Rebels and Revolutions

Multicultural Children’s Book Day January 25, 2019 is in its 6th year and was founded by Valarie Budayr from Jump Into A Book and Mia Wenjen from PragmaticMom. Their  mission is to raise awareness of the ongoing need to include kids’ books that celebrate diversity in homes and school bookshelves while also working diligently to get more of these types of books into the hands of young readers, parents and educators. 

I am honored to participate again in this wonderful event as a book reviewer for Rebels and  Revolutions by Judy Dodge Cummings.    

Cummings is a former history teacher, and a bronze medallion level donor for MCBD. She has published 20 books for the school and library market, most of them on historical topics. Cummings favorite way to research history is through the soles of her feet–meandering through museums, racing up redoubts, and rambling through historic ruins. The number one item on her bucket list is time travel!

Cummings feels that "to understand the present, we must grapple with the past. History books and primary sources can take you on a time travel adventure and allow you to explore the people, places, and events that have shaped our world."

Yankee Doodles in training in the march.

Cummings enjoys making history come alive with her author talks for school children. They are interactive presentations based on historical themes.

Rebels and Revolutions is part of the Mystery and Mayhem series which include 10 books. It is published by Nomad Press, an educational publisher whose mission is to provide middle school students with the tools and skills they’ll need in a future not quite imagined. They are doing this by looking at the past. Biographies, project-based narratives, nonfiction picture books, and historical mysteries make up their title list. 

A link to a list of Cummings previously published books can be found on her website as well as information about upcoming events and presentations.   
https://judydodgecummings.com/books/ 
Discussion questions for  Rebels and Revolutions can also be found on Cummimgs's website by clicking on the book cover image and scrolling down for them.  

Are You a Rule Breaker?
Cummings's introduction to Rebels and Revolutions surely will catch your attention. 

The book is a classroom and library resource aimed at ages 9-12. It profiles the stories of 5 people who are racially and ethnically diverse, both males and females. Each chapter is a short vignette about 22 pages. It's just the right amount of information to sustain a student's attention and easy to follow written in a conversational tone. The stories follow in a chronological time period with some overlapping starting with the American Revolution and ending in the late sixties. They profile individuals who took a risk and dared to make a difference. Each chapter addresses the questions: What do you do when you see injustice unfolding? Do you stand and fight? People who do are often called traitors, agitators or rabble-rousers. But they are also the people who are often the driving force toward change.

The reader is introduced to the lives of five firebrands who used muskets and marches, boycotts and lawsuits in their struggle for justice. Joseph Plumb Martin committed treason when he joined the Continental Army to fight for American independence. Sengbe Pieh's fight for freedom took him from the bowels of a slave ship to the nation's highest court. Yosh Kuromiya, a Nisei of Japanese ancestry living in the United States, resisted the draft during World War II based on injustice. Claudette Colvin was denied the most basic rights because of her skin and faced daily discrimination. Her voice was a predecessor to the Rosa Parks bus boycott. Cesar Chavez challenged the power of the agricultural industry and became a voice of hope for thousands of poor migrant workers. I found all their stories educational and inspirational. The glossary in the book was a helpful reference tool when reading.

The author hopes readers will recognize that revolutions are born out of injustice and rebels like the ones featured in the book are patriots. They do so because their lives become untenable, and their goal is to improve life for themselves and those they care about.  

And don't forget to check out the author's creative ideas for making dioramas in the classroom as a fun and effective project based learning experience.

https://judydodgecummings.com/dioramas-effective-project-learning/ 

Thank you Judy for sending me your book for review and your input. 

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MCBD 2019 is honored to have the following Medallion Sponsors on board!
Medallion Level Sponsors
Honorary: Children’s Book Council, The Junior Library Guild, TheConsciousKid.org.
Super Platinum: Make A Way Media
GOLD: Bharat Babies, Candlewick Press, Chickasaw Press, Juan Guerra and The Little Doctor / El doctorcito, KidLitTV, Lerner Publishing Group, Plum Street Press,
SILVER: Capstone Publishing, Carole P. Roman, Author Charlotte Riggle, Huda Essa, The Pack-n-Go Girls,
BRONZE: Charlesbridge Publishing, Judy Dodge Cummings, Author Gwen Jackson, Kitaab World, Language Lizard – Bilingual & Multicultural Resources in 50+ Languages, Lee & Low Books, Miranda Paul and Baptiste Paul, Redfin, Author Gayle H. Swift, T.A. Debonis-Monkey King’s Daughter, TimTimTom Books, Lin Thomas, Sleeping Bear Press/Dow Phumiruk, Vivian Kirkfield,

MCBD 2019 is honored to have the following Author Sponsors on board
Honorary: Julie Flett, Mehrdokht Amini,
Author Janet Balletta, Author Kathleen Burkinshaw, Author Josh Funk, Chitra Soundar, One Globe Kids – Friendship Stories, Sociosights Press and Almost a Minyan, Karen Leggett, Author Eugenia Chu, CultureGroove Books, Phelicia Lang and Me On The Page, L.L. Walters, Author Sarah Stevenson, Author Kimberly Gordon Biddle, Hayley Barrett, Sonia Panigrah, Author Carolyn Wilhelm, Alva Sachs and Dancing Dreidels, Author Susan Bernardo, Milind Makwana and A Day in the Life of a Hindu Kid, Tara Williams, Veronica Appleton, Author Crystal Bowe, Dr. Claudia May, Author/Illustrator Aram Kim, Author Sandra L. Richards, Erin Dealey, Author Sanya Whittaker Gragg, Author Elsa Takaoka, Evelyn Sanchez-Toledo, Anita Badhwar, Author Sylvia Liu, Feyi Fay Adventures, Author Ann Morris, Author Jacqueline Jules, CeCe & Roxy Books, Sandra Neil Wallace and Rich Wallace, LEUYEN PHAM, Padma Venkatraman, Patricia Newman and Lightswitch Learning, Shoumi Sen, Valerie Williams-Sanchez and Valorena Publishing, Traci Sorell, Shereen Rahming, Blythe Stanfel, Christina Matula, Julie Rubini, Paula Chase, Erin Twamley, Afsaneh Moradian, Lori DeMonia, Claudia Schwam, Terri Birnbaum/ RealGirls Revolution, Soulful Sydney, Queen Girls Publications, LLC

We’d like to also give a shout-out to MCBD’s impressive Co-Host 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 Co-Hosts HERE.

Co-Hosts and Global Co-Hosts
A Crafty Arab, Agatha Rodi Books, All Done Monkey, Barefoot Mommy, Biracial Bookworms, Books My Kids Read, Crafty Moms Share, Colours of Us, Discovering the World Through My Son’s Eyes, Descendant of Poseidon Reads, Educators Spin on it, Growing Book by Book, Here Wee Read, Joy Sun Bear/ Shearin Lee, Jump Into a Book, Imagination Soup,Jenny Ward’s Class, Kid World Citizen, Kristi’s Book Nook, The Logonauts, Mama Smiles, Miss Panda Chinese, Multicultural Kid Blogs, Raising Race Conscious Children, Shoumi Sen, Spanish Playground

TWITTER PARTY Sponsored by Make A Way Media: MCBD’s super-popular (and crazy-fun) annual Twitter Party will be held 1/25/19 at 9:00pm.E.S.T. TONS of prizes and book bundles will be given away during the party. GO HERE for more details.

FREE RESOURCES From MCBD
Free Multicultural Books for Teachers: http://bit.ly/1kGZrta
Free Empathy Classroom Kit for Homeschoolers, Organizations, Librarians and Educators: http://multiculturalchildrensbookday.com/teacher-classroom-empathy-kit/

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