Celebrating Multicultural Children's Book Day: TimTimTom invites children into their own stories

Once again, I'm celebrating with many parents and teachers on the Multicultural Children's Book Day - January 31, 2020. There are more authors and more books this year. I signed up as a reviewer and learned about some wonderful bilingual books from TimTimTom.

We all know a good story draws the readers in, as if they were right there in the actions.  TimTimTom's story books do just that. I went on to www.timtimtom.com, chose a story on swimming with the Dolphin (who wouldn't want to swim with a Dolphin!), type my daughter's name and viola I got a customized book called "Chantal and the Dolphin". What's even more exciting for me and my daughter when we read the story is that the book is in bilingual format. The readers can choose two languages they want printed on the book. It is so simple yet powerful. Multicultural books not only need to tell stories that reflect our culturally diverse world, but also promote multilingual literacy. It is so heartwarming to see TimTimTom create such a product line. A big thumb's up from me!


The story, written by Saskia Reusens and illustrated by Katrien Van Schuylenbergh, is a delight to read. The colorful illustration sparks children's imagination and the adventure takes us through the joy of learning how to swim. Every page, Chantal's name appears either in the narration or the dialogue with the Dolphin and other sea creatures. I can see Chantal's intense interest in her own story and the big smile on her face.

As a bilingual author, one of my pet peeves is the quality of the translations. I often see great stories being ruined by bad translations. I am not sure whether TimTimTom's original stories were created in English then translated into all other languages. I must say the Chinese writing was of very good quality and that's why I can't tell what's the original and what's the translation. I can only speak about the Chinese writing but I think TimTimTom has taken the same care for other languages. It really is a quality product and one that should be embraced by all of us who care so much about multicultural and multilingual reading.

Please go online and order one. There are stories about soccer and dance, too. You, and more importantly your kids, would love it.

About Multicultural Children's Book Day

Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2020 (1/31/20) is in its 7^th 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 book 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 FREE RESOURCES from Multicultural Children’s Book Day

• Free Multicultural Books for Teachers
• Our New FREE Teacher Classroom Physical and Developmental Challenges Kit http://ow.ly/kcbZ30p3QWz
• Free Empathy Classroom Kit for Homeschoolers, Organizations, Librarians, and Educators
• Free Understanding Developmental & Physical Challenges Classroom Kit

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

Multicultural Children's Book Day

A few months ago, I answered a call to participate in the Multicultural Children's Book Day. I did not hesitate. The book review just came out on Bicultural Mama's Blog. It is so encouraging to see and be connected to a community of authors, readers and parents who care about and promote multicultural living. For me, bilingual books are the true reflection of our lives. For my family, we are embracing, but at times struggling, to maintain an environment for multiple languages. My children have access to French instruction at school so they are fluently bilingual in English and French. Their Chinese lessons are now reduced to tutorial sessions. I still order books online, and from my work travel, I bring back publications from China once in a while. The stories that interest my daughters, and most importantly, resonnate with their life experiences are still rare to find. I am hopeful that Multicultural Chidren's Book Day will change that. After all, there are a lot of families like mine - we live in the intersection of cultures. It makes sense to celebrate that.

Two years after Four Seasons are published

It's been two years since Fun in Four Seasons are published. Since then, the books were selected for Victoria Public Library's Emerging Authors' Collection. I have sold out my first print run and released the second print edition. A few reader reviews are also shared online. Here is one example from Amazon by Cindy Xin.

• This is a book infused with animated colours and spirited images. A rare collaboration between mother and daughters, the book embodies labour, fun and love. Reading the book, I can imagine being a child again splashing the spring rain puddles, digging my toes in the summer sandy beach, wading through the autumn leaves in my woolen stockings, and making a fresh set of footprints in the morning snow before building my snowman. What is it about those feet, the children’s feet on the cover pages of the Four Seasons? They just make you lift the pages, walk you through the joy of their worlds, and take you in as part of it, all accompanied by the music of the simple and lyrical language. I trust both parents and children will enjoy reading the book, together or alone, in all four seasons. It is simply a pleasure.

Recently, I met a young reader in person in Edmonton. Six years old Andre has his set of Fun in Four Seasons with him for home reading and on trips. According to his parents, the books are worn out because he reads them a lot. I asked him which season is his favorite, he replied "Spring, because I like to jump in puddles too". That warms my heart. Nothing is more rewarding than hearing a reader's positive feedback! 

Two years also saw some big changes in my life. I changed my job and moved to Kingston Ontario. This past 6 to 8 months have been hectic, settling into a new community, finding new direction for my career and parenting my teenage daughters. Looking back at the stories I created with them when they were little and the Chinese learning we shared, it is such a precious memory. It is a cliche when we say kids grow up so fast, but it is very true. We are still conducting Chinese lessons at home. I plan on writing and publishing more stories.  To order the books, please email me at iningtracychao at gmail dot com. OR visit amazon.ca. The best way to find it is searching by my name "Ining Tracy Chao".