Multicultural Children's Book Day

I have been given the opportunity to be a part of Multicultural Children's Book Day-2020, an event where writers all over the world review each others' books!

I was given a book by Angeliki Pedersen from Greece to review.

Book Title: The Secrets Hidden Beneath the Palm Tree Age Range: 4-12 Author: Angeliki Pedersen Illustrator: Tety Solou Publishing House: AuthorHouse, U.S.A, 2019

_______________________________________________________________ The Secrets Hidden Beneath the Palm Tree starts off describing a girl named Angelia on her first day of school. While in class, Angelia notices that one of her classmates, Jacob, has something behind his ears. When Angelia inquires about it, Jacob tells her that he is deaf and he wears hearing aids.

Following this encounter, readers see a blossoming friendship between the two classmates. Under the palm tree on the playground, Jacob teaches Angelia about his experiences and needs as a deaf person. Angelia decides she wants to help him, and does so by taking notes for Jacob and repeating things for him so he can understand. Angelia is a role model to readers throughout the story. She shows immense empathy and a wish to understand Jacob’s perspective throughout the book.

The story does a great job of showing how much of a difference it can make to a person when others take their experiences and needs into account. Jacob’s classmates and teacher all pitch in to ensure Jacob can understand everyone and feels comfortable in his environment. Angelia says that Jacob “knows we are his friends and that we care.” But Jacob is not the only one who benefits in the story. All his classmates benefit as well because they learn how to take others’ perspectives into account and are able to see life through someone else’s eyes.

The Secrets Hidden Beneath the Palm Tree teaches kids about the experience of deaf people in a way that is interesting and easy to understand. Readers learn about sign language, speech pathologists, hearing dogs, and more. More importantly, they learn about what it is to be a friend and the importance of supporting others who are different from them. With its colorful pictures and heartwarming story, children will come away with a new understanding of the world and the people around them. ________________________________________________________ AUTHOR BIO Angeliki Stamatopoulou-Pedersen was born and raised in Greece. She studied nursing and worked in this field. Since 1972 she has been living in the United States with her family. She is a past member of the board of directors at the Connecticut Chapter of AG Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. Over the past twenty-five years, she has attended many training seminars for parents and professionals in the field of deafness. She has also been trained by the Parent-Child Education Program (PCEP) at the American School for the Deaf (ASD) in Hartford, Connecticut.

ILLUSTRATOR BIO Tety Swlou was born in Athens, Greece. She studied law and piano, but neither what she likes best is to illustrate children’s books. She has illustrated over one hundred educational and literary books, and she has worked with beloved, well-known authors and leading publishers in her native country.

___________________________________________________________ Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2020 (1/31/20) is in its 7th year! This non-profit children’s literacy initiative was founded by Valarie Budayr and Mia Wenjen; two diverse book-loving moms who saw a need to shine the spotlight on all of the multicultural books and authors on the market while also working to get those books into the hands of young readers and educators. Seven years in, MCBD’s mission is to raise awareness of the ongoing need to include kids’ books that celebrate diversity in homes and school bookshelves continues. MCBD 2020 is honored to have the following Medallion Sponsors on board Super Platinum Make A Way Media/ Deirdre “DeeDee” Cummings, Platinum Language Lizard, Pack-N- Go Girls, Gold Audrey Press, Lerner Publishing Group, KidLit TV, ABDO BOOKS : A Family of Educational Publishers, PragmaticMom & Sumo Jo, Candlewick Press, Silver Author Charlotte Riggle, Capstone Publishing, Guba Publishing, Melissa Munro Boyd & B is for Breathe,Bronze Author Carole P. Roman, Snowflake Stories/Jill Barletti, Vivian Kirkfield & Making Their Voices Heard. Barnes Brothers Books, TimTimTom, Wisdom Tales Press, Lee & Low Books, Charlesbridge Publishing, Barefoot Books Talegari Tales Author Sponsor Link Cloud Jerry Craft, A.R. Bey and Adventures in Boogieland, Eugina Chu & Brandon goes to Beijing, Kenneth Braswell & Fathers Incorporated, Maritza M. Mejia & Luz del mes_Mejia, Kathleen Burkinshaw & The Last Cherry Blossom, SISSY GOES TINY by Rebecca Flansburg and B.A. Norrgard, Josh Funk and HOW TO CODE A ROLLERCOASTER, Maya/Neel Adventures with Culture Groove, Lauren Ranalli, The Little Green Monster: Cancer Magic! By Dr. Sharon Chappell, Phe Lang and Me On The Page, Afsaneh Moradian and Jamie is Jamie, Valerie Williams-Sanchez and Valorena Publishing, TUMBLE CREEK PRESS, Nancy Tupper Ling, Author Gwen Jackson, Angeliki Pedersen & The Secrets Hidden Beneath the Palm Tree, Author Kimberly Gordon Biddle, BEST #OWNVOICES CHILDREN’S BOOKS: My Favorite Diversity Books for Kids Ages 1-12 by Mia Wenjen, Susan Schaefer Bernardo & Illustrator Courtenay Fletcher (Founders of Inner Flower Child Books), Ann Morris & Do It Again!/¡Otra Vez!, Janet Balletta and Mermaids on a Mission to Save the Ocean, Evelyn Sanchez-Toledo & Bruna Bailando por el Mundo\ Dancing Around the World, Shoumi Sen & From The Toddler Diaries, Sarah Jamila Stevenson, Tonya Duncan and the Sophie Washington Book Series, Teresa Robeson & The Queen of Physics, Nadishka Aloysius and Roo The Little Red TukTuk, Girlfriends Book Club Baltimore & Stories by the Girlfriends Book Club, Finding My Way Books, Diana Huang & Intrepids, Five Enchanted Mermaids, Elizabeth Godley and Ribbon’s Traveling Castle, Anna Olswanger and Greenhorn, Danielle Wallace & My Big Brother Troy, Jocelyn Francisco and Little Yellow Jeepney, Mariana Llanos & Kutu, the Tiny Inca Princess/La Ñusta Diminuta, Sara Arnold & The Big Buna Bash, Roddie Simmons & Race 2 Rio, DuEwa Frazier & Alice’s Musical Debut, Veronica Appleton & the Journey to Appleville book series Green Kids Club, Inc. 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 Arab, Afsaneh Moradian, Agatha Rodi Books, All Done Monkey, Barefoot Mommy, Bethany Edward & Biracial Bookworms, Michelle Goetzl & Books My Kids Read, Crafty Moms Share, Colours of Us, Discovering the World Through My Son’s Eyes, Educators Spin on it, Shauna Hibbitts-creator of eNannylink, Growing Book by Book, Here Wee Read, Joel Leonidas & Descendant of Poseidon Reads {Philippines}, Imagination Soup, Kid World Citizen, Kristi’s Book Nook, The Logonauts, Mama Smiles, Miss Panda Chinese, Multicultural Kid Blogs, Serge Smagarinsky {Australia}, Shoumi Sen, Jennifer Brunk & Spanish Playground, Katie Meadows and Youth Lit Reviews