This is my first year participating in the online event Multicultural Children’s Book Day as an author and book reviewer. I am honored to be part of this, helping to raise awareness for children’s books that celebrate diversity and inspire a love of learning. I received a digital copy of the illustrated children’s book ‘Amelie Gets Busy‘ for review purposes. The book is written by the talented author, foreign languages school owner and teacher Agatha Rodi, a global co-host of the event and the one who invited me to participate.

a) About the book ‘Amelie Gets Busy’ (picture book for pre-schoolers and early readers)

It’s the story of a young girl, Amelie, who gets to spend some time at her grandma’s farm, in what appears to be a typical village of the Greek countryside. It is the summer season, and during this time of the year the countryside is full of children and happy faces. It is very common for the children to get to spend sometime at their grandparents’ place during the school holidays while the parents are still working.

Amelie, as every other child in the world, lives in the now, she’s very impressionable and she finds that everything around her is full of wonder. Amelie bursts with excitement as she gets acquainted with all of the plants and birds and animals at her grandma’s, ”yiayia” in Greek, place. The hens, the chickens, the pigs, the bees and the ladybugs, the hedgehogs, the birds, the pomgrenate tree and the roses blooming in the garden.

Grandma cultivates her very own eggplants, tomatoes, green peppers and cucumbers. She also has fresh herbs like rosemary and basil and tons of flowers like carnations and bougainvilleas blooming in the garden. Amelie takes in the smells and the flavors, the colours and the sounds. All her sensations are heightened as she gets to experience something new all the time and she shares her excitement and delight with the reader. Her grandma treats her with some ice-cream and biscuit cake, the traditional spinach pie with the crispy dough and her favorite cherry jam.

Agatha Rodi with her short poems and descriptive language, and Joanna Scott with her soft and cute illustrations, adding just the right feel to the storyline, successfully give the young readers a glimpse of the Greek village life. I read it to my children and it brought memories of their own grandparents in Greece. I would recommend this book to anyone who wishes to bring back and reinforce memories of their child and their grandmother. Parts of the story are universal and I believe it will resonate with most children.

Here’s an extract, one of the book’s poems:

Yiayia’s gifts

In a keepsake box
There are my yiayia’s gifts
Full of village’s smells
Sugary sprinkled cookies and basil twigs.
Oh! A bunch of dry carnations and bougainvilleas
Lemon buds and orange leaves.

A jar of yiayia’s favorite cherry jam
Some pieces of spinach pie and feta cheese
Full of spices and crispy dough.
I always take my village with me,
The blue light and the hues of the rainbow
That make me say wow!
That’s why I’m so impressed!

b) Cooking activity inspired by ‘Amelie Gets Busy’

Cook a quick and easy spinach pie (spanakopita) with your little ones. Click here to watch the video and get the recipe

c) A traditional children’s song that talks about grandma’s garden + imagery and pictures with animals and scenes from the Greek countryside

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96dyUb0CTJI

Click here to buy and download the ebook Amelie Gets Busy (Amazon Kindle)

Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2019 (1/25/19) is in its 6^th year and 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 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.

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 andA 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, Claudia Schwam, Lori DeMonia, Terri Birnbaum/ RealGirls Revolution, Soulful Sydney, Queen Girls Publications, LLC 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. Co-Hosts and Global Co-HostsA 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: https://wp.me/P5tVud-1H 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.

The post Celebrating Multicultural Children’s Book Day (MCBD 2019) first appeared on Maltamum.

The Malta Comic Con is a fantastic opportunity for our children to learn more about comics but also to meet new like-minded people and make new friends. I have always been a fan of comics and I still read them now that I have grown up. I remember these were the only kind of books I read during the long, lazy, hot, Mediterranean school summer holidays. These were also my ‘go to’ books with my breakfast on Saturdays and Sundays during the scholastic months and I hope my children will grow to love them, too. I volunteered a few years back to one of the Malta Comic Cons and I met the lovely team behind this. Fun, interesting, awesome people! Fabio Agius, the president of the Malta Comic Con, was kind enough to dedicate some time to us and answer to some questions about this year’s very special event. Malta Comic Con 2018 will take place 3 & 4 November 2018 at MFCC Ta’Qali and you can order your tickets already now here. 

It’s been 10 years since the very first Malta Comic Con. How did it all start?

