In 2017, Sheela Chari, a 2012 finalist for the Edgar Award for Best Juvenile Book, had her second YA book, Finding Mighty, was published by Amulet Books. I was fortunate enough to have been given the opportunity to review this book for this years Multicultural Children’s Book Day. The mission of MCBD is “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.” I could not agree more- our books need to have characters and plots that represent all of us. Finding Mighty by: Sheela Chari...
While out walking the dog this morning, I witnessed a near-tragic accident as a biker and a truck almost collided. The truck was, of course, driving too fast and barreling down my street. The biker, a young girl around 13, was merging into the street, also cruising down the road, eager to reach her destination. It was one of those moments where, for some reason, you happen to look up seconds before something bad happens to witness something horrible. I looked up and saw this girl, riding one handed and glancing down at her other hand. In that other hand...
By: Bryan Grossbauer This article was originally published on Medium.com It has been 2 days since Governor Andrew Cuomo declared New Rochelle the epicenter of the New York State Coronavirus Outbreak. Specifically, the mile radius around Young Israel synagogue, within which we live, that has been labeled the “containment zone”. New Rochelle, which is just north of New York City, became a coronavirus “hot spot” Cuomo said, after a resident was diagnosed with the virus last week. The man, an attorney who works near Manhattan’s Grand Central Terminal, was later linked to dozens of other confirmed cases of the virus...
“No longer will I be there to knock on your door, so you must learn to knock for yourself. Knock, knock down the doors that I could not.” Knock Knock, My Dad’s Dream For Me by: Daniel Beaty, A Corretta Scott King Award winner is a fitting book to leave my Black History Month Multicultural Children’s Book Celebration. It is an amazing book that shows what happens when one day a young boy’s father is no longer there to knock on his door and wake him up in the morning. I should warn you that this is not an easy...
For Black History Month 2020, I wanted to showcase some amazing books that have been read, reread, forgotten, discovered, and reread yet again. I will be publishing each book on every Tuesday and Thursday throughout February. These are books for every level ; some for a ride in the stroller while others are longer, young adult books. Regardless of the anyones age, these are books that have a positive, progressive social message, or strong minority and/or female characters. They promote understanding of difference, diversity, and inclusion. By being exposed to diverse characters and stories- we teach our children, and ourselves,...
In her latest book, the #1 best-selling, award-winning Little Series of children’s picture books author Sheri Fink, tells us a heartwarming tale of her new character, the little dragon who is busy dealing with many complex emotions. He’s angry, scared, lonely, and embarrassed. Sounds like a normal day, especially in younger children, where emotions are hardly predictable! A book like this demonstrates how we all can feel overwhelmed with emotions and not really know how to handle them. The little dragon eventually learns how to be more compassionate and discovers that playing together is always more fun! Both of my...
I stumble my way through the Spanish translations – trying to act casual. My son, who knows far more Spanish than I do, starts correcting me and helping me to pronounce the difficult words. He’s not using it as a “look what I know, silly old man” moment, thankfully, but more of a “here’s the correct way to say it, now let’s get back to the story.” That’s interesting to think about, the language didn’t matter, it was all about the story. To him, it was just another way of sharing the new adventures of a dog in a sombrero...
I am very excited to announce that I will be reviewing a new book by Derek Kent, El Perro con Sombrero! “Derek Taylor Kent is an author, screenwriter, performer and director based in Los Angeles. Best known for his children’s books, his best-selling, award-winning books are treasured in hundreds of thousands of homes across the world. He and his wife, author Sheri Fink (pictured to the left), are the founders of Whimsical World, an empowering children’s brand that publishes books and produces whimsical merchandise, inspiring entertainment, and magical experiences for children of all ages.” -www.derektaylorkent.com This review will be part of the...
