Advances in technology have made travel more economical and thereby more accessible to many. The prevalence of social media around the globe not only brings people together and but also brings worldwide attention to current events within minutes and hours. With the current political climate, it is more important than ever to provide our children with an awareness and appreciation for other cultures and beliefs.

I’m excited to share with you a new multicultural and educational book series from Bollywood Groove, Maya & Neel’s India Adventure. Your young children will love to join Maya, Neel and their pet squirrel, Chintu, as they visit India on fun, cultural adventures.

Bollywood Groove is a dance studio for kids and adults in Chicago. Founders Ajanta and Vivek aspired to create an environment that immersed kids into the rich and diverse culture of India by using stories and learning dance choreography. This program has been a great success for their dance school and they decided to increase their audience by publishing books.

*I received this product for free from Bollywood Groove in exchange for my honest opinion. This post contains affiliate links; see disclosure for more information.*

Maya & Neel’s India Adventure series

India is a land of festivals, where people from different religions coexist harmoniously. The wide variety of festivals celebrated in India is a true manifestation of its rich culture and traditions.

Diwali, for example, is one of the most prominent Hindu festivals of India. During this festival of lights, houses are decorated with clay lamps, candles, and Ashok leaves. People wear new clothes, participate in family puja, burst crackers, and share sweets with friends, families, and neighbors.

Let’s Celebrate 5 Days of Diwali, the first book in the series, introduces readers to India’s biggest and most important holiday of the year. The festival gets its name from the row (avali) of clay lamps (deepa) that Indians light outside their homes to symbolize the inner light that protects from spiritual darkness. Each day of Diwali holds wonderful traditions for the children. My favorite was the fifth, whereupon brothers and sisters promise to take care of each other.

Let’s Visit Mumbai (book 2) brings us to Mumbai (formerly Bombay), a densely populated city on India’s west coast and the largest city in the country. On the waterfront stands the iconic Gateway of India stone arch, built by the British Raj in 1924. Offshore, nearby Elephanta Island holds ancient cave temples dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva.

Let’s Celebrate Holi (book 3) introduces children to the festival of colors, one of the famous festivals of India. On the eve of Holi, people make huge Holika bonfires and sing and dance around it. On the day of Holi, people gather in open areas and apply dry and wet colors of multiple hues to each other, with some carrying water guns and colored water filled balloons.

Eid is another major festival of India for the Muslim community. People dress up in fineries, attend a special community prayer in the morning, visit friends, and relatives and exchange sweets. Children are given idi (money or gift) by elders. Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, and is observed by Muslims worldwide as a month of fasting (Sawm) to commemorate the first revelation of the Quran to Muhammad according to Islamic belief. Learn more about each in the fourth book in the series, Let’s Celebrate Ramadan & Eid.

Let’s Celebrate Navratri (book 5) highlights the nine nights (and ten days) of the Hindu festival, Navrati, celebrated in the autumn every year. It is observed for different reasons and celebrated differently in various parts of the Indian subcontinent.

Help fight hate with knowledge. Teach your kids all about the beauty and culture of India in these beautifully illustrated multi-cultural books. You can find more books featuring Maya & Neel on Amazon.

Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2018

I am proud to take part in the annual Multicultural Children’s Book Day, celebrated on the 27th of January this year and marking the 5^th anniversary.  It was 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.

Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2018 is honored to have some amazing Sponsors on board this year.

2018 MCBD Medallion Sponsors

• HONORARY: Children’s Book Council, Junior Library Guild
• PLATINUM:Scholastic Book Clubs
• GOLD:Audrey Press, Candlewick Press, Loving Lion Books, Second Story Press, Star Bright Books, Worldwide Buddies
• SILVER:Capstone Publishing, Author Charlotte Riggle, Child’s Play USA, KidLit TV, Pack-n-Go Girls, Plum Street Press
• BRONZE: Barefoot Books, Carole P. Roman, Charlesbridge Publishing, Dr. Crystal Bowe, Gokul! World, Green Kids Club, Gwen Jackson, Jacqueline Woodson, Juan J. Guerra, Language Lizard, Lee & Low Books, RhymeTime Storybooks, Sanya Whittaker Gragg, TimTimTom Books, WaterBrook & Multnomah, Wisdom Tales Press

2018 Author Sponsors

Honorary Author Sponsors: Author/Illustrator Aram Kim and Author/Illustrator Juana Medina

Author Janet Balletta, Author Susan Bernardo,  Author Carmen Bernier-Grand, Author Tasheba Berry-McLaren and Space2Launch, Bollywood Groove Books, Author Anne Broyles,  Author Kathleen Burkinshaw, Author Eugenia Chu, Author Lesa Cline-Ransome, Author Medeia Cohan and Shade 7 Publishing, Desi Babies, Author Dani Dixon and Tumble Creek Press, Author Judy Dodge Cummings, Author D.G. Driver, Author Nicole Fenner and Sister Girl Publishing, Debbi Michiko Florence, Author Josh Funk, Author Maria Gianferrari, Author Daphnie Glenn, Globe Smart Kids, Author Kimberly Gordon Biddle, Author Quentin Holmes, Author Esther Iverem, Jennifer Joseph: Alphabet Oddities, Author Kizzie Jones, Author Faith L Justice , Author P.J. LaRue and MysticPrincesses.com, Author Karen Leggett Abouraya, Author Sylvia Liu, Author Sherri Maret, Author Melissa Martin Ph.D., Author Lesli Mitchell, Pinky Mukhi and We Are One, Author Miranda Paul, Author Carlotta Penn, Real Dads Read, Greg Ransom, Author Sandra L. Richards, RealMVPKids Author Andrea Scott, Alva Sachs and Three Wishes Publishing, Shelly Bean the Sports Queen,  Author Sarah Stevenson, Author Gayle H. Swift Author Elsa Takaoka, Author Christine Taylor-Butler, Nicholette Thomas and  MFL Publishing  Author Andrea Y. Wang, Author Jane Whittingham  Author Natasha Yim

We’d like to also give a shout-out to MCBD’s impressive CoHost Team who not only hosts the book review link-up on celebration day, but who also works tirelessly to spread the word of this event. View our CoHosts HERE.

Connect & Win

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!

Free Multicultural Books for Teachers

Free Empathy Classroom Kit for Homeschoolers, Organizations, Librarians and Educators 

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