In the beginning (sounds like a the opening of the Genesis), we already did a comic convention type of event called The Big Bang which was a gathering of Maltese comic artists and friends hosted at St James Cavalier. Though the attendance was small it was a success and it was a great opportunity to meet like-minded people and make new friends. Some months later we went, as a group of friends, to a Comic Convention in Bristol where we made contacts and friends with foreign artists and on our trip back we came up with the idea that we had the potential of hosting a small Comic Convention in Malta. Thus the planning for the first Malta Comic Con was born.

This year’s Malta Comic Con is a special one. What should we expect from you guys?

This year is our 10th anniversary. We have extended our guest lineup. varying from the various aspects of pop culture – comic artists, writers, film sculptors, gaming producers and also movie actor. We have new faces in local talent varying from artists, writers and cos-players to new retailers. Marking this special occasion we are issuing an art book in collaboration with Heritage Malta which consists of a collection of artworks from artists both local and foreign which participated in our past Malta Comic Con editions.

Local and foreign guests. Who’s joining this year?

The list of guests joining us this year is quite a long one. I suggest fans to visit our website and social media to keep themselves updated. One of our special guests is actor Mark Ryan, known mostly for starring in the series Black Sails and the Transformers franchise who is coming to celebrate our 10th anniversary. Another is the Darth Vader mask sculptor Brian Muir. There is also high profile comic artists that worked on the Beano, X-men and manga comics.

Any events for our young ones?

We always do our best to cater for a public of all ages we have workshops and talks for everyone. Tim Perkins like every other year does a children oriented workshop. We have games and freebies for the young audience and we are also introducing a kids area where children can do crafts and games. So parents can be assured that they will have good quality time with their family.

The use of comics as an educational tool. Please elaborate further.

Speaking for myself, comics were the first medium that introduced me to the word of literature. What better way than learning how to read with picture stories featuring your favourite Superhero or character? Even some schools and printing presses rode the tide and are printing text books in comic book format. I always recommend strongly to parents with children of young age to start buying comics for them. They are colourful, fun and rated for each age group.

Anything else you’d like to add?

I would really like to invite people that love the genre or that are curious about it to come at our event join the fun and spend some quality time with family and friends. 

The post Malta Comic Con celebrates 10 years! What’s on? first appeared on Maltamum.

We are giving away 4 tickets to the dynamic, family-friendly ballet PARADE & The Velvet Gentleman which will be staged on 28/07 for 1 night only as part of the Valletta 2018 programme at Teatru Manoel! We will draw 2 winners (x2 tickets each). Find out more on how to enter on our Facebook page here!

About the ‘PARADE & The Velvet Gentleman’

PARADE & The Velvet Gentleman is a retelling of a 1917 classic. It incorporates contemporary storytelling techniques and technology with beautiful choreography, rendering it a must both for dance lovers and those with a fascination for storytelling and technology. Children aged eight and over are in for a treat as the choreography is embellished with stop motion animation, puppetry and projection dancing <3

While this family-friendly ballet has been crafted to delight audiences of all ages, for those between the ages of eight and 16, a unique new half-price ticket offer will make it extra special. For anyone within this age bracket, the ticket price to watch this exquisite show is just €5 – a huge 50% discount from the full ticket price of €10.

This modern version of the“PARADE & the Velvet Gentleman” was first presented to the public last fall as part of the Ziguzajg International Arts Festival for Children & Young People,
celebrating the 100th anniversary of the ballet “Parade”. It was originally premiered in 1917 by Sergei Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris. This 20th century masterpiece features the music of Erik Satie, scored to a one-act scenario by Jean Cocteau.

The performance includes other works by Satie, known by his contemporaries as “the Velvet Gentleman”. The programme includes some of his masterpieces for the piano such as Gymnopédies and Gnossiennes as well as works prefiguring the minimalism of Steve Reich and the incidental music of John Cage.

Spearheaded by Modern Music Days, it returns this year under the artistic direction of Ruben Zahra, with Picasso-inspired costumes by Ritienne Zammit, stop motion animation by Christ Scicluna, choreography by Moveo, masks and puppets by Charles Bezzina, projection dance sequences by MAKA Visuals, and a paper cinema by Trevor Zahra.
“I have always been a fan of Satie’s music,” Mr Zahra says, when asked what inspired him to develop this unique piece. “In a period when composers were seeking evermore-complex structures, Satie was being revolutionary through simplicity.”

