Beyond FICTION: Multicultural Picture Books for Mardi Gras from ImNotTheNanny.com

Leave it to blogger extraordinaire Thien-Kim to provide a timely list of multicultural children’s books that focus on Mardi Gras and New Orleans. I’m most intrigued by On Mardi Gras Day by Fatima Shaik, which talks about how two children and their African-American community celebrate Mardi Gras. Though out of print, On Mardi Gras is available from third-party sellers on Amazon. Hopefully it’s also in libraries.

 

Other great titles Thien-Kim lists in this fun post:

• Dinosaur Mardi Gras by Dianne De Las Casas, about the unique music of Louisiana
• The Greentail Mouse by popular kids’ author Leo Lionni, in which country mice learn about Mardi Gras from a city cousin and put on their own celebration
• Gaston Goes to Mardi Gras by James Rice, in which Gaston the alligator gives a tour of Mardi Gras in New Orleans
• Today Is Monday In Louisiana by songwriter Johnette Downing about tasty Louisiana dishes

Scroll through all of Thien-Kim’s multicultural children’s book selections. In January she wrote about Multicultural Children’s Book Day: Celebrating Diversity in Children’s Literature created by Wenjen from Pragmatic Mom and Valarie Budayr from Jump Into a Book/Audrey Press.

 

Thien-Kim encourages her readers to “Check out the full list of fabulous bloggers who are participating so you can learn of new books to help expand your child’s library and world!”

 

Thien-Kim started her fantastic blog, I’m Not The Nanny, “as a way to share the challenges and joys of raising biracial children.” She has plenty of stories about being mistaken for her children’s nanny, an issue many parents of children with mixed-race backgrounds face. As Thien-Kim puts it:

 

“Talking and teaching race to children can be tricky, especially when raising two Hapa children (Vietnamese-American and African-American). I don’t have all the answers (sometimes none at all), but [I] share them on this site because there are many parents of mixed race children who have the same challenges.”

 

I’m always impressed by a savvy blogger who has successfully built her blog into a business. Thien-Kim has been so successful at this that she spoke at BlogHer ’13 last July in Chicago. She’s also involved in lots of other online ventures. In addition to running From Left to Write, an online book club of more than 90 bloggers, she’s also the Living editor for The DC Moms collaborative blog and a contributor to a number of websites including Parents.com.

 

I’ve read Thien-Kim’s writings elsewhere, but am so glad I finally took the time to look through (and subscribe to) I’m Not the Nanny!