Feed the Baby Hummus {Review}

March 8, 2018March 23, 2018 | acraftyarab

Not long ago, I received the book Feed the Baby Hummus: Pediatrician-backed Secrets from Cultures Around the World by Lisa Lewis, MD. I was intrigued by the title.

The book itself is very well researched, containing global parenting practices for new parents. It’s divided into four sections: 1. Behavior and Development, 2. Decisions to Make, 3. Diet and Nutrient, and 4. Building Immunity and Body Care. Each section contains various chapters that help guide your baby through it’s first year.

Having been raised on hummus, an Arabic word that means ‘crushed chickpeas,’ I plunged into the book to find out other ways that Middle East and North African (MENA) Arab moms raise their children. However, other than Lebanese food, the Arab culture is not mentioned. (There is also a recipe for ‘Middle East Lentils’ but Middle East also includes countries such as Turkey, Iran, etc, where Arabic is not spoken.)

Once I got over this the first time, I went back to re-read the book and found some true gems. For example:

In Greece, the godparents are required to buy the first pair of shoes for a baby’s christening.

Mothers in Jamaica use rose water to soothe babies who have a fever.

In Laos and Thailand, ginger is popularly used as a galactagogue.

The chapters are well written and the appendix contains helpful shopping lists, for both the nursery and the kitchen.

If you are a parent in need of parenting advice that incorporates various multicultural practices, this is a book for you. It really does do a good job of teaching about the global parenting village. Use it as a stepping stone that will potentially lead you to vast diverse resources used around the world. Just keep in mind, it’s only the tip of the iceberg in how parents raise world citizens.

Please stop by A Crafty Arab educational resources to read other book reviews that educate about the Arab world.

13 Activities to Cheer on Arab Winter Athletes {Resource}

February 1, 2018March 20, 2018 | acraftyarab

The 2018 Winter Olympics will be starting next week on February 9th, 2018 in Pyeongchang County, South Korea. This year, two Arab countries, Lebanon and Morocco, will be participating.

At the last Summer Olympics, I put together a list of activities to do to cheer on the Arab athletes and thought it might be nice to do the same for the winter athletes.

I’ve compiled a few from my own site and added some others from my fellow bloggers.

Lebanon

Sports 2 * Athletes 3

Lebanese Cedar Bead Tree {Tutorial}
Lebanese Flag Candle {Tutorial}
Lebanese Lentil Soup {Recipe}
Lebanese Meghli {Recipe}
Lebanon Rocks {Tutorial}

Morocco

Sports 2 * Athletes 2

Moroccan Beef Tagine with green couscous
Moroccan Chicken Stew with Honey & Apricots
Morocco Flag Candy Dish {Tutorial}
Morrocan Leg of Lamb
Moroccan Mint Tea
Moroccan Recipe: Bread or Khobz
Morocco Rocks {Tutorial}
Morocco Sweet Stew {Recipe}

Visit these other posts from my sisters at Muslimah Bloggers who also wrote about activities that can be done to get ready for the Winter Olympics.

Olympic Games Crafts for Kids from Multicultural Motherhood
Winter Olympics Activities from Alizeh My Soul

Be sure to visit A Crafty Arab on Pinterest to see more activities about the Arab world.

Happy Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2018 {Resource}

January 27, 2018March 20, 2018 | acraftyarab

Today is Multicultural Children’s Book Day, now in it’s fifth year.

I’m so excited to be a co-Host this year to add my review for Kadis كديسة. It was a wonderful book that beautifully highlights Sudanese landscape, customs, people and culture. Last year I received a Persian book, Naji and the Mystery of the Dig.

At the bottom of this post, there is Linky going on right now for reviewers of multicultural books that allow your child to #ReadYourWorld.

Please stop by A Crafty Arab resource page to find 100s of children books, reviews, downloads, & DIY tutorials on the Arab world, Islam, Muslims, Muslimahs, the Middle East/North Africa (MENA), Asia, Africa, & Arab Americans.

If you would ilke to know more about Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2017, it is in its 5^th 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 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.

Current Sponsors: Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2018 is honored to have some amazing Sponsors on board.

2018 Multicultural Children’s Book Day Medallion Sponsors

HONORARY: Children’s Book Council, Junior Library Guild

PLATINUM:Scholastic Book Clubs

GOLD:Audrey Press, Candlewick Press, Loving Lion Books, Second Story Press, Star Bright Books, Worldwide Buddies

SILVER:Capstone Publishing, Author Charlotte Riggle, Child’s Play USA, KidLit TV, Pack-n-Go Girls, Plum Street Press

BRONZE: Barefoot Books, Carole P. Roman, Charlesbridge Publishing, Dr. Crystal Bowe, Gokul! World, Green Kids Club, Gwen Jackson, Jacqueline Woodson, Juan J. Guerra, Language Lizard, Lee & Low Books, RhymeTime Storybooks, Sanya Whittaker Gragg, TimTimTom Books, WaterBrook & Multnomah, Wisdom Tales Press

2018 Multicultural Children’s Book Day

Author Sponsors

Honorary Author Sponsors: Author/Illustrator Aram Kim and Author/Illustrator Juana Medina

Author Janet Balletta, Author Susan Bernardo, Author Carmen Bernier-Grand, Author Tasheba Berry-McLaren and Space2Launch, Bollywood Groove Books, Author Anne Broyles, Author Kathleen Burkinshaw, Author Eugenia Chu, Author Lesa Cline-Ransome, Author Medeia Cohan and Shade 7 Publishing, Desi Babies, Author Dani Dixon and Tumble Creek Press, Author Judy Dodge Cummings, Author D.G. Driver, Author Nicole Fenner and Sister Girl Publishing, Debbi Michiko Florence, Author Josh Funk, Author Maria Gianferrari, Author Daphnie Glenn, Globe Smart Kids, Author Kimberly Gordon Biddle, Author Quentin Holmes, Author Esther Iverem, Jennifer Joseph: Alphabet Oddities, Author Kizzie Jones, Author Faith L Justice , Author P.J. LaRue and MysticPrincesses.com, Author Karen Leggett Abouraya, Author Sylvia Liu, Author Sherri Maret, Author Melissa Martin Ph.D., Author Lesli Mitchell, Pinky Mukhi and We Are One, Author Miranda Paul, Author Carlotta Penn, Real Dads Read, Greg Ransom, Author Sandra L. Richards, RealMVPKids Author Andrea Scott, Alva Sachs and Three Wishes Publishing, Shelly Bean the Sports Queen, Author Sarah Stevenson, Author Gayle H. Swift Author Elsa Takaoka, Author Christine Taylor-Butler, Nicholette Thomas and MFL Publishing Author Andrea Y. Wang, Author Jane Whittingham Author Natasha Yim

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.

2018 Multicultural Children’s Book Day

Twitter Party

Multicultural Children’s Book Day super-popular (and crazy-fun) annual Twitter Party will be held 1/27/18 at 9:00pm and sponsored by Scholastic Book Clubs:

Join the conversation and win one of 12-5 book bundles and one Grand Prize Book Bundle (12 books) that will be given away at the party!