This post is about the Mystery at the Christmas Market which is a Pack-n-Go Girls book. The girls in this series travel to many countries. This is the 3rd book set in Austria, and it is Christmas time at that. While all the family and visitors gather and have a wonderful holiday which includes skiing, a mystery is brewing and no one will believe Eva and Brooke. We met Eva and Brooke in book 1 and book 2 in this series. I purchased my own books.
In book one, Mystery of the Ballerina Ghost — Austria 1, we met Brooke from Colorado. We learned she had, “Skin the color of a roasted peanut.” Eva’s skin was creamy white, like the inside of an apple. Of course, we know Eva is Austrian. But I wondered through books 1 and 2 about Eva. The mysterious red-haired couple discuss her skin color when they think the girls don’t speak English and end up just saying, “She looks like she could be from anywhere.” At that point we learn Brooke’s grandma was Native American, but that many people don’t realize that fact. I think this is an important part of the book as I have a daughter adopted from Korea and have taught children from many different countries. Often people are not as polite as in the book discussion. I was glad this was addressed as many tween readers may relate to the situation.
Christmas Market Vocabulary Cards
This free PDF has English vocabulary words from the book, and also pictures that correspond to them. I think it helps students to visualize the text to have some photos to consider. In the back of the book, there are writing prompts and students could use these words for during writing workshop.
3-part-cards-Austria-vocabulary
Pack-n-Go Girls Adventures engage the imagination of children ages 6-9 by introducing them to different countries around the world. The early chapter books are packed with spooky mysteries, international friendships, and lots of fun and easy multicultural learning. Here’s a bit about Pack-n-Go Girls to get you started: https://packngogirls.com/.
Multicultural Children’s Book Day
Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2017 (1/27/17) is its fourth year and was founded by Valarie Budayr from Jump Into A Book and Mia Wenjen from PragmaticMom. Their mission is to raise awareness on the ongoing need to include kid’s books that celebrate diversity in home and school bookshelves while also working diligently to get more of these types of books into the hands of young readers, parents and educators.
Despite census data that shows 37% of the US population consists of people of color, only 10% of children’s books published have diversity content. Using the Multicultural Children’s Book Day holiday, the MCCBD Team are on a mission to change all of that. This event has also proven to be an excellent way to compile a list of diverse children’s book titles and reviews for parents, grandparents, educators and librarians to use all year long.
– Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/MulticulturalChildrensBookDay
– Twitter https://twitter.com/MCChildsBookDay
Current Sponsors: MCBD 2017 is honored to have some amazing Sponsors on board. Platinum Sponsors include Scholastic, Barefoot Books and Broccoli. Other Medallion Level Sponsors include heavy-hitters like Author Carole P. Roman, Audrey Press, Candlewick Press, Fathers Incorporated, KidLitTV, Capstone Young Readers, ChildsPlayUsa, Author Gayle Swift, Wisdom Tales Press, Lee& Low Books, The Pack-n-Go Girls, Live Oak Media, Author Charlotte Riggle, Chronicle Books and Pomelo Books
Author Sponsor include: Karen Leggett Abouraya, Veronica Appleton, Susan BernardoKathleen Burkinshaw, Maria Dismondy, D.G. Driver, Geoff Griffin, Savannah Hendricks, Stephen Hodges, Carmen Bernier-Grand,Vahid Imani, Gwen Jackson, Hena, Kahn, David Kelly, Mariana Llanos, Natasha Moulton-Levy, Teddy O’Malley, Stacy McAnulty, Cerece Murphy, Miranda Paul, Annette Pimentel, Greg Ransom, Sandra Richards, Elsa Takaoka, Graciela Tiscareño-Sato, Sarah Stevenson, Monica Mathis-Stowe SmartChoiceNation, Andrea Y. Wang
They’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 work tirelessly to spread the word of this event. View our CoHosts HERE.
MCBD Links to remember:
Free Multicultural Books for Teachers
Free Kindness Classroom Kit for Homeschoolers, Organizations, Librarians and Educators
Free Diversity Book Lists and Activities for Teachers and Parents
Hashtag: Don’t forget to connect with is on social media and be sure and look for/use their official hashtag #ReadYourWorld.
Thank you for reading! Carolyn