Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2021

Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2021 is celebrating its eighth year on 1/29/21. Because MCBD is one of our favorite events, Kid Congeniality is participating for the third year in a row! We are very proud of our past reviews which you can read >HERE< & >HERE<

This year we are thrilled to review The Boy Without A Name written by Idries Shah and colorfully illustrated by Mona Caron. Read on to enjoy the review as well as a bunch of terrific, FREE MCBD resources.

About Multicultural Children’s Book Day:

This non profit children’s literacy initiative was founded by Valarie Budayr and Mia Wenjen. These two diverse book loving moms saw a need to shine the spotlight on multicultural books and authors on while also working to get those book into the hands of young readers and educators. You can read about the eight year long mission to include kids’ books that celebrate diversity in homes and schools HERE.

The Boy Without A Name Review:

Imagine having no name? It would be hard to feel like you belonged anywhere without a name. A name defines you and it becomes part of your presence in the world.

“Benaam” is a boy who has no name. At “Benaam’s” birth a wise stranger appears. He tells them that the boy is very important and that he will give the boy something marvelous one day but they must not name him. His parents agree and refer to him as “Benaam” which means nameless. As “Benaam” gets a little older he asks his friend Anwar to help him, and together the boys find the wise man. The wise man gives Benaam his very own name “Husni” and lets each of the boys pick his very own dream.

The Boy Without A Name teaches that it takes patience to achieve one’s goals in life.  “Benaam” showed determination and persistence to reach his goal. When “Benaam: gets his name Anwar immediately whines that he wants the dream promised him. “Patience my boy!” replies the wise man. We are never given a reason why Husni wasn’t allowed to be named at brith but we see him full of dreams for the future after receiving one. Imagining what Husni’s future holds long after you have finished the tale is part of the charm of this vibrant story.

The watercolor illustrations by Mona Caron sweep the reader into the far off land from the first page. The artwork is vibrant and transformative especially the children’s eyes which are beautiful, expressive and pop right off the page into the heart,

 

From Hoopoe Books:

The Boy Without A Name belongs to a tradition of storytelling from the Middle East and Central Asia. The tradition of teaching stories goes back more than a thousand years. Through repeated readings, these traditional tales convey shared experiences and universal values such as empathy, perseverance, tolerance as well as problem solving in children. According to Hoopoe Books: “Teaching-Stories acknowledge a student’s individuality and uniqueness; they encourage a sense of confidence, responsibility and purpose. They foster in children a belief in their ability to live positive and fulfilling lives and to recognize and welcome challenges and changes when they are indicated. In addition, they facilitate a growing understanding of life, love and learning.” You can learn more at Hoopoe Books.

You can read more about Idries Shah at The Idries Shah Foundation

 

MCBD 2021 is honored to be Supported by the following Sponsors:

*Medallion Sponsors:

Founder’s Circle:

Mia Wenjen (Pragmaticmom) and Valarie Budayr’s (Audreypress.com)

Platinum Sponsors:

Language Lizard Bilingual Books in 50+ Languages, Author Deedee Cummings and Make A Way Media

Gold Sponsors:

Barefoot Books, Candlewick Press, Capstone,
Hoopoe Books, KidLitTV, Peachtree Publishing Company Inc.

Silver Sponsors:

Charlotte Riggle, Connecticut Association of School Librarians, Author Kimberly Gordon Biddle, Pack-N-Go Girls

Bronze Sponsors:

Agatha Rodi and AMELIE is IMPRESSED!, Barnes Brothers Books, Create and Educate Solutions, LLC, Dreambuilt Books, Dyesha and Triesha McCants/McCants Squared, Redfin Real Estate, Snowflake Stories, Star Bright Books, TimTimTom Bilingual Personalized Books, Author Vivian Kirkfield, Wisdom Tales Press, My Well Read Child

*Author Sponsors:

Poster Artist: Nat Iwata
Authors: Author Afsaneh Moradian, Author Alva Sachs & Three Wishes Publishing Company, Author Angeliki Stamatopoulou-Pedersen, Author Anna Olswanger, Author Casey Bell, Author Claudine Norden, Author Debbie Dadey, Author DianaHuang & Intrepids,
Author Eugenia Chu & Brandon goes to Beijing, Green Kids Club,
Author Gwen Jackson, Author Janet Balletta, Author Josh Funk, Author Julia Inserro, Karter Johnson & Popcorn and Books, Author Kathleen Burkinshaw & The Last Cherry Blossom, Author Keila Dawson, Maya/Neel Adventures with Culture Groove, Author Mia Wenjen, Michael Genhart, Nancy Tupper Ling, Author
Natalie Murray.

Natalie McDonald-Perkins, Author Natasha Yim, Author Phe Lang and Me On The Page Publishing,SandraElaineScott, Author Shoumi Sen & From The Toddler Diaries, SISSY GOES TINY by Rebecca Flansburg and B.A. Norrgard, Susan Schaefer Bernardo & Illustrator Courtenay Fletcher, Tales of the Five Enchanted Mermaids, Author Theresa Mackiewicz, Tonya Duncan and the Sophie Washington Book Series, Author Toshia Stelivan, Valerie Williams-Sanchez & The Cocoa Kids Collection Books©, Author Vanessa Womack, MBA, Author Veronica Appleton & the Journey to Appleville book series

*CoHosts and Global CoHosts

*Media Partners

FREE RESOURCES from Multicultural Children’s Book Day

8th Annual Multicultural Children’s Book Twitter Party: 

Join in Friday, Jan 29, 2021 at 9 pm EST for the MCBD Twitter Party! REGISTER HERE and connect with everyone on social media by using the hashtag #ReadYourWorld.

***Disclosure- Hoopoe Books provided/gifted us a copy of “The Boy Without A Name” for review purposes.  This review is honest and all opinions are our own.

You can buy your own copy of “The Boy Without A Name” via my affiliate link below: