Anyone who follows me knows how much I have loved being involved in MCBD each year. I love finding new books that celebrate diversity, as much as I enjoy producing books that highlight diversity.
Why? Because our world is diverse and our children deserve books that reflect and appreciate the world around them. All kids are exposed to books and reading at some point and time, giving books a big power to influence. I love finding books that no only showcase multicultural and diverse characters, but celebrate and normalize them!
This year, I had the personal joy of reading Dumpling Day by Meera Sriram. The art was done by Inés De Antuñano and the recipies are provided by Laurel P. Jackson. Yes, that's right, recipes are in this book!
My review: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4/5
I loved this book for many reasons, the first being that it highlighted 10 unique cultures that all have different types of dumplings. It was so fun to have that common theme with such unique stories told on each page.
This book takes it further and includes some language that is unique to each culture and not only does it use the language, but at the back of the book, they teach you what all the different words mean. What is great about that is it is taking this cultural experience a step further and teaching the readers.
Lastly, they incorporate recipes for all 10 dumplings at the back and create a fun way for families to engage in the content together at home. That is something I don't often see in books and really appreciated.
The illustrations, at times, are not my preferred style or captivating for the story, which is why I only give it 4 stars, but this is a book I will absolutely share with my little reader, once we're not sharing a body!
To grab a copy on Amazon: Dumpling Day: Sriram, Meera, De Antuano, Ins, Jackson, Laurel P.: 9781646862818: Amazon.com: Books