Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2020 (1/31/20) is in its 7th 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.  

Seven 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.

I was gifted four books in the Sadiq series to review for Multicultural Children’s Book Day. 

Sadiq and the Desert Star by Siman Nuurali. Art by Anjan Sarkar. Capstone, 2020. 9781515838784
Sadiq and the Fun Run by Siman Nuurali. Art by Anjan Sarkar. Capstone, 2020. 9781515838814
Sadiq and the Green Thumbs by Siman Nuurali. Art by Anjan Sarkar. Capstone, 2020. 9781515838791
Sadiq and the Pet Problem by Siman Nuurali. Art by Anjan Sarkar. Capstone, 2020. 9781515838807

The Sadiq series is an appealing very early chapter book series aimed at kids aged 6-8, which my friend Nakenya and I had already discovered last year.  Our hero, third grader Sadiq, lives in a middle class neighborhood in Minnesota with his family, which is Somali, though Sadiq has only been to Africa twice himself.  Sadiq’s adventures revolve around himself, his family, and his neighbors and school friends.  Each book starts off with an introduction to Sadiq and his family and some Somali words that will be used in the book.  These always include the words for mother and father, hooyo and baba, but the other words vary depending on the story.  Back matter includes a glossary, discussion guide and writing prompts, and a different activity for each one.  All are illustrated with lots of bright full-color pictures, showing Sadiq, his family, and his multicultural friends and classmates.

In Sadiq and the Desert Star, Sadiq’s father is gone on a business trip while Sadiq and his class take a field trip to the planetarium.  Learning about the stars reminds Sadiq of the stories about the bright stars that his grandfather could see while he was herding in the desert. But stars are much harder to see in the city where Sadiq and his family live now.  He and his classmates start an astronomy club and work together to raise money for telescopes – very realistically, they aim to buy lenses which they can then build into cardboard telescopes, rather than very expensive pre-made telescopes.

In Sadiq and the Fun Run, Sadiq’s two best friends join the football team and Sadiq is very disappointed when his parents won’t let him join as well.  They encourage him to join the Running Club instead.  At first this is boring and hard, but eventually Sadiq gets better at it and also speaks up to his friends, who had initially made fun of his “easy” sport choice, about them respecting his choices.

In Sadiq and the Green Thumbs, Sadiq’s religious school teacher is injured while his wife is helping family out of the country.  The teacher is also in the neighborhood, and Sadiq knows that the Qu’ran would want him to help his teacher.  But it’s summer and Sadiq just wants to have fun with his friends!  You can guess by the title that Sadiq finds a way to be helpful and still spend time with his friends.  This is the only book where Islam is an explicit part of the storyline and it’s clear here that, like other religions, kindness and helping others are an important part of it.

In Sadiq and the Pet Problem, Sadiq is back at school and wondering how his class can have a pet like another class at the school.  He and the other children most interested in having a class pet work to research what pets would be best and how having a class pet would work.  Though there are disappointments along the way, Sadiq and his team eventually find a solution.

All of these books show Sadiq facing problems that any kid can relate to, as well as including aspects of Somali culture that will be comforting to the many Somali kids now in the US as well introducing it to those who might be less familiar with it.  At around 60 pages including the back matter, these books are great for kids just transitioning up from readers.  As a librarian, I’d be remiss not to mention the sturdy covers and sewn bindings that will help these books stand up to the many check-outs they’re sure to get.  These belong in every school and public library and are an excellent choice for beginning early chapter book readers.

I’ve been participating in Multicultural Children’s Book Day for a few years myself – here are my Multicultural Children’s Book Day posts from 2019, 2018, 2017, 2015 , 2014 part 1 and 2014 part 2.

