tana French
  • Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore by Matthew J. Sullivan
  • The Music Shop by Rachel Joyce
  • The Best We Could Do by Thi Bui
  • Every Day by David Levithan
  • Esperanza Rising by Pam Muñoz Ryan
  • The Thirst by Jo Nesbø
  • Exit West by Mohsin Hamid
  • Family Poems for Every Day of the Week by Francisco X. Alarcón
  • Ahimsa by Supriya Kelkar
  • Deep In The Woods by Christopher Corr
  • Mennonite in a Little Black Dress by Rhoda Janzen
  • The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher
  • Holding Up the Universe by Jennifer Niven
  • Shining Sea by Anne Korkeakivi
  • The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg
  • Reading People by Anne Bogel
  • Wishes for Christmas by Fern Michaels
  • All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven