I am 53 and counting!

 It’s my 53 birthday

As part of celebrating my birthday and receiving my new year of life

 I need to be grateful for what this past year has brought me… 

I am grateful for what I have lived and not lived this year,

for getting my health back after being sick twice,

for beautiful moments spent with loved ones,

for new memories,

for the ones that take care of me,

for the friends that are part of my life, 

for the love I give,

For my sons being healthy and good men,

for my parents being alive, 

for the experiences lived and the lessons learned,

for sharing my life with my guy and my extended family,

                                                           for being able to start a new year of life...

I am grateful!

                                             -Tere Rodriguez-Nora

As the world turns…

As the world turns a new life is born

As the world turns a simple act of kindness is changing someone’s life
As the world turns someone is trying for the first time
As the world turns parents are proud of their child

As the world turns people are sharing their different views of life
As the world turns two souls are getting together in an act of love
As the world turns minds are thinking brilliant ideas
As the world turns a team is winning a championship
As the world turns there are joy and satisfaction from a job well done
As the world turns someone is crying to clean their soul 

As the world turns there are words of encouragement someone needs to hear
As the world turns an artist is creating a magnificent piece
As the world turns memories are remembered and cherished
As the world turns a walk nature brings peace to someone
As the world turns there are eyes crying tears of happiness
As the world turns people are fighting for human rights
As the world turns an elderly is treated with respect

As the world turns someone is declaring their love

As the world turns two souls are sharing intimacy

As the world turns someone is getting married

As the world turns there is no color in the name of love

As the world turns there is someone believing in love again

As the world turns there are echoes 

of laughter heard

As the world turns someone is dancing to a beautiful song 

As the world turns music is uniting people

As the world turns there is hope in 

someone's life

As the world turns a parent is taking care

of their child

As the world turns there is the hope of

a better world

As the world turns a hug is given

As the world turns someone is paying attention to other's needs 

As the world turns there is no color in the name of love

As the world turns there is hope in someone’s life

As the world turns...

- Tere Rodriguez-Nora

                                          

Meet the Mermaids: Hi, I'm Jenny (Tales of the Five Enchanted Mermaids)

Meet The Mermaids: Hi, I'm Jenny is a beautiful, colorful book part of the series Tales of the Five Enchanted Mermaids, written by Lois Petren, that touches on the theme of self-confidence. Jenny is an Asian mermaid who loves to sing and is confident about herself. She explains throughout meaningful, simple language how she sometimes hasn't felt too confident, sharing ways of how to work on getting her confidence back. This book also approaches, in a simple way, how we all can have those little voices in our heads that could set back our confidence but she shares positive ways to boost our confidence and get it back, like positive self-talking, talking to a trusted adult, or being grateful.

As a mental health therapist who works with a lot of children who might struggle, at times, with their own confidence, I loved how this book approaches the confidence theme as something we all most have but we can struggle to keep it as well. The book teaches children that we all might hear these small voices in our heads but we can challenge them and change them to positive ones. This is a great book to help children understand the struggles we might find with maintaining our confidence and how we can boost it in case we need to.

Lois Petrem is the author of this book as well as the other four books that are part of the Tales of the Five Enchanted Mermaids series. She became an author when she realized she had a story to tell.

*This book was gifted to review as part of the Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2022 celebration/event (1/28/22).

Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2022 (1/28/22) is in its 9^th 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 books into the hands of young readers and educators.

MCBD’s mission is to raise awareness of the ongoing need to include kids’ books that celebrate diversity in homes and school bookshelves. Read about our Mission & History HERE.

                                    MCBD 2022 is honored to be Supported by these Medallion Sponsors!

SUPER PLATINUM: Make A Way Media

PLATINUM: Language Lizard

GOLD: Barefoot Books, KidLitTV, Candlewick, Capstone, Abrams Books

SILVER: Pack-n-Go Girls, Charlotte Riggle, Kimberly Gordon Biddle  

BRONZE: Carole P. Roman, Patrice McLaurin, Dyesha and Triesha McCants/McCants Squared, Redfin.com, Redfin Canada, Redfin Mortgage, Redfin/Title Forward, Create & Educate, Star Bright Books, Vivian Kirkfield, Dr. Eleanor Wint, Kind World Publishing, Snowflake Stories, Lisa Wee, SONGJU MA, Melissa Stoller, J.C. Kato and J.C.², Crystel Patterson, Audrey Press, Pragmaticmom, TimTimTom, Wisdom Tales 

MCBD 2022 is honored to be Supported by these Author Sponsors!

Charlene Mosley (official MCBD2022 Poster Creator)
Illustrator Isabelle Roxas (Class Kit Poster Creator)

Alva Sachs, Brianna Carter, Ebony Zay Zay, Rita Bhandari, Gwen Jackson, Lois Petren/The 5 Enchanted Mermaids, Valerie Williams-Sanchez and Valorena Publishing, Josh Funk, Afsaneh Moradian, Eugenia Chu, Maritza Martínez Mejía, Diana Huang, Kathleen Burkinshaw, CultureGroove, Sandra Elaine Scott, Dorena Williamson, Veronica Appleton, Alejandra Domenzain, Lauren Muskovitz and Sandfish Publishing, Tonya Duncan Ellis, Kimberly Lee, Susan Schaefer Bernardo & Illustrator Courtenay Fletcher, Nancy Tupper Ling, Winsome Hudson-Bingham, Amanda Hsiung-Blodgett, Sivan Hong, Michael Genhart, Debbie Dadey, Elizabeth Cureton, Stephanie Wildman, Maryann Jacob, Sherri Maret, Rochelle Melander, Dia Mixon, Kiyanda and Benjamin Young, Shereen Rahming, Linda Thornburg and Katherine Archer,  Rebecca Flansburg and BA Norrgard , Maxine Schur  Natalie McDonald-Perkins

MCBD 2022 is Honored to be Supported by our CoHosts and Global CoHosts!

MCBD 2022 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 Homeschool Diverse Kidlit Booklist & Activity Kit

FREE Teacher Classroom Raising Awareness on Systemic Racism in America Classroom Kit

Gallery of Our Free Posters

FREE Diversity Book for Classrooms Program

Join us on Friday, Jan 29, 2021, at 9 pm EST for the 8th annual Multicultural Children's Book Day Twitter Party! Be sure and follow MCBD and Make A Way Media on Twitter!

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.