I was thrilled when I was asked to review No Limits: No Boundaries My Journey through the ABCs by Julian English & Natasha Moulton-Levy for Multicultural Children’s Book Day. My excitement grew as I realized all the connections I shared with the authors, Julian and his mom. Here are a few:

1. We have special people in our lives who were born prematurely.
2. We have special people in our lives who learn differently.
3. We love to travel and see the world.

Because this was a unique book with a special purpose, I decided I wanted to share it with readers who know a lot about books. So I headed to one of my favorite second grade classrooms in the district where I am a literacy coach and asked Mrs. Jackman’s class for their help.

Julian and his mom, Natasha Moulton-Levy Photo Credit: Baltimore Sun

We started by reading “A Note from Julian” and learned why Julian and his mom decided to write this book. Julian explains, “Mom and I wanted to write this book for all the kids with special needs like me. Like you, I know it’s not easy seeing the world differently. But we do and that’s that!” Julian’s note helped us as readers understand the purpose of this book and also enabled many of us to share stories about people with exceptionalities in our own lives.

From reading the book we learned that Julian is conquering some of his fears by trying new things, that you can learn your ABC’s by traveling, and that we all learn in different ways. When reading the book we liked how Julian sees lots of animals, how Julian keeps trying even though he is scared, and how Julian takes risks without ever giving up.  After reading the book, we suggest that Julian and his mom write another book about numbers and colors and that readers read it more than once.

No Limits: No Boundaries My Journey through the ABCs by Julian English & Natasha Moulton-Levy reminds all of us that everyone has a story to tell and when we are brave enough to share our story with others we can make a difference in the world. Julian and his mom reminded us to challenge ourselves and to never give up. Anything is possible! Go Team Possible!

A Special Note: I want to thank all of the guest readers and writers who helped me write this book review with a special shout out to Peter B., Philip, Ryan, Andrew, Dominick, Liam, Isabella, Peter L., Caelan, Andrea, Amelia, Olivia, Ainsley, Haley, Devin, Jack, Makenna, Madelyn, Quinn, Moira, Gabriel, Faith, Grace, Hope and Mrs. Jackman. Keep believing in the possible!

More Information About Multicultural Children’s Book Day/ #ReadYourWorld

Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2017 (1/27/17) is its fourth year and was founded by Valarie Budayr from Jump Into A Book and Mia Wenjen from PragmaticMom. Our mission is to raise awareness on the ongoing need to include kid’s 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. 

Despite census data that shows 37% of the US population consists of people of color, only 10% of children’s books published have diversity content. Using the Multicultural Children’s Book Day holiday, the MCBD Team are on a mission to change all of that.

Current Sponsors:  MCBD 2017 is honored to have some amazing Sponsors on board. Platinum Sponsors include Scholastic, Barefoot Books and Broccoli. Other Medallion Level Sponsors include heavy-hitters like Author Carole P. Roman, Audrey Press, Candlewick Press,  Fathers Incorporated, KidLitTV, Capstone Young Readers, ChildsPlayUsa, Author Gayle Swift, Wisdom Tales Press, Lee& Low Books, The Pack-n-Go Girls, Live Oak Media, Author Charlotte Riggle, Chronicle Books and Pomelo Books

Author Sponsor include: Karen Leggett Abouraya, Veronica Appleton, Susan Bernardo, Kathleen Burkinshaw, Maria Dismondy, D.G. Driver, Geoff Griffin,  Savannah Hendricks, Stephen Hodges, Carmen Bernier-Grand,Vahid Imani, Gwen Jackson,  Hena, Kahn, David Kelly, Mariana Llanos, Natasha Moulton-Levy, Teddy O’Malley, Stacy McAnulty,  Cerece Murphy, Miranda Paul, Annette Pimentel, Greg Ransom, Sandra Richards, Elsa Takaoka, Graciela 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.

Some sites to learn more about #ReadYourWorld

Multicultural Children’s Book Day 

Free Multicultural Books for Teachers 

Free Kindness Kit for Homeschoolers, Organizations, Librarians and Educators

Free Diversity Book Lists and Activities for Teachers and Parents