'Stuck' - Read and Rise January 2021

It is the last day of January and I have one last story that encourages persistence and creative problem solving. In "Stuck" by Oliver Jeffers, a little boy gets his kite stuck in a tree. He spends the rest of the book trying to get his kite out of the tree! I will tell you that he does succeed, but you and your children will be laughing as they watch HOW he tries to get the kite out of the tree!

Featured story: "Stuck" by Oliver Jeffers 

Activity: Draw and write about your own solution to the problem! How would you get the kite out of the tree? Remember, since it's your story, you can solve the problem any way you want! Your solution can be realistic and logical or it can be completely far fetched and ridiculous! Download the file below for a printable draw/write page so you can give the story the ending YOU want.

Stuck by Oliver Jeffers Draw and Write

'Brandon Makes Jiǎo Zi' by Eugenia Chu Book Review - Multicultural Children's Book Day

 

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I may earn a commission on qualifying purchases - at zero cost to you.

Cardboard Mom's Homemade Play Dough

Add 1/4 cup white flour (bleached or unbleached), 1/8 cup salt, 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar or lemon juice, and 1 teaspoon oil to a small non-stick pot. Pour in about 1/3 cup water and stir everything together (you want the consistency to be that of really runny mashed potatoes - I've found it's better to put in a little too much water and cook it longer than to put in too little). At this point, you can add food coloring or extracts for smell. 

Cook the play dough over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until it starts firming up. Then continue stirring and cooking until no wet spots remain. Dump it out onto a plate to cool, kneading it every few minutes or so until it's no longer hot. Once it's completely cooled, use immediately or place in an airtight container (I love using the jars from Talenti gelato). 

Of course, making or buying real jiǎo zi is also a perfect activity to go along with this story! If you're feeling adventurous and want to try making your own, you can make Pó Po's Jiǎo Zi. Also, please check out Eugenia's website for more information about the author and the book, to hear a read aloud version of the story, to purchase your own copy of "Brandon Makes Jiǎo Zi," or to download coloring pages and worksheets. 

I also had the opportunity to review "From My Window" by Otávio Júnior. 

Don't forget to connect with Multicultural Children's Book Day on social media and make sure to look for and use #ReadYourWorld.

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Pinterest

Twitter

Instagram

Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2021 (1/29/21) is in its 8^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 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 kids’ books that celebrate diversity in homes and school bookshelves continues. Read about our Mission & History HERE.

MCBD 2021 is honored to be Supported by these Medallion Sponsors!

FOUNDER’S CIRCLE: Mia Wenjen (Prgamaticmom) 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

Gallery of Our Free Posters

FREE Diversity Book for Classrooms Program

TWITTER PARTY! Register here!

'From My Window' by Otávio Júnior Book Review - Multicultural Children's Book Day 2021

 

I am excited to be celebrating Multicultural Children's Book Day - an annual celebration of diverse children's books. We love learning about different cultures and so participating in Multicultural Children's Book Day gives us the opportunity to discover new diverse books to add to our bookshelf. This year, I am grateful to Barefoot Books for gifting me "From My Window" by Otávio Júnior.

"From My Window" by Otávio Júnior is not your typical picture book with a story to tell. Instead it transports you and gives you a glimpse of the author's world - the favela Complexo do Alemão in Rio de Janiero, Brazil. Vanina Starkoff's illustrations are so bright and colorful and they invite you into the world of the favela, a world where there may be struggles and violence but also beauty, creativity, community, hopes, and dreams. Some of the pictures are so full of detail that I think I could read the book 10 times and still find something new in them! But they also feel exactly what I imagine a favela to be - densely packed and so full and busy!

"From My Window" reminded me of the book, "Ada's Violin: The Story of the Recycled Orchestra of Paraguay" by Susan Hood. Both Ada and Otávio Júnior grew up in what most of us would likely consider unfortunate circumstances and both were saved, one by music and the other by books. I think it's an enlightening book for children living in more developed or prosperous areas as well as those living in rural areas. And for those living in similar circumstances, it's such a wonderful reminder that where you start doesn't have to dictate where you end up! 

