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Read the World: Multicultural Week

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Read the World: Multicultural Week
Written by Jamie C. Martin of Simple Homeschool

Welcome, welcome to our Read the World Summer Book Club! Sarah and I are both beyond thrilled to have you joining our families as we explore the globe one book at a time.

And now…on to the Multicultural Chapter!

Jamie’s Introduction

Read the World Summer book club

Each week I’ll kick off the club with a short vlog.

This one is a 3 minute introduction about how the summer club will work, how to use the downloads, and how each week will progress – just click the photo to watch!

The Challenge

Your challenge is to read at least one multicultural book (that means it has more than one culture represented in its pages.) Of course you can take the challenge up a notch if you’d like!

In our home each child has picked one book to read, and I chose another as a read-aloud. Do what works for your family!

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And as you enjoy those great books, these YouTube clips might add to the fun:

The Videos

Disclaimer: YouTube can sometimes bring up inappropriate ads/suggestions/comments/etc. Please proceed with caution and preview to determine which ones are best for your family.

Just click the picture to be taken to the clip!

Hello to All the Children of the World
Hello to All the Children of the World
The 7 Continents (as taught by puppets)
The 7 Continents (as taught by puppets!)
Homes Around the World
Homes Around the World
Animals around the world
Animals Around the world
How children play around the world
How Children Play Around the world
What Does the World Eat for Breakfast
What Does the World Eat for Breakfast

The Recipes

In each post I’ll also suggest a few recipes you can choose from if you want to take your exploration into the kitchen. My favorite online source for global recipes is Global Table Adventure.

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Since this is multicultural week, why not try your hand at exploring bread recipes from around the world? That gives you plenty of time to gather any needed supplies.

All of the options below use only five ingredients or less:

Damper Bread, Australia
Damper Bread, Australia
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Pancakes with Green Onion, China
Mamaliga, Moldova
Mamaliga, Moldova
Chickpea Crepes, Monaco
Chickpea Crepes, Monaco
Grilled Garlicky Bacon Bread, Slovakia
Grilled Garlicky Bacon Bread, Slovakia

The Printables

We’ll release new materials in each post, but download these to get started!

Just click the image to be taken to the file:

The Global Book Log (Print 1 per child)
The Global Book Log (Print 1 per child)
Reward Coupons to Keep Everyone Motivated
Reward Coupons to Keep Everyone Motivated
2 World Maps to Print & Use
2 World Maps to Print & Use

Optional Extras

In my research I found a few fun extras you may want to choose from, too:

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All the Putumayo Kids’ Albums are so wonderful!
Cities of the World Coloring Bookmarks
Cities of the World Coloring Bookmarks
Customizable Scratch Map (love this idea!)
Customizable Scratch Map (love this idea!)
Around the World Coloring Book
Around the World Coloring Book
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Ravensburger Puzzle Globe

Next Stop: Africa!

Go ahead and use Give Your Child the World to choose your books for Africa, coming up next!

What multicultural books/experiences do you plan to enjoy with your family? Feel free to tell us here in the comments or on social media with #GiveYourChildtheWorld

This post contains affiliate links.

About Jamie C. Martin

Jamie is an introverted mom of three, who loves books, tea, and people (not always in that order), and avoids answering the phone when possible. She co-founded SimpleHomeschool.net in 2010 and began IntrovertedMoms.com in 2020.

Jamie is the author of four books, including Give Your Child the World (reached #9 on Amazon's Top 100 Best Sellers list), and her latest release, Introverted Mom (an ECPA bestseller). Her work has been featured by LeVar Burton of Reading Rainbow, the Washington Post, Parents, Today Parenting, and Psychology Today.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Ainsley

    Still waiting for our copy of your book to arrive but we are off to the library tomorrow to see what we can find anyway. Can’t wait to join the fun, Queensland Australia.

  3. ann-Marie

    I’m so excited to start this morning! Thanks for the videos- what fun! I already put them into a playlist in you tube, so we are good to go.

  4. Marie

    I am so thrilled to join the adventure ! Here in France we won’t have the same books than you guys but I will do my best to make great book choices for my children, every week ! We will start at the next possible visit of our local library as school is still in session. I already ordered some books from the Africa list. My children are excited to be part of this amazing Summer bookclub.
    Lille, France

  6. Sarah

    Sincerely excited about this! We’ve got our books, and are raring to go! We picked Me on the Map, The Colors of Us, and Whoever You Are to get started. We’ve got an assortment of browns and creams around here =) Really excited about the videos as well, that will be the tool that hooks my 5 year old.

  9. Ashley Bacon

    Oh my goodness, so many goodies in this post! I’m thrilled to be apart of this. THANK YOU! Our challenge is one picture book a day from the list and using the week to explore this posts’ videos and links. Dad even wants in on it, so we’re waiting for the evenings to do this together. It’s going to be a great thing for the whole family, thanks again!

  10. Liz

    I just received your book and I love it! Your book actually goes along great with our Geography curriculum from My Fathers World, Exploring Countries and Cultures. So excited to pick and choose books from the book lists! Thank you !

  11. Mparker

    We are so excited about this! I just requested every book our library had from your list ages 4-10, and all twenty eight of them we could get are fantastic! Thank you for a new trusted book list. We did a kick off party with ‘How To Make An Apple Pie and See the World” with apple dumpling making and an art project…and can’t wait for the rest of the summer adventure using your book. Thanks for the fun resources today as well.

  12. Amber

    Thank you SOO much for putting this all together. We are so excited to participate and join along in the fun!

  14. Sara

    Looking forward to joining the fun. I grew up in Nigeria so having a way to help my very Americanized kids recognize more of the world is wonderful. Thank you!

  15. Michelle VanGurp

    Got our copy today! So excited!!
    (I’m also mama to kids born on different continents! Though, only two!)
    Can’t wait to get started!

  16. Karyn

    Our book was on the steps when we got back from the lake & t-ball season party tonight! Going to make my list NOW! Thank you so much for this….what a fun way to spend some extra time with my kiddos

  19. Fiona Clarke

    Thank you for today’s post Jamie. I am looking forward to watching the videos and adding activities over the week with our books. We started today with some fun books from the library on children around the world, where they live and what they eat. I have ordered books from your suggestions for multicultural week, hopefully they arrive this week. I hope your family are having fun with it too.
    Fiona
    New Zealand

  20. Cassandra

    Love the concept for this Summer read-aloud adventure and I can’t wait until my copy of the book arrives in the mail in the next few days. What a great resource and a wonderful way to dig in to living books this Summer! Thank you! Cass @ TheUnpluggedFamily

  22. Stephanie J

    So excited!!! I have my book and a whole stack of books picked up from the library. Ordered my coloring books and bookmarks through your links and printed out the maps and coupons. Can’t wait to start posting photos on instagram and seeing everyone else’s as well.

  23. Heather

    I am absolutely in awe of the book recommendations in your book! I have been a voracious reader since I was young yet many of the books I haven’t heard of before. I was planning on doing one picture book each day but my boys loved the books so much we read them all in one day so I’m going to the library for more tomorrow! So far we have read All the Colors of the Earth, Children Around the World, Little Humans, Me on the Map, One World, One Day, Over the Hills and Far Away: A Treasury of Nursery Rhymes from Around the World, The Red Book, Children Just Like Me, and Follow That Map! I greatly appreciate all your thought and depth that went into this project! My boys loved the videos and we are hoping to make at least one of the recipes this week. Looking forward to the rest of the adventure!

  24. mikellik

    we are enjoying our first week! my girls were excited to hear about tooth customs around the world! Thanks for this we are looking forward to next week and Africa!

  25. Amanda

    I asked my son what he wanted to learn this summer, and he said he wants to make his own world atlas. This will be great with that project.

    I just ordered your book, and am looking forward to it. After reading your posts for so many years, I feel like I can trust your recommendations to be valuable. Thanks!

  26. Dawn

    Love this! Can’t wait for my book to arrive! I can think of several books from other cultures but one of my favorite MULTI-cultural books would be “In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson.”

  28. Mother Undercover

    Regarding the disclaimer:
    “Disclaimer: YouTube can sometimes bring up inappropriate ads/suggestions/comments/etc. Please proceed with caution and preview to determine which ones are best for your family.”
    I recommend http://viewpure.com for watching You Tube videos. Hope this helps someone!

  29. Brynn

    Excited to join you from Anchorage, Ak. Heard about it from Kat’s Inspired to Action podcast. Can’t wait for your book to arrive and get going. Thank you for your inspiration and passion.

  30. Mama Hen

    So happy to have found your site! 🙂 While going for my Masters in Education my focus was on Multiculturalism. I look forward to following along on your journey! I love how you have included foods, types of homes, etc from around the world. I can’t wait to start working on this with my daughter. Have a great week!

  31. Michele

    During multicultural week, we enjoyed All the Colors of the Earth and Follow That Map! My children also watched a few of the suggested YouTube clips, practiced identifying the continents on our wall map, and colored one of the downloadable maps. Thank you so much for a great summer reading program. 🙂

  32. wendy sterk

    We are reading Multicultural and Africa this past week. Enjoyed Throw Your Tooth on the Roof tonight! Who know there were so many traditions beyond the tooth fairy! LOVED it! 🙂

  33. Valerie Morrison

    Hi Jamie,
    Thanks for a great book. We use Sonlight and they have an Eastern Hemisphere Core that goes well with your book. I am however, having a hard time finding any great books on the Central Asian Republics of the former USSR. Any suggestions?

  34. Michelle

    Jamie, are you going to do another one of these this upcoming summer? I’m new to your website and missed last year’s. We live overseas and would love to do something like this, to use these resources, etc. I’m wondering if I should try to gather all these posts together myself now or if they’ll be coming at regular intervals again this summer. Any insight you have would be appreciated. Thanks!