Celebrating Multicultural Children’s Book Day | Pattan’s Pumpkin

Today I’m excited to share a book sent to us for review from Candlewick Press in celebration of Multicultural Children’s Book Day! Pattan’s Pumpkin by Chitra Soundar and illustrated by Frané Lessac brings to life a traditional, ancient flood tale set in South India. In the story, Pattan and his wife Kanni rescue an ailing plant with a yellow flower, and care for it in their garden, where they live in harmony with the animals and nature around their village.

Much to their surprise the vine grows into a pumpkin, and that pumpkin soon begins to grow at an alarming pace – bigger than the bulls, bigger than the elephants, bigger and bigger. One day a storm comes, bringing with it lightning that fills the skies and a flood. Realizing the pumpkin might be their only hope, with the help of the animals, Pattan hollows out the giant pumpkin while his wife gathers insects, saplings, and sacks of grain to carry with them. Once all are safely inside the pumpkin, Pattan cuts the pumpkin from the vine, and they ride out the flood together.

My favorite spread in the book is the pages where Kanni sings to the captivated animals inside the pumpkin while they wait for the rain to pass. Who knew the inside of pumpkins could be so cozy and peaceful! Ultimately Pattan and Kanni’s ingenuity and interdependence on nature saves them from the flood. The pumpkin lands safely on the plains where they continue to grow pumpkins from its seeds, and remember the story of Pattan and his pumpkin that once saved them from the flood.

We really enjoyed introducing this story and a little taste of Indian culture to our family. The illustrations were vibrant and their beautiful folk art style blended seamlessly with Soundar’s brilliant storytelling. Bonnie especially enjoyed talking about the animals that live in India, and it gave us a chance to show her some pictures from John’s summer in India.

Check out the book trailer! You can order your copy from Chattanooga’s local bookstore here.

Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2018 (1/27/18) is in its 5th 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 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: 

MCBD 2018 is honored to have some amazing Sponsors on board.

2018 MCBD 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 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, RealMVPKidsAuthor Andrea Scott, Alva Sachs and Three Wishes Publishing, Shelly Bean the Sports Queen,  Author Sarah Stevenson, Author Gayle H. SwiftAuthor 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.

TWITTER PARTY Sponsored by Scholastic Book Clubs: MCBD’s super-popular (and crazy-fun) annual Twitter Party will be held 1/27/18 at 9:00pm.

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! https://multiculturalchildrensbookday.com/twitter-party-great-conversations-fun-prizes-chance-readyourworld-1-27-18/

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

Free Empathy Classroom Kit for Homeschoolers, Organizations, Librarians and Educators: https://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.