"From My Window" would go along beautifully with a unit study on Brazil. The story makes you want to learn more about favelas - I had no idea so much of the population of Rio lived in favelas, or that favelas even existed! If you would like to do a stand-alone activity after reading "From My Window," you could have your children draw a picture of what they see outside their window. I think it would be an amazing book to collect "from my window" drawings from children around the world!

I also had the opportunity to review "Brandon Makes Jiǎo Zi" by Eugenia Chu.

Don't forget to connect with Multicultural Children's Book Day on social media and make sure to look for and use #ReadYourWorld.

Facebook

Pinterest

Twitter

Instagram

Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2021 (1/29/21) is in its 8^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 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 kids’ books that celebrate diversity in homes and school bookshelves continues. Read about our Mission & History HERE.

FOUNDER’S CIRCLE: Mia Wenjen (Prgamaticmom) 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

Gallery of Our Free Posters

FREE Diversity Book for Classrooms Program

TWITTER PARTY! Register here!

'Beautiful Oops' - Read and Rise Book Club January 2021

This week we shift from focusing on trying again after making a mistake to turning the mistake into the magnificent thing! That's exactly what Barney Saltzberg does in his book, "Beautiful Oops." He takes all those little goofs - like tears, spills, drips, drops, scribbles - that frustrate young artists and make them want to throw their paper in the garbage and start over and turns them into works of art. The book helps you look at things from a different perspective and realize though you may not have made what you set out to, you could still make something beautiful.

Featured story: "Beautiful Oops" by Barney Saltzberg

Activity: You can absolutely do the activity shown in the read aloud video above! If you want to take it a step further, you can make a "Beautiful Oops" bag of inspiration like we did! I cut mixed media paper in half and set up "oopses" that the kids could pull out of a paper bag and use to create something beautiful. Here are the papers I set up:

National Pie Day - Favorite Pies Roundup

We mostly only make pies around the holidays but seeing that today was National Pie Day has motivated me to sprinkle pies in throughout the year! I'll have to search my pantry and fridge to see if I have the ingredients to make some kind of pie today, but in the meantime, I've collected some of our favorite pie recipes to share.

I have made this chocolate pecan pie for many Thanksgivings. Plain pecan pie was always too sweet for me but the addition of chocolate in this one helps balance out the syrupy sweetness. Unfortunately, the only picture of our chocolate pecan pie I could find was before we baked it...

Chocolate Pecan Pie

Ingredients:

• 1 pie crust, premade or refrigerated store bought
• 1/2 cup (3.5oz) of semi-sweet chocolate chips or chopped baking chocolate
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 3 eggs, slightly beaten
• 1/4 cup light brown sugar
• 1 cup light corn syrup
• 1 1/2 cups pecan halves

We made this pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving this year and it was perfect! I can be pretty critical of pumpkin pies when they're overly sweet or overly spiced, but we all though this one was perfectly balanced. Find the recipe here: No Fail Homemade Pumpkin Pie

I made this chocolate cream pie for the pie eating contest during our Backyard Fair this summer. I completely forgot to take a picture of the pie and all I have is this slightly blurry photo of a half eaten pie slice! I really wish I had heavy cream in the fridge so I could make this pie again - it was so delicious! Lastly, we have apple pie. This apple pie was actually made a few years ago when I began using the Build Your Library Level 0 curriculum with Lil C. Level 0 is an around the world study and we began with the adorable book, "How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World" by Marjorie Priceman. At the end of the book is the apple pie recipe we used (you can find the recipe in the book preview on Amazon) - it was our first time making homemade pie crust together and we had so much fun! If you're interested in the book and not just the pie, Teaching Mama has some fun activities (she also has a picture of the recipe from the book) and just below is a read aloud of the story. I hope you try out some of these recipes and enjoy them as much as we did!

Chocolate Almond Banana Bread

 

I wanted to make banana bread, but I wanted to make something a little different from the typical run of the mill banana bread. So when I came across this recipe for Double Chocolate Banana Bread from The Toasted Pine Nut, I knew I had to try it! I altered the ingredients just a tiny bit to use what I had on hand and it came out chocolatey and delicious! It's gluten and dairy free and a great option for anyone who is not a fan of strong banana flavor - the chocolate and nut butter do a great job of subduing the banana. I think a slice of this banana bread would go perfectly with a hot cup of coffee or tea or a cold glass of milk. I would definitely recommend you give it a try!

