International Children’s Book Day is coming!
Occurring annually on the 2nd day of every April, this global recognition is also a celebration of the birthday of Danish author and poet, Hans Christian Andersen.
International Children’s Book Day (ICBD) was first organized by Jella Lepman, founder of the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) in 1966. Every year, a different international section of IBBY hosts this day on or around Hans Christian Andersen’s birthday (April 2) to encourage parents, teachers, and children around the world to participate in reading events in their local communities.
On this day, many bookstores and libraries hold storytelling workshops and book reading events related to children’s book authors.
Having just wrapped up the eighth annual Multicultural Children’s Book Day holiday, we feel this is a perfect time to look back on all of the new diverse books we have discovered during the last 12 months and the wonderful ones that are yet to come. Enjoy!
If it’s awesome diverse books you seek, these two power book bloggers and book reviewers below always have great lists:
THE 2020 ULTIMATE LIST OF DIVERSE CHILDREN’S BOOKS from Here Wee Read has the motherlode of exceptional diverse title to add to your “must-read” list!
Melissa Taylor from Imagination Soup is not only an MCBD Cohost, her site is one of our main “go-to” places for discovering relevant and timely books and booklists. Her Best Books of 2020 list is not only excellent, but it’s also broken down by age group!
The 10th Annual Nerdies occurred in December 2020 with an eye on the notable books of 2020 with nods to books releasing in 2021 as well. Many of these books are diverse/multicultural and ALL are epic! If you’re unfamiliar with the Nerdies Picture Book Awards, they are announced every year by a group of librarians, teachers, and kid-lit lovers. This award always celebrates the books that have gone “above-and-beyond” and this site is a great place to find new titles to add to your TBR pile.
P.S: MCBD has a TON of FREE RESOURCES!
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 Diversity Book for Classrooms Program
Keep Calm and Read On!
Rebecca “Becky” Flansburg is an author, freelance writer, and project manager for the non-profit online children’s literacy initiative, Multicultural Children’s Book Day/ #ReadYourWorld. Join the celebration! Our 9th annual celebration will take place on January 28, 2022. For more information, visit Multicultural Children’s Book Day on the web.
This is a great list of diverse books, but almost none of these are international books.