Multicultural Children's Book Day: Mystery of the Troubled Toucan

 Hi everyone! It's been a long time since I posted a review, hmm? I thought my Goodreads reviews had been cross-posted here all this time....oops. 

Today I'm lucky enough to review Mystery of the Troubled Toucan by Lisa Travis, illustrated by Adam Turner. It's part of the Pack-n-Go Girls Adventure series. The Pack-n-Go Girls series explores different countries through mysteries! 

This was my first time reading one of the books in this series, and I really enjoyed it! In Mystery of the Troubled Toucan, Sofia is off to Brazil with her father. It's a bit of a tough time for her, because her parents are separating, but she still excited to explore a new country. Sofia is resourceful, figuring out how to fix a boat on the way to the lodge she will be staying in during her time in Manaus, Brazil. She meets Julia, and the two become friends, practicing their Portuguese and English on each other while exploring the rainforest, looking for different animals. While exploring, a toucan follows them and steers them towards an area where they find botos, or pink river dolphins, tied up. They look like they are left there for poachers! Will Sofia and Julia be able to save the botos? 

I like that the book has a mystery, but also explores a lot of other parts about the area they are in. They discuss how Brazilians speak Portuguese instead of Spanish. The mystery felt just about right for the grade level, and the way it was solved felt realistic for the two characters. At the end of the book, there's information about Brazil and a glossary of words in English and Portuguese that you can practice!

I would love to try out another book in this series. Check out Pack-n-Go Girls Adventure's website for more information! 

Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2022 (1/28/22) is in its 9^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 books into the hands of young readers and educators.

MCBD’s mission is to raise awareness of the ongoing need to include kids’ books that celebrate diversity in homes and school bookshelves. Read about our Mission & History HERE.

MCBD 2022 is honored to be Supported by these Medallion Sponsors!

SUPER PLATINUM: Make A Way Media

PLATINUM: Language Lizard

GOLD: Barefoot Books, KidLitTV, Candlewick, Capstone, Abrams Books

SILVER: Pack-n-Go Girls, Charlotte Riggle, Kimberly Gordon Biddle  

BRONZE: Carole P. Roman, Patrice McLaurin, Dyesha and Triesha McCants/McCants Squared, Redfin.com, Redfin Canada, Redfin Mortgage, Redfin/Title Forward, Create & Educate, Star Bright Books, Vivian Kirkfield, Dr. Eleanor Wint, Kind World Publishing, Snowflake Stories, Lisa Wee, SONGJU MA, Melissa Stoller, J.C. Kato and J.C.², Crystel Patterson, Audrey Press, Pragmaticmom, TimTimTom, Wisdom Tales 

MCBD 2022 is honored to be Supported by these Author Sponsors!

Charlene Mosley (official MCBD2022 Poster Creator)
Illustrator Isabelle Roxas (Class Kit Poster Creator)

Alva Sachs, Brianna Carter, Ebony Zay Zay, Rita Bhandari, Gwen Jackson, Lois Petren/The 5 Enchanted Mermaids, Valerie Williams-Sanchez and Valorena Publishing, Josh Funk, Afsaneh Moradian, Eugenia Chu, Maritza Martínez Mejía, Diana Huang, Kathleen Burkinshaw, CultureGroove, Sandra Elaine Scott, Dorena Williamson, Veronica Appleton, Alejandra Domenzain, Lauren Muskovitz and Sandfish Publishing, Tonya Duncan Ellis, Kimberly Lee, Susan Schaefer Bernardo & Illustrator Courtenay Fletcher, Nancy Tupper Ling, Winsome Hudson-Bingham, Amanda Hsiung-Blodgett, Sivan Hong, Michael Genhart, Debbie Dadey, Elizabeth Cureton, Stephanie Wildman, Maryann Jacob, Sherri Maret, Rochelle Melander, Dia Mixon, Kiyanda and Benjamin Young, Shereen Rahming, Linda Thornburg and Katherine Archer,  Rebecca Flansburg and BA Norrgard , Maxine Schur  Natalie McDonald-Perkins

MCBD 2022 is Honored to be Supported by our CoHosts and Global CoHosts!

MCBD 2022 is Honored to be Supported by these Media Partners!

Check out MCBD's Multicultural Books for Kids Pinterest Board!

FREE RESOURCES from Multicultural Children’s Book Day

Diversity Book Lists & Activities for Teachers and Parents

Homeschool Diverse Kidlit Booklist & Activity Kit

FREE Teacher Classroom Activism and Activists Kit

FREE Teacher Classroom Empathy Kit

FREE Teacher Classroom Kindness Kit

FREE Teacher Classroom Physical and Developmental Challenges Kit

FREE Teacher Classroom Poverty Kit

FREE Homeschool Diverse Kidlit Booklist & Activity Kit

FREE Teacher Classroom Raising Awareness on Systemic Racism in America Classroom Kit

Gallery of Our Free Posters

FREE Diversity Book for Classrooms Program

Join us on Friday, Jan 28, 2022, at 9 pm EST for the 8th annual Multicultural Children's Book Day Twitter Party! Be sure and follow MCBD and Make A Way Media on Twitter!

