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The Mysterious Stream by FB Smit - Book Review by Miss Panda Chinese

Multicultural Children’s Book Day: January 27th, 2017

#ReadYourWorld

January 27th is Multicultural Children’s Book Day.  The co-creators of Multicultural Children’s Book Day are Mia from PragmaticMom and Valarie from JumpIntoABook.  I (Miss Panda) am thrilled to be a part of this wonderful event once again this year and help to bring brilliant, diverse books to more homes, classrooms, libraries, and schools.

Today I am sharing a wonderful multicultural book–“The Mysterious Stream” by FB Smit.

Type: Picture book.   Also available in interactive book app format.

Reading Level: Preschool – Gr. 3

The Mysterious Stream is based on a Korean folktale.  It starts with a faraway village.  A woodcutter follows the beautiful singing of the birds and walks into the deep woods.  The discovery of a mysterious stream brings a surprise and changes his life.  You will be following the adventure created by the author, FB Smit and walking through the journey.  The illustration of the book will inspire vivid imagination of children.

This is an easy reader for independent readers.  It is also a good read-aloud book.  Children enjoys folktales.  Folktales are enchanting and charming.  They also enhance cultural understanding.  The Mysterious Stream book reminds me of Japanese folktale, Momotaro,  the African folktale, Anasi and the Chinese folktale, Monkey King.  What we learn from one folktale can help us understand the way of thinking in a culture.  What we read in one multicultural book can link us with more books in different cultures.

This book can generate a good discussion on being kind and not to be greedy with both young and older kids.  For older children, The Mysterious Stream can be compared with other multicultural books mentioned above.  Children will enjoy comparing the difference and similarity in stories and cultures.  This can be a student-based reading project.

I especially want to mention that this is a bilingual book written in English and Korean.  There is also an interactive book app of this book featuring audio narration in English and Korean.  The Mysterious Stream book app is available on iTunes and GooglePlay.

 

 

This book is a wonderful resource for families with Korean heritage background, families that are learning Korean, or families that are interested in learning world culture.  FB Smit, the author came to the United States at a young age and soon English replaced Korean.  However, she made efforts to pick up Korean years later.  She actually graduated from the Korean School last year (2016).  She is now passing her Korean heritage language and culture to her children.  Culture and language go hand in hand and I was so glad to see a bilingual book like this being shared on Multicultural Children Book Day.  I hope you check out this book and enjoy it as much as I did with my children.

 

Sponsors:  MCBD 2017 is honored to have some amazing Sponsors on board. Platinum Sponsors include ScholasticBarefoot Books and Broccoli. Other Medallion Level Sponsors include heavy-hitters like Author Carole P. RomanAudrey Press, Candlewick Press,  Fathers Incorporated, KidLitTVCapstone Young Readers, ChildsPlayUsa, Author Gayle SwiftWisdom Tales PressLee& Low BooksThe Pack-n-Go GirlsLive Oak MediaAuthor Charlotte Riggle, Chronicle Books and Pomelo Books

Author Sponsor include: Karen Leggett AbourayaVeronica AppletonSusan Bernardo, Kathleen BurkinshawDelores Connors, Maria DismondyD.G. DriverGeoff Griffin Savannah HendricksStephen HodgesCarmen Bernier-Grand,Vahid ImaniGwen Jackson,  Hena, Kahn, David Kelly, Mariana LlanosNatasha Moulton-LevyTeddy O’MalleyStacy McAnulty,  Cerece MurphyMiranda PaulAnnette PimentelGreg RansomSandra Richards, Elsa TakaokaGraciela Tiscareño-Sato,  Sarah Stevenson, Monica Mathis-Stowe SmartChoiceNation, Andrea Y. Wang

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 work tirelessly to spread the word of this event. View our CoHosts HERE.

 

MCBD Links to remember:

MCBD site: http://multiculturalchildrensbookday.com/

Free Multicultural Books for Teachers: http://bit.ly/1kGZrta

Free Kindness Classroom Kit for Homeschoolers, Organizations, Librarians and Educators: http://multiculturalchildrensbookday.com/teachers-classroom-kindness-kit/

Free Diversity Book Lists and Activities for Teachers and Parents: http://bit.ly/1sZ5s8i

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

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9 Comments
  1. Thank you so much for your support of Multicultural Children’s Book Day and for this great review! I’m sharing!

    • Mia, It is a great book worth sharing. I am delighted to be a part of Multicultural Children Kids Day and sharing great books with parents and teachers.

  2. I love folktales and appreciate that this one has so much going for it – bilingual, app tie in, and life lessons. Thanks for sharing with #ReadYourWorld!

  3. Great book review! I like the idea of the App for those who are learning the language and need auditory reinforcement. Your reference to folktales from other cultures is helpful too and great idea about comparing cultures by reading various folktales. Thanks for sharing!

    • Frances, So true. The audio narration really helps young readers or non-native speaking readers to understand the story and learn the language. Stories are such an easy to learn about the world. I am looking forward to seeing more multicultural books for our children and theirs. Thank you for visiting.!

  4. Looks great! I’m looking forward to get this book and read as a bed time story to my 5 years old kid. Thanks, I really enjoy your review.