The idea to work on ‘Parade’ came to Mr Zahra during a discussion with Teatru Manoel artistic director Kenneth Zammit Tabona back in 2015. It was then that he realised that most people – including leading artists and musicians – were unaware of this ‘gem’ of a ballet. “This motivated me to revisit this ballet on a contemporary platform with new media techniques featuring stop-motion animation and a video projection that develops into a choreographic ‘dialogue’ between the two dancers and their own silhouettes.”

The premiere of “PARADE & The Velvet Gentleman” was very well-received during the 2017 Żigużajg Festival, when it played to audiences of all ages, as well as in a subsequent performance for 700 children at the Catholic Institute. This time around, the performance will include a new choreography by the Moveo Dance Company to a piano cycle by Charles Camilleri entitled ‘Picasso Set. “The connection here is obviously Picasso and the costume design by Ritienne Zammit is inspired from his artwork,” Mr Zahra says. “We are so looking forward to performing it once again.”

PARADE & The Velvet Gentleman will be presented for one night only at Teatru Manoel on Friday 27 July. Tickets are priced at €10, or €5 for anyone aged 8-16, and are available on www.teatrumanoel.com. It is recommended for children aged eight and over.
 

The post GIVEAWAY – Win 4 tickets to the ‘PARADE & The Velvet Gentleman’ first appeared on Maltamum.

This one is for the #Mamas here raising #Multicultural and/or #Multilingual Children.

I will be hosting a 1h talk and discussion at the ‘Goddesses Gathering 2018‘ on 7/11 in Scotland, on the subject of ‘Raising Confident Multicultural kids‘. All profits from this 4 day event are going towards a Healing Community in Argyll, Scotland.

Brief background: I have lived in 6 countries and speak 3 languages. Our kids are raised with 3 languages since birth, and our oldest, approaching 5, has lived in between 4 countries, speaks 3 languages, understands 4, and has a tiny bit of vocabulary in a 5th.

The post Are you raising a multicultural and/or multilingual child? first appeared on Maltamum.

Every June since 2015, the Valletta Film Festival transforms Valletta into a city-sized cinema, including venues like Embassy Cinemas, St. James Cavalier, Pjazza San Ġorġ, Pjazza Teatru Rjal and Fort St. Elmo.

Organised by the Film Grain Foundation, the Valletta Film Festival is Malta’s largest film event and you can now purchase tickets for over 120 screenings and events happening from Friday 8 to Saturday 17 June 2018. Free screenings are held at Valletta’s Pjazza San Ġorġ, while masterclasses, conferences and debates about various subjects concerning our society, culture and other contemporary affairs are held during the event making the festival a live and communal affair.

You can see the full programme here 

CHILDREN’S ANIMATED FILM – The Breadwinner (Screening dates 09/06, 17/06)

The Breadwinner tells the story of Parvana, an 11-year-old girl growing up under the Taliban in Afghanistan in 2001. When her father is wrongfully arrested, Parvana disguises herself as a boy in order to support her family. With dauntless perseverance, Parvana draws strength from the stories her father told her, and ultimately risks her life to discover if he is still alive. Equal parts thrilling and enchanting, The Breadwinner is a timely and inspiring tale about the transcendent power of stories, and their potential to unite and heal us all.

Executive produced by Angelina Jolie, the film was animated by a team of over 200 artists, it was produced by Ireland’s Cartoon Salon, the studio behind Oscar nominees The Secret of Kells and Song of the Sea.

More about the screening details here
Contact Details here

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Exhibition details

Address: Swieqi Local Council. Triq G Bessiera , Swieqi Malta
Date: Friday 17th November, 2017
Time: 6pm-9pm
Free entrance
Complementary wine upon arrival and all paintings are for sale
Contact Details: 99940713 / boyejade@gmail.com / SWIEQI ART GROUP

Jade Bøye, who just turned 30 this year, is a Maltese mummy of two young children. She definitely stands out for her bubbly and contagiously uplifting personality, and it came as a positive surprise to discover how beautifully she paints. By profession, she’s an interior designer and project manager. Her passion though has always been art, and although her free time is very limited, she quickly picks up a brush and paints away when that precious window appears. Her art mostly follows trends of interior fashion. She also likes to mix in her hobbies or close family hobbies, which is where she gets most of her inspiration from. She has been sketching since she can remember and loves experimenting with different medias.

 Inna Bugeja is a mother of a 10 year old, and studied art in Ukraine where she experimented with various forms. She has been living in Malta for over 10 years, this is ‘home’ for her now and her primary source of inspiration.

