Flying Paintings #readyourworld

 

One of the reasons I love participating in Multicultural Children's Book Day each year is because I get to learn new things, too!  This lovely book couldn't come at a better time, since we're learning about China in our homeschool right now.  

Even though I've been to China, there are still so many interesting things there that I have not yet seen.  This year's book, Flying Paintings - The Zhou Brothers:  A Story of Revolution and Art gave me another place to add to my China Bucket List.  Zuojiang Huashan Rock Art is in Guangxi province, the same province that Katie is from.  It's a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and I had never heard of it before reading this book.  

Flying Paintings, from Candlewick Press is based on a true story.  Author Amy Alznauer weaves the story of two brothers, born in China during tumultuous times, who go to extremes to learn to be better artists.  They have a unique process for their artwork, much of which was inspired by the ancient cliff art their grandmother told them about.  

What's not part of the story, but is mentioned in the author's note in the back of the book is that the brothers eventually move to the United States, and even meet President Obama when he commissions one of their paintings.  

I love giving my Chinese girls another real-life example of people from China who succeed here.  

Although the publisher recommends this book for ages 5-9, Hannah is 13 and Katie is 10, and we enjoyed it and found it interesting.  

The paintings in the book are done by the Zhou Brothers themselves.  After reading this fascinating book, we looked up pictures of the cliff paintings online.  

Then we busted out the liquid watercolors and made some cliff painting copies of our own.  

I love the way they turned out.

You can learn more about the Zhou Brothers, and the Zuojiang Huashan Rock Art online.  Flying Paintings is available on Amazon, or directly from Candlewick Press, or check your local library (ours has it).  

Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2021 (1/29/21) is in its 8^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. Eight 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. Read about our Mission & History HERE. 

MCBD 2021 is honored to be Supported by these Medallion Sponsors!

FOUNDER’S CIRCLE: Mia Wenjen (Prgamaticmom) 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  

MCBD 2021 is honored to be Supported by these 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 Diana Huang & 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, M aya/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, Sandra Elaine Scott, Author Shoumi Sen & From The Toddler Diaries, SISSY GOES TINY by Rebecca Flansburg and B.A. Norrgard, Susan Schaefer Bernardo & Illustr ator 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

MCBD 2021 is Honored to be Supported by our CoHosts and Global CoHosts!

MCBD 2021 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 

Gallery of Our Free Posters 

FREE Diversity Book for Classrooms Program

TWITTER PARTY! Register here!

 

Join us on Friday, Jan 29, 2021, at 9 pm EST for the 8th annual Multicultural Children's Book Day Twitter Party! 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.

I'm excited to check out the other diverse kid books in the linkup and see which ones might be available at our library.