Doubly Diverse

A LITTLE MANDARIN was given this sweet book about a Chinese-American girl visiting Australia to review for Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2018.

Wendy Lee, the protagonist in The Mystery of the Min Min Lights by Janelle Diller, is an American visiting Australia.  The book is part of the “Pack-n-Go Girls Adventure” series introducing young readers (6-9 years old) to destinations around the world.  The book gives children exposure to Australia and Australian culture.  It concludes with a “What to know before you go” section including a recipe for Lamingtons (yum) and even a ‘Say it Like an Australian’ section, mate.

What is intriguing about the book is that Wendy Lee is Asian American and she is, well, simply Asian and American.   Wendy brings the perspective of an American experiencing a different culture whilst representing the diversity of the United States. As she says in the book “She was mostly American. But she was also still a little Chinese.”  Wendy has an adventure with her neighbors while being exposed to Australian idiom, dialect, and norms out on their sheep station.  Part of the beauty of the book is that it normalizes Wendy’s experience as typically American while recognizing her ethnic background.  I am heartened to read the author’s dedication noting that “all little girls should get to see themselves on the pages of the books they read.”

The Mystery of The Min Min Lights is a great little book for new readers and a simple way to introduce Australia to children of all cultures.

This review is done as a part of Multicultural Children’s Book Day.

Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2018 (1/27/18) is in its 5^th year and was founded by Valarie Budayr from Jump Into A Book and Mia Wenjen from PragmaticMom. Our mission is to raise awareness of the ongoing need to include kids’ 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.

MCBD 2018 is honored to have some amazing Sponsors on board. View our 2018 MCBD Medallion Sponsors here: http://multiculturalchildrensbookday.com/2106-sponsors/mcbd2018-medallion-level-sponsors/

View our 2018 MCBD Author Sponsors here: http://multiculturalchildrensbookday.com/2106-sponsors/2018-author-sponsors/

TWITTER PARTY Sponsored by Scholastic Book Clubs: MCBD’s super-popular (and crazy-fun) annual Twitter Party will be held 1/27/18 at 9:00pm.

Join the conversation and win one of 12-5 book bundles and one Grand Prize Book Bundle (12 books) that will be given away at the party! http://multiculturalchildrensbookday.com/twitter-party-great-conversations-fun-prizes-chance-readyourworld-1-27-18/

Free Multicultural Books for Teachers: http://bit.ly/1kGZrta

Free Empathy Classroom Kit for Homeschoolers, Organizations, Librarians and Educators: http://multiculturalchildrensbookday.com/teacher-classroom-empathy-kit/

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