The Saint Nicholas Day Snow Book Review - Multicultural Children's Book Day

Book Review
The Saint Nicholas Day Snow
Written by Charlotte Riggle
Illustrated by R. J. Hughes
Published October 27, 2017

Why we chose this book:
We are thrilled to be participating in Multicultural Children's Book Day this year. This book had already been on my radar as one with a protagonist who uses a wheelchair, so I was excited when we were matched up with Riggle to feature this book!  A review copy was provided as part of MCBD.

Mom's Review:

Elizabeth must spend the night at a friend's house while her parents visit her hospitalized grandmother on Saint Nicholas Day.

While the foci of The Saint Nicholas Day Snow are ostensibly St. Nicholas Day traditions and how a girl copes with her grandmother's hospitalization, if one looks just the tiny bit deeper, the normalization of physical differences and religious traditions is communicated.

The story is quite simple: Elizabeth goes to Catherine's house while her parents stay with her hospitalized grandmother overnight. The children are excited for Saint Nicholas Day, but know different tales. Uncle Andrew recounts a third version that unites both - Saint Nicholas dropped gold in one poor girl's shoe, her sister's stocking, and handed a third bag to their father. After Uncle Andrew leaves, the girls get ready for bed and then wake up to a beautiful snowy day and good news about the grandmother's recovery.

The girls' story frames the legend of Saint Nicholas. And you could read it just as that: a retelling of one Saint Nicholas legend. But if you look just a tiny bit deeper, you'll see the normalization of physical differences and religious traditions. I really like this book because of that. Elizabeth uses a wheelchair and crutches, but you only know this if you pay attention to the pictures. She is depicted no different from her fully able friend. And that is what I like so much — Elizabeth's unnamed disability doesn't matter. As it shouldn't.

I have noticed a dearth of books featuring protagonists with physical disabilities. I think we all agree on the need to depict girls in non-sexist ways and people of color in non-racist ways, but we need to incorporate more people with noticeable disabilities into children's lit to de-stigmatize disabilities. If you know me personally, then you know about my brother. If you don't know me personally, then you should know that my younger brother has physical and mental disabilities. Kids are much more compassionate today than they were when we were kids, but there is still a long way to go. Curiosity and discomfort are natural when confronted with something new, so why not expose kiddos to differences from a young age? I wish that more illustrators accurately incorporated devices people use (wheelchairs, lifts, hearing aides, etc.) without making a big deal about it. Maybe if the next generation sees it as not a big deal in their books, it won't be such a big deal when they meet other kids with these devices in real life.

I'd also like to note that on each page, inset pictures feature depictions of the saint through the ages as well as a multitude of churches around the world bearing the saint's name. I particularly like this, as it gives readers a glimpse at the universality of this saint. Back matter provides further information on Saint Nicholas.

A fitting read for our snow-bound day!

Son's Review
(Age: almost 4 years old)

Son: What was his job?

Mom: He was a bishop, so he was in charge of the other priests. Kind of like there is a principal in a school who is in charge of the teachers and students, a bishop is a priest who takes care of the other priests and parishioners.

Son: Are the saints for grownups or children?

Mom: Everyone.

Mom: Would you want to meet Elizabeth and Catherine? What would you say?

Son: Yeah. What I would say is, "Hello." That's what I would say, and I would say, "Welcome," and "Come." I wanted them to come to my church please.

Mom: Are Catherine and Elizabeth at all like you?

Son: Yeah. I sometimes say stockings and sometimes he [Saint Nicholas/Santa Claus] puts them [gifts] in my stockings and sometimes he puts them in my shoes.
(Apparently we need some consistency in our Christmas traditions in this house.)

Mom: I'm just curious, but did you notice that Elizabeth has a wheelchair.

Son: No.

Mom: How did you feel about Elizabeth's grandmother being in the hospital.

Son: Kinda sad.

Mom: I noticed that their priest came and visited her. Would you want a priest to visit you if you were in the hospital?

Son: Yeah. I would want the priest to pray.

Mom: Did you like the book?

Son: Yeah. I liked that her parents were visiting the grandma.

Mom: How did you feel during most of the story?

Son: Mostly really good.

Mom: What does this story make you think about?

Son: That Uncle B is in the hospital.

Mom: He got a special prayer just like the grandmother in this story.

Mom: What would you say is the most important thing to know about the book?

Son: That it's about snow.

Mom: And when is it a good time to read it?

Son: When it's snowing!!!

MULTICULTURAL CHILDREN'S BOOK DAY

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!

*View our 2019 Medallion Sponsors here: https://wp.me/P5tVud-
*View our 2019 MCBD Author Sponsors here: https://wp.me/P5tVud-2eN

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, www.linthomas.com, 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 and A 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, Lori DeMonia, Claudia Schwam, 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-Hosts

A 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: http://bit.ly/1kGZrta

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.