MCBD 2020  is honored to have the following Medallion Sponsors on board:

Super Platinum

Make A Way Media/ Deirdre “DeeDee” Cummings, 

Platinum

Language Lizard, Pack-N-Go Girls, 

Gold

Audrey Press, Lerner Publishing Group, KidLit TV, ABDO BOOKS : A Family of Educational Publishers, PragmaticMom & Sumo Jo, Candlewick Press,

Silver

 Author Charlotte Riggle, Capstone Publishing, Guba Publishing, Melissa Munro Boyd & B is for Breathe,

Bronze

Author Carole P. Roman, Snowflake Stories/Jill Barletti, Vivian Kirkfield & Making Their Voices Heard. Barnes Brothers Books,  TimTimTom, Wisdom Tales Press, Lee & Low Books,  Charlesbridge Publishing, Barefoot Books Talegari Tales

Author Sponsor Link Cloud

Jerry Craft, A.R. Bey and Adventures in Boogieland, Eugina Chu & Brandon goes to Beijing, Kenneth Braswell & Fathers Incorporated, Maritza M. Mejia & Luz del mes_Mejia, Kathleen Burkinshaw & The Last Cherry Blossom, SISSY GOES TINY by Rebecca Flansburg and B.A. Norrgard, Josh Funk and HOW TO CODE A ROLLERCOASTER, Maya/Neel Adventures with Culture Groove,  Lauren Ranalli, The Little Green Monster: Cancer Magic! By Dr. Sharon Chappell, Phe Lang and Me On The Page, Afsaneh Moradian and Jamie is Jamie, Valerie Williams-Sanchez and Valorena Publishing, TUMBLE CREEK PRESS, Nancy Tupper Ling, Author Gwen Jackson, Angeliki Pedersen & The Secrets Hidden Beneath the Palm Tree, Author Kimberly Gordon Biddle, BEST #OWNVOICES CHILDREN’S BOOKS: My Favorite Diversity Books for Kids Ages 1-12 by Mia Wenjen, Susan Schaefer Bernardo & Illustrator Courtenay Fletcher (Founders of Inner Flower Child Books), Ann Morris & Do It Again!/¡Otra Vez!, Janet Balletta and Mermaids on a Mission to Save the Ocean, Evelyn Sanchez-Toledo & Bruna Bailando por el Mundo\ Dancing Around the World, Shoumi Sen & From The Toddler Diaries, Sarah Jamila Stevenson, Tonya Duncan and the Sophie Washington Book Series, Teresa Robeson  & The Queen of Physics, Nadishka Aloysius and Roo The Little Red TukTuk, Girlfriends Book Club Baltimore & Stories by the Girlfriends Book Club, Finding My Way Books, Diana Huang & Intrepids, Five Enchanted Mermaids, Elizabeth Godley and Ribbon’s Traveling Castle, Anna Olswanger and Greenhorn, Danielle Wallace & My Big Brother Troy, Jocelyn Francisco and Little Yellow Jeepney, Mariana Llanos & Kutu, the Tiny Inca Princess/La Ñusta Diminuta, Sara Arnold & The Big Buna Bash, Roddie Simmons & Race 2 Rio, DuEwa Frazier & Alice’s Musical Debut, Veronica Appleton & the Journey to Appleville book series  Green Kids Club, Inc.

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, Afsaneh Moradian, Agatha Rodi Books, All Done Monkey, Barefoot Mommy, Bethany Edward & Biracial Bookworms, Michelle Goetzl & Books My Kids Read, Crafty Moms Share, Colours of Us, Discovering the World Through My Son’s Eyes, Educators Spin on it, Shauna Hibbitts-creator of eNannylink, Growing Book by Book, Here Wee Read, Joel Leonidas & Descendant of Poseidon Reads {Philippines}, Imagination Soup, Kid World Citizen, Kristi’s Book Nook, The Logonauts, Mama Smiles, Miss Panda Chinese, Multicultural Kid Blogs, Serge Smagarinsky {Australia}, Shoumi Sen, Jennifer Brunk & Spanish Playground, Katie Meadows and Youth Lit Reviews

FREE RESOURCES from Multicultural Children’s Book Day

• Free Multicultural Books for Teachers 
• Our New FREE Teacher Classroom Physical and Developmental Challenges Kit http://ow.ly/kcbZ30p3QWz
• Free Empathy Classroom Kit for Homeschoolers, Organizations, Librarians, and Educators
• Free Understanding Developmental & Physical Challenges Classroom Kit

TWITTER PARTY! Register here!

Hashtag: Don’t forget to connect with us on social media and be sure and look for/use our official hashtag #ReadYourWorld.