A Morning with Grandpa by Sylvia Liu is the book I received for Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2019. The official website for the book is at this link. The publisher has a teacher guide which may be downloaded here, also. The book is also part of a book collection by Lee and Low publishing for helping establish grade one classroom communities. The publisher is Lee and Low Books.

As a teacher, I find this book makes an excellent mentor text for writing workshop as the figurative language is child-appropriate and understandable. Children like to act out what they are reading, and the illustrations and familiarity with Yoga, Karate, and Tai Chi will support mind-body brain-based learning. Some of Mei Mei’s actions might be pantomimed. Gong Gong (grandpa) is excellent at Tai Chi, while Mei Mei is more active at exercising. Classrooms with brain breaks and mindfulness programs will benefit from the illustrated Yoga and Tai Chi exercises at the end of the book.

I appreciate books with Asian characters as I have an adopted daughter from Korea. I feel there should be more diverse picture books. I received this book free as part of the Multicultural Children’s Book Day even for January 2019. It will be donated to a kindergarten at Forest Elementary in Robbinsdale where I volunteer.

For several years, I have participated in MCBD, and the links to the other book reviews and free printable educational resources are further down in the post.

This is the official book trailer.

Gong Gong (grandpa) teaches Mei Mei Tai Chi, while she shows him Karate. Karate isn’t really his thing, so she tries some Yoga. They both enjoy the session. The figurative language in the book is wonderful and children will be able to notice some similes and metaphors in the text. Don’t know what Tai Chi is? Grandpa explains.

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My free printable has letter-sized teaching posters that could be used in a discussion with a large group, small group, or on a bulletin board. It has a garden theme to match the illustration in the book. Other books could also be used, although it would be so nice to have A Morning with Grandpa on hand. Children know it can be difficult to explain something and may realize they have even used a simile or metaphor themselves.

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An example of a simile poster is in the next image.

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And metaphor can be difficult but at the most simple level, it is a simile without using the words like or as. That is good enough for primary grades to begin to understand. They will probably think of a bunch of balloon color metaphors.

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One poster suggests the teacher will now read a story with figurative language for the children to notice. The poster doesn’t name a book, so the teacher has a choice of texts. Eventually, the students may hear language in other stories or in spoken words as the days progress. Hopefully you can read A Morning with Grandpa.

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Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2019 (1/25/19) is in its 6th year and was founded by Valarie Budayr from Jump Into A Book and Mia Wenjen from PragmaticMom. Our mission is to raise awareness of the ongoing need to include kids’ books that celebrate diversity in homes and school bookshelves while also working diligently to get more of these types of books into the hands of young readers, parents and educators.

MCBD 2019 is honored to have the following Medallion Sponsors on board!

Medallion Level Sponsors

Honorary: Children’s Book CouncilThe Junior Library GuildTheConsciousKid.org.

Super Platinum: Make A Way Media

GOLD: Bharat Babies, Candlewick PressChickasaw Press, Juan Guerra and The Little Doctor / El doctorcito, KidLitTV,  Lerner Publishing Group, Plum Street Press,

SILVER: Capstone Publishing, Carole P. RomanAuthor Charlotte RiggleHuda EssaThe Pack-n-Go Girls,

BRONZE: Charlesbridge Publishing, Judy Dodge Cummings, Author Gwen Jackson, Kitaab World, Language Lizard – Bilingual & Multicultural Resources in 50+ LanguagesLee & Low Books, Miranda Paul and Baptiste Paul, Redfin, Author Gayle H. Swift,  T.A. Debonis-Monkey King’s DaughterTimTimTom Books, Lin Thomas, Sleeping Bear Press/Dow Phumiruk, Vivian Kirkfield,

MCBD 2019 is honored to have the following Author Sponsors on board

Honorary: Julie FlettMehrdokht Amini,

Author Janet BallettaAuthor Kathleen BurkinshawAuthor Josh FunkChitra SoundarOne Globe Kids – Friendship StoriesSociosights Press and Almost a MinyanKaren LeggettAuthor Eugenia ChuCultureGroove BooksPhelicia Lang and Me On The PageL.L. WaltersAuthor Sarah StevensonAuthor Kimberly Gordon BiddleHayley BarrettSonia PanigrahAuthor Carolyn Wilhelm, Alva Sachs and Dancing DreidelsAuthor Susan BernardoMilind Makwana and A Day in the Life of a Hindu KidTara Williams, Veronica Appleton, Author Crystal Bowe, Dr. Claudia May, Author/Illustrator Aram KimAuthor Sandra L. RichardsErin DealeyAuthor Sanya Whittaker GraggAuthor Elsa Takaoka, Evelyn Sanchez-Toledo, Anita Badhwar, Author Sylvia LiuFeyi Fay Adventures, Author Ann Morris, Author Jacqueline Jules, CeCe & Roxy Books, Sandra Neil Wallace and Rich WallaceLEUYEN PHAM, Padma Venkatraman, Patricia Newman and Lightswitch LearningShoumi Sen, Valerie Williams-Sanchez and Valorena Publishing, Traci SorellShereen RahmingBlythe StanfelChristina MatulaJulie Rubini, Paula Chase, Erin Twamley, Afsaneh Moradian, Lori DeMonia, Claudia Schwam, Terri Birnbaum/ RealGirls Revolution, Soulful Sydney, Queen Girls Publications, LLC

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 ArabAgatha Rodi BooksAll Done MonkeyBarefoot Mommy, Biracial Bookworms, Books My Kids Read, Crafty Moms ShareColours of UsDiscovering the World Through My Son’s EyesDescendant of Poseidon ReadsEducators Spin on it Growing Book by BookHere Wee Read, Joy Sun Bear/ Shearin Lee, Jump Into a BookImagination Soup,Jenny Ward’s Class, Kid World CitizenKristi’s Book NookThe LogonautsMama SmilesMiss Panda ChineseMulticultural Kid BlogsRaising Race Conscious ChildrenShoumi SenSpanish Playground

TWITTER PARTY Sponsored by Make A Way Media: MCBD’s super-popular (and crazy-fun) annual @McChildsBookDay Twitter Party will be held 1/25/19 at 9:00pm.E.S.T. TONS of prizes and book bundles will be given away during the party ( a prize every 5 minutes!). GO HERE for more details.

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FREE RESOURCES From MCBD

Free Multicultural Books for Teachers: https://bit.ly/1kGZrta

Free Empathy Classroom Kit for Homeschoolers, Organizations, Librarians and Educators: https://multiculturalchildrensbookday.com/teacher-classroom-empathy-kit/

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

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https://multiculturalchildrensbookday.com/blog/

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