This epically fun and fast-paced hour includes multicultural book discussions, addressing timely issues, diverse book recommendations, & reading ideas.

We will be giving away an 8-Book Bundle every 5 minutes plus Bonus Prizes as well! *** US and Global participants welcome. **

Follow the hashtag #ReadYourWorld to join the conversation, connect with like-minded parts, authors, publishers, educators, organizations, and librarians. See you all very soon on Twitter!

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

Review: The Orphan Band of Springdale

The Orphan Band of Springdale by Anne Nesbet
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I didn't love this quite as much as Cloud and Wallfish, but I really loved that book. It would have taken a lot to come close.

Gusta has been sent to live with her grandmother in rural Maine while her father is on the run and her mother works to earn enough money to maybe take her back. Her father is German but also a union organizer, two things that aren't great to be in the early 1940s. Gusta learns a lot about herself, her family and life in this coming of age tale.

The Maine setting felt true to me, which is fantastic to find in a book. Sometimes books get Maine wrong, and as a native, I am very picky. I also grew up about 40 minutes from where this book is set, which is a fun connection. I also loved how vivid Nesbet made the other characters. The dairy wars were one of my favorite parts. I also appreciated Gusta getting glasses, and what that was like.

Readers will love learning about Gusta and Maine in the early days of WWII.

View all my reviews

Review: Furyborn

Furyborn by Claire Legrand
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Thank you Netgalley for an advanced review copy of this book.

Normally I try to review my ARC copies closer to the release date, but I couldn't wait with this one. It's very good. It's about two women, Rielle and Eliana, who exist years apart but their stories start to relate in interesting ways. It's also about a prophecy: two queens will rise, one of blood and one of sun. I really liked how Legrand characterized each of these characters. They each were individual, complicated people, with interesting, complicated people around them.

My main complaint about the book is that it took me a little while to get into it. You're definitely thrown into the action, and it took me a while to get my bearings. Initially I also didn't read much of what the book was about, so the switch in narrators was also really confusing for me. By the end, I wasn't able to put it down, and it was a book I was reading on my phone, which normally I only read during my work lunch breaks.

View all my reviews

The Mad Wolf's Daughter by Diane Magras

I was lucky enough to receive a copy of this book as an ARC from the author. I've seen it on a lot of "Most Anticipated of 2018" lists for middle grade and friends, I think it is worth the hype. 

Drest lives with her family in a remote part of Scotland. Her mother is not in the picture, so she lives with her father and brothers and is trained in the same ways they are. One night, her family is captured by the local knights of Faintree Castle. One knight is left behind, and Drest takes him as a hostage on her trip to rescue her family. She thinks her family is beloved protectors of the land, but her travels teach her that not everyone may see her family that way. Can she still rescue them before they hang?

I'll admit this is as bit of a male heavy book. We don't know what happened to Drest's mother, and her two most constant companions are male, in addition to her family and the knights. At least Drest doesn't seem to harbor feelings that feminine traits are useless. There are a few women who come into the story and Drest reacts well to them.

I think my favorite part of the story is the way Drest's father and brothers talk to her in her head while she is on her mission to rescue them. They provide a sense of humor, and you also get a sense of each other's personality, since you only meet them briefly in the beginning. It will remind you of the way you hear the voices of your own family in your head.

This is an excellent middle grade addition to any library collection.

Review: Before She Was Harriet

Before She Was Harriet by Lesa Cline-Ransome
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Beautiful. Stunning. It also illustrates important parts of Harriet Tubman's life. She contained multitudes and did so many more heroic things than many of us will ever do. Someone for all to admire.

View all my reviews

Review: I Love You, Michael Collins

I Love You, Michael Collins by Lauren Baratz-Logsted
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I loved this one. Mamie reminded me a bit of myself. As a kid, I would have picked the least popular thing because I was afraid it would feel bad and then tell people it was really the best. I love episolatory novels, like this one and I think the style really works. I also thought the potential disintegration of the family made sense. I didn't like that it was happening, but it felt real. This is a great story.

View all my reviews

Review: Into the Wild

Into the Wild by Erin Hunter
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I read the next series a while ago, but read this one recently. I can see why kids like it, even if I don't feel the urge to go back and read more.

You can hear more of my thoughts, as well as two other bright people, here: http://www.frowl.org/worstbestsellers...

View all my reviews