Celebrating Diversity in KidLit: Multicultural Children’s Book Day
“Our mission is to not only raise awareness for the kid’s books that celebrate diversity but to get more of these books into classrooms and libraries.”
Multicultural Children’s Book Day
Multicultural Children’s Book Day (MCBD) is an annual event that shines a light on multicultural books and the authors, illustrators, and publishers who create them.
This global non-profit offers a variety of free resources, teaching tools, booklists, downloads, and a year-round initiative to get multicultural and diverse books into the hands of young readers.
Over 10,000 books have been donated to underserved kids, classrooms, and organizations, and that number continues to climb.
The Creators
After being frustrated by a lack of diverse and multicultural children’s books available to their own families, reading and play advocates Valarie Budayr from Audrey Press Books and Mia Wenjen from Pragmatic Mom decided to take matters into their own hands. The book-loving moms teamed up to create a much-needed national event, and in 2012 the first Multicultural Children’s Book Day was celebrated.
Learn more about the Co-Founders.
Globe Trottin’ Kids has participated as a book reviewer for years (see below for past reviews) and is proud to now be a Co-Host for this important event.
Learn more about the Co-Hosts.
The Books
MCBD’s Criteria for “Multicultural” or “Diverse” Children’s Books
- Books that contain characters of color as well as main characters that represent a minority point of view.
- Books that are written by an author of diversity or color from their perspective. Search #OwnVoices to discover diverse books written by diverse authors.
- Books that share ideas, stories, and information about cultures, races, religions, languages, and traditions. These books can be non-fiction but still written in a way that kids will find entertaining and informative.
- Books that embrace special needs or even “hidden disabilities” like ADHD, ADD, and anxiety.
- Books that show IBPOC readers what is POSSIBLE–like a book that shows an Asian child as an astronaut, a child from Sudan as an actress, or a biracial child as a world leader.
Are you a publisher or an author of multicultural books for children? Would you like to donate a book for Multicultural Children’s Book Day? Learn more here.
The Event
The global online and offline event offers a variety of opportunities for celebrating diverse literature.
💠 Sign up for the FREE Diverse Books for Classrooms Program.
💠 Participate in an event-day Virtual Party. See below for details!
💠 Browse hundreds of book reviews in the Big Giant Linky.
Join the celebration! Use the event hashtag #ReadYourWorld for social media.
The Extras
MCBD Diversity Book Lists & Resources
Diverse World Book Lists for Kids
- antiracist books & resources
- country/geographic area
- everyday books
- world religions
Free Printable Classroom Kits include resources, book recommendations, and companion activities encouraging learning and discussion.
- Climate Change
- Mental Health Support for Stressful Times
- Raising Awareness of Systemic Racism in America
- Activism & Activists
- Physical and Developmental Challenges: Understand and Celebrate Our Differences
- Poverty Doesn’t Discriminate
- Empathy
- Kindness
📌 Register for the MCBD Read Your World Virtual Party
Join us on Thursday, January 25, 2024, at 9 pm EST celebrating more than 10 years of Multicultural Children’s Book Day Read Your World Virtual Party! Register here.
This epically fun and fast-paced hour includes multicultural book discussions, addressing timely issues, diverse book recommendations, & reading ideas.
We will be giving away a 10-Book Bundle during the virtual party plus Bonus Prizes as well! *** US and Global participants welcome. **
Follow the hashtag #ReadYourWorld to join the conversation, and connect with like-minded parts, authors, publishers, educators, organizations, and librarians. We look forward to seeing you all on January 25, 2024, at our virtual party!