Multicultural Children’s Book Day
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Happy Multicultural Children’s Book Day!
Today, January 27, 2018, marks the 5th Multicultural Children’s Book Day! This is the second time I have had the pleasure to review for MCBD, you can read my post from 2014 here . Multicultural Children’s book day is founded by Valarie Budayr from Jump Into A Book and Mia Wenjen from PragmaticMom. Their mission is to raise awareness that there is a lack of diversity when it comes to the shelves of libraries at home and in schools, as well as to make diverse books assessable to children.
Want to learn more about Multicultural Children’s Day with Mia Wenjen from Pragmatic Mom?
Here’s an interview she recently did with Miss Panda Chinese.
Hidden Women: The African-American Mathematicians of NASA Who Helped America Win the Space Race
- Reading Level 3-5
- Interest Level 3-7 (I found it interesting too, and I’m quite a few years away from 7th grade.)
- Narrative Nonfiction
- 112 Pages
- Author Rebecca Rissman (Award-winning children’s author from CHICAGO!)
From Capstone Publishing on Hidden Women:
“Tells the gripping story of four female African-American mathematicians who literally made it possible to launch US rockets–and astronauts–into space. Tells the thrilling tale of how each woman contributed, the struggles and resistance each experienced, and the amazing results. Consultants currently work for NASA.”
My Thoughts on Hidden Women The African-American Mathematicians of NASA Who Helped America Win the Space Race
I read Hidden Women The African-American Mathematicians of NASA Who Helped America Win the Space Race on the heels of reading Dan Rather’s What Unites Us, which felt like a continuation of the history lessons I learned from Mr. Rather, but more with women’s influence.
I enjoyed learning from this book meant for a younger audience, it just shows that we can always learn more about our history, or as Leslie Knope would say “knowledge of herstory”. For instance, I had no idea that once a woman was married she was more than likely going to be fired and being pregnant certainly meant you would be fired. It seems like NASA was different in that regard, they were more forward-thinking when it came to women. Nevertheless, if you weren’t a white woman you were treated quite differently. Sadly, there was a racial divide within. Thankfully, not everyone was closed minded, some people didn’t see color, they saw educated hardworking women.
Empowered Women
One of my favorite parts of this book was reading about Miriam Mann. I adored her spunk and drive to break glass ceilings despite being a black woman in a white male-oriented world. Mann would steal “COLORED” signs from the cafeteria as her own silent protest. Eventually, she would not have to do that, because NASA became desegregated.
It was empowering to read about the four women mathematicians. I found myself getting upset (just like I did when watching Hidden Figures), which had nothing to do with the narration of the true story, it had to do of course with our history and our lack of respect for people based on race.
The Perfect Pick for MCBD
Hidden Women is a perfect book to celebrate Multicultural Children’s Book Day, because it embodies everything that this day is. It’s reading stories of cultures that are sometimes hidden. Also, it’s finally getting the ticker tape parade to celebrate the achievements of those that deserve it. It’s blowing the dust off the book in the back to learn how we got this far into the future with the help of many cultures. It is acknowledging that this world is beautiful and colorful.
I am thankful to be a part of Multicultural Children’s Book Day. Thank you, Mia and Valarie! Growing up I didn’t see many books that represented me or my family, comparatively, here were are in 2018 and sometimes it’s still tough to find those books. Some say you should write the book if you can’t find the book; trust me, this is something I have considered. I’m glad Mia has decided to do it – CONGRATS, MIA!
Reach for the Stars
Kids should take away from this book that they must always reach for the stars. It doesn’t matter what people say or think about them because of their gender or race.
In honor of Multicultural Children’s Book Day, Hidden Women and empowering young minds I’ve created this printable.
CLICK THE IMAGE FOR YOUR FREE PRINTABLE 🙂
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
2018 Author Sponsors
Author Janet Balletta, Author Susan Bernardo, Author Carmen Bernier-Grand, Author Tasheba Berry-McLaren and Space2Launch, Bollywood Groove Books, Author Anne Broyles, Author Kathleen Burkinshaw, Author Eugenia Chu, Author Lesa Cline-Ransome, Author Medeia Cohan and Shade 7 Publishing, Desi Babies, Author Dani Dixon and Tumble Creek Press, Author Judy Dodge Cummings, Author D.G. Driver, Author Nicole Fenner and Sister Girl Publishing, Debbi Michiko Florence, Author Josh Funk, Author Maria Gianferrari, Author Daphnie Glenn, Globe Smart Kids, Author Kimberly Gordon Biddle, Author Quentin Holmes, Author Esther
Honorary Author Sponsors: Author/Illustrator Aram Kim and Author/Illustrator Juana Medina
2018 Author Sponsors
Iverem, Jennifer Joseph: Alphabet Oddities, Author Kizzie Jones, Author Faith L Justice , Author P.J. LaRue and MysticPrincesses.com, Author Karen Leggett Abouraya, Author Sylvia Liu, Author Sherri Maret, Author Melissa Martin Ph.D., Author Lesli Mitchell, Pinky Mukhi and We Are One, Author Miranda Paul, Author Carlotta Penn, Real Dads Read, Greg Ransom, Author Sandra L. Richards, RealMVPKids Author Andrea Scott, Alva Sachs and Three Wishes Publishing, Shelly Bean the Sports Queen, Author Sarah Stevenson, Author Gayle H. Swift Author Elsa Takaoka, Author Christine Taylor-Butler, Nicholette Thomas and MFL Publishing Author Andrea Y. Wang, Author Jane Whittingham Author Natasha Yim
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, and most of all for their tireless work to spread the word about this event. View our CoHosts HERE.
DON’T MISS THE MCBD TWITTER PARTY Sponsored by Scholastic Book Clubs:
MCBD’s super-popular (and crazy-fun) annual Twitter Party will be held 1/27/18 at 9:00pm.
Join the conversation and win one of 12-5 book bundles and one Grand Prize Book Bundle (12 books) at the party! http://
Free Multicultural Books for Teachers: http://bit.ly/1kGZrta
Free Empathy Classroom Kit for Homeschoolers, Organizations, Librarians and Educators: http://
Don’t forget to connect with us on social media! Be sure to look for and use our official hashtag: #ReadYourWorld.
Posts you may like:
Jean | DelightfulRepast.com
January 28, 2018 at 9:20 pmMrs AOK, kids enjoy learning about other cultures. I know I always did! Hidden Women would’ve been a must-read for me. Enjoyed your review. Even those of us who don’t have small children need to keep up with kid’s books for gifts. Did you see the movie? It was great. #MMBH
Charlotte
January 29, 2018 at 11:17 amI’ve been meaning to read Dan Rather’s book ever since I saw your Insta post, and will have to add this one to the list, too. I loved the movie but like you, found myself getting so heated by the mistreatment of African Americans (let alone AA women) during this time period. Thank you so much for sharing this review; I think this is a wonderful lesson to teach children so history NEVER repeats itself <3
Also, I've missed you bunches. That is all 🙂 Wonderful to be back in your space again. Hope you're having a great week!
sunphant
January 29, 2018 at 12:31 pmThis sounds like a great book to add to my collection! I try to keep a great collection of books on hand at school! Thanks for sharing!