The post Art exhibition by two talented mummies in Swieqi <3 first appeared on Maltamum.

The course is conducted by an IAIM infant massage instructor/midwife
Starting date Tuesday 7 November
Time from 10:00 till 11:30
Venue:  Malta Midwives Association premises
62 Office 2 Triq il-Kuncizzjoni, Msida.
You just need to get a nappy changing mat and a towel, 
as everything else is provided for.
The course is provided against donation 40 euro.

Click here for the Midwives Association Website 

The post Baby massage 4 session course at the Midwives Association first appeared on Maltamum.

Demos of the different Baby Tula carriers and the brand new Ergobaby 360 OMNI will take place, and Professional advice will be provided on behalf of #Maltamum by the certified Babywearing Educator Pauline Lephew from Koala & Mama. Not to be missed!

More info here !

The post 10 EURO off on all Ergos and Tulas on our stand on Saturday at YUE first appeared on Maltamum.

Close to a mother’s heartbeat – as seen on The Times of Malta 

A trip down memory lane

Back in the end of summer 2015, Malta celebrated the International Babywearing Week for the 1st time ever. Maltamum and Babywearing Malta begun their efforts to raise awareness on the many benefits of babywearing; including the major differences in between ergonomic babywearing vs non ergonomic. Nowadays, I am proud to say, many midwives and professionals all across Malta are encouraging ergonomic baby wearing.

Maltamum made accessible to Malta, and at affordable prices, the top international brand Ergobaby through www.maltamumshop.com, whereas Becky launched the Facebook group Babywearing Malta and started offering her services as the very first professional Babywearing Educator locally, giving premium advice and hands-on assistance on how to wear our babies properly and safely.

Autumn 2017 

This time around, Maltamum brings Tula to Malta, the baby carrier brand that has garnered a passionate cult following all around the world! Did you know for instance that Tula’s limited edition versions sell out seconds after they are available on the site, and can go for up to ten times the original price in the second hand market? Baby TULA used carriers can be traded, and sold for between $200–1200 above retail price. Tulas are that popular! 

Becky on the other hand is launching her Joimove, fun Babywearing Dance classes, and her babywearing workshops are from now on hosted at a new location, YUE in Naxxar.

Pauline Lephew, who started working with Maltamum earlier this year as a freelance Sales Assistant, just recently got her certificate as a Babywearing Educator as well.

Many reasons to celebrate this year as well <3

IBW2017 CELEBRATIONS IN MALTA – COME JOIN US ON SATURDAY!

2 October marks the beginning of a week-long babywearing celebrations all around the world. Malta celebrates on the 7th October 10:30-12:30 at the YUE Holistic Centre in Naxxar.

What’s on during the event?

• A discussion on the MANY Benefits of Babywearing
• A fun JoiMove, babywearing dance session. Participants can bring their own baby carriers or borrow one from Babywearing Malta’s extensive sling library. Older kids can join the fun and wear their favourite dolls with a scarf or doll carrier
• Tula brand launch and carriers’ demonstration
• The Ergobaby Omni 360 carrier will be presented to the public; the very first ergonomic, insertless, forward-facing carrier
• Demonstrations and sales of carriers will be available on dedicated stands of various sling and carrier local agents
• Many special offers just for the day
• A raffle where great prizes will be drawn, including an Ergobaby 360 French Blue carrier
• Tea, coffee, and gluten, dairy, nut free cake servings are complimentary

Tickets available online (contact treeoflife.mlt@gmail.com ) -> 5 euro pre-paid, 8 euro at the door. ALL INFO HERE!

*The event is organised by Becky-Gauci Maistre from Babywearing Malta and the main sponsor is Maltamum and the MaltamumShop. Maltamum will be represented at this event by Pauline Lephew, certified Babywearing educator from Koala and Mama Babywearing Consultancy.

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Like you, I’ve been anticipating TULA to arrive in Malta and be added to our current brand portfolio! Unfortunately it takes a little bit longer than I thought it would. This is what I’ve last heard from Ergobaby EU headquarters:

‘We will have all styles TULA (Free to Grow, Standard, Toddler, Inserts, Blankets) by the end of this week/beginning next week. They need to be stickered, repacked and finally booked into our warehouse. This takes more time than we thought.’

As soon as I know more I will let you know.

Stay tuned!

Love, Liza.

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