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This week's special guest is author Beverly Patt. She has book coming out in April called Best Friends Forever: A World War II Scrapbook. I ask her how she handled being an "outsider" and writing about the Japanese experience.



For more information about Beverly Patt, visit her website.

Books by Beverly Patt:
Haven
Best Friends Forever: A World War II Scrapbook

Last weekend, I attended the Kindling Words conference, which was an amazing weekend spent with distinguished children's book authors, illustrators, and editors. Not only did I learn a lot about the publishing trade, but I got to meet a whole slew of great people, and I got to talk to a bunch of them about multicultural books. Even better, the issue of multiculturalism in children's literature came up on the last day, and we had an insightful and productive discussion about how we can make the future of children's books more multicultural. This discussion was led by author Christine Taylor-Butler, who I caught afterward to ask the question: What is your one wish for the future of multicultural children's books?



More about Christine Taylor-Butler:
Christine's web site
Christine on Twitter

Christine Taylor-Butler is the author of more than 40 children's books, including:
Sacred Mountain Everest
No Boys Allowed
A Mom Like No Other
Thurgood Marshall
Booker T. Washington
A Home in the Rainforest
Earth
(see all of Christine's books here)

In which Renee leads a workshop for tutors at 826LA on using multicultural books to inspire kids to write.



Books shown in the video:
Afghan Dreams: Young Voices From Afghanistan by Tony O'Brien and Michael P. Sullivan
How My Family Lives in America by Susan Kuklin
Just Like Home; Como En Mi Tierra by Elizabeth I. Miller, Mira Reisberg, Teresa Mlawer
Hannah Is My Name by Belle Yang
You And Me Together: Moms, Dads, and Kids Around the World by Barbara Kerley
Cooper's Lesson by Kim Cogan, Min Paek, Sun Yung Shin
Romina's Rangoli by Jennifer Wanardi, Malathi and Michelle Iyengar
My Name Is Yoon by Gabriela Swiatkowska, Helen Recorvits
The Candy Shop by Jan Wahl, Nicole E. Wong
The Ugly Vegetables by Grace Lin
My Mexico by Tony Johnston

Debbi Michiko Florence talks about what she loved most writing her two non-fiction titles, China and Japan.



More about Debbi Michiko Florence's books:

China
Children can dig in with hands, feet and mind to 4,000 years of this country's history, traditions and culture. Through photos, illustrations, diagrams, interviews and activities children will gain a deeper understanding of China and its people.

Japan
A hands-on, interactive guide to the culture, history, people, and traditions of Japan. Children will:

• learn how to write and speak some Japanese words
• explore fascinating places like Mount Fuji and Tokyo
• learn how to fold origami and how to use chopsticks
• discover what schools in Japan are like

More than 40 activities, modern photographs, diagrams, and humorous art bring this fascinating country to life.

And for those wondering which bubble tea shop I like best: Fantasia Tea Cafe.

Find out more:

Let Me Help by Alma Flor Ada and Angela Dominguez
Sharing Our Homeland by Trish Marx and Cindy Karp

Children's Book Press
Lee & Low Books

Happy New Year! Yes, I took two weeks off from making videos at the end of the year, but now I'm excited about the new year and ready to talk about multicultural books!

This week's video features a book called Minutka: The Bilingual Dog by Anna Mycek-Wodecki. It sparked my imagination about bilingual pets and bilingual texts. Take a look.

Christmas means different things to everyone, and the spirit of the holiday can take on special meaning when you're far away from home. In this episode, I talk about four Christmas stories about families from four different cultures.



Books mentioned in this episode:
The Christmas Gift by Francisco Jimenez, illustrated by Claire B. Cotts
Tree of Cranes by Allen Say
Yoon and the Christmas Mitten by Helen Recorvits, illustrated by Gabi Swiatkowska
Peiling and the Chicken-Fried Christmas by Pauline Chen

Books mentioned in this episode:
Celebrate Hanukkah (begins December 11, 2009)
Celebrate Christmas (December 25, 2009)
Celebrate Kwanzaa (December 26, 2009)
Celebrate Valentine's Day (February 14, 2010)
Celebrate Chinese New Year (February 14, 2010)
Celebrate Passover (begins March 30, 2010)
Celebrate Easter (April 4, 2010)
Celebrate Cinco de Mayo (May 5, 2010)
Celebrate Independence Day (U.S.: July 4, 2010)
Celebrate Ramadan (begins August 11, 2010)
Celebrate Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur (Rosh Hashanah: begins September 9, 2010; Yom Kippur: Setpember 18, 2010)
Celebrate Diwali (October 5, 2010)
Celebrate Halloween (October 31, 2010)
Celebrate Thanksgiving (November 25, 2010)

The most exciting thing about the California School Library Conference a few weeks ago (other than the library cart drill team competition) was that I finally got to meet Mitali Perkins, author of many multicultural books for young readers and tireless supporter of the genre. Here she is, answering the big question: why?



Books by Mitali Perkins:
Secret Keeper
Monsoon Summer
Rickshaw Girl
First Daughter: White House Rules
First Daughter: Extreme American Makeover
The Not-So-Star-Spangled Life of Sunita Sen

Links to check out:
Mitali's Fire Escape
Blog
Twitter

This week, please welcome special guest Stacy Whitman, founder and editorial director a new publishing project called Tu Publishing. I'll let her tell you about it.




You heard right: Tu Publishing is looking to the public to raise money for its launch. If it doesn't raise $10,000 in pledges by December 14, it sadly won't get started. So together, we can make it happen!

Visit Tu Publishing for more information on the goals and vision for the company, and lots of insightful commentary by multicultural authors. For example, Cynthia Leitich Smith has an essay about living in a multicultural world, and Cindy Pon talks about her book Silver Pheonix.

From there, you can reach the donation site, or jump directly to the Kickstarter site, where you can safely pledge any amount to the cause. Money only exchanges hands if the $10,000 goal is met, so there is no risk. And with your donation, you could secure yourself some nifty gifts.

Here is a complete list of links you'll want to check out:
Tu Publishing
Kickstarter Donation Site
Tu Publishing on Facebook
Tu Publishing on Twitter
Stacy Whitman