Chocolate Almond Banana Bread

adapted from The Toasted Pine Nut

Ingredients:

• 2 very ripe bananas
• 3 eggs
• 1/4 cup peanut butter, plus 2 tablespoons for drizzling
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 cups almond flour
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup chocolate chips, plus more for sprinkling

'Giraffe Problems' - Read and Rise Book Club January 2021

This week marked the 6-month anniversary of the Read and Rise Book club and also 3 months since the launch of this website! I can't believe I have shared 41 books so far that go along with our mission of creating a generation of children who love themselves, are full of self-confidence, and know their worth so that they can rise up and be warriors for kindness, acceptance, equality, community, the earth, and change for the better. I am so grateful to each and every one of you who is part of the Cardboard Mom community and also for the wonderful authors I've met along the way!

Today is extra special for me because not only am I sharing a new story, but I'm also celebrating the birthday of an extraordinary woman who inspires me and embodies everything the Read and Rise Book Club stands for - First Lady Michelle Obama. She inspires people young and old and spreads hope and kindness wherever she goes. For that reason, today's story will be read by none other than the First Lady herself (with a special guest!) <3

Featured story: "Giraffe Problems" by Jory John

I don't have a specific activity today, just a reminder that all of you are exactly what the world needs you to be - if the world needed you to be someone else, you would've been born someone else!

'Rosie Revere, Engineer' - Read and Rise Book Club January 2021

This week we have another of my favorite books for all the little makers out there. In "Rosie Revere, Engineer" by Andrea Beaty, we are introduced to little Rosie Revere - a quiet, timid girl who collects treasures and builds secretly in her attic. We learn that she wasn't always so secretive about her engineering. When she was younger, she loved to make all sorts of interesting inventions for her uncles and aunts. Then one day, everything changed. She had made an invention for her favorite uncle and when she presented it to him, he burst out laughing! He told her he loved it but she didn't believe him! Little Rosie was so embarrassed that he laughed at her invention that from then on she kept her inventions - and her dreams - to herself.

Some time later, Rosie's great-great-aunt Rose came for a visit. Aunt Rose had built airplanes a long time ago and had checked off all her life goals except for one: she never got to fly. That one unchecked goal got stuck in Rosie's head and she couldn't help but take on the challenge of helping her aunt fly! You'll have to read the story to find out just what happens but I will say that Rosie learned a very important lesson: "The only true failure can come if you quit." (from "Rosie Revere, Engineer" by Andrea Beaty)

Featured story: "Rosie Revere, Engineer" by Andrea Beaty

Activity: Create something that flies! You can get creative and come up with your own original design, but if you need a little inspiration, Buggy and Buddy have put together a great list of flying crafts:

'The Most Magnificent Thing' - Read and Rise Book Club January 2021

It's January so it's time to start a new month of the Read and Rise Book Club. Since January is typically a time of resolutions and trying to build healthy positive habits, I thought our focus this month should be on growth mindset because without the ability to grow our brains, we could never take on new challenges or start new habits! 

Our first book is "The Most Magnificent Thing" by Ashley Spires. It's the story of a little girl who sets out - with her puppy assistant - to make the most magnificent thing. We don't know what the most magnificent thing will be, but she assures us that she knows just how it will look and just how it will work! So she sets off to make her magnificent thing and it turns out ALL WRONG! But, she does not give up! Which is wonderful because if she had given up she wouldn't have learned anything and she definitely would not have ever made the most magnificent thing. So anyway, she tries again. And it doesn't work again. She keeps trying but it keeps not working! She feels a lot of anger and frustration and disappointment and is ready to give up. But after taking a break, she comes back and looks at her failed inventions with fresh eyes and realizes they're not ALL wrong, just partly wrong. And what happens when she takes all the right parts from the failed attempts and puts them together? Well, you'll just have to read to find out what she makes in the end! 

Featured story: "The Most Magnificent Thing" by Ashley Spires

Activity: Create your own magnificent thing! Choose a small toy or stuffed animal and create something that can be used to transport your toy. First, brainstorm all the different carriers you could make! There are wearable carriers like the ones made for babies, things you can hold like baskets or bags, things you can roll like wagons or strollers...

3. Fold along all lines - I like to use a ruler to help me fold along the lines easily.