And our February picks are...
The Night Market by Seina Wedlick & Briana Mukodiri Uchendu; Space for Everyone by Seina Wedlick & Camilla Sucre
February Picks -- The Night Market & Space for Everyone
The Night Market: Journey with a young girl as she explores the mesmerizing wonders of a Nigerian night market, where each stall is an adventure waiting to be discovered! The Night Market is here again, and all one girl needs is a bag of gold coins to enter. The market is alive with the sound of hawkers and traders. “A taste of tangy sweetness!” hollers a man behind a towering fountain of lemonade. “I’ll trade you a joke for a coin,” a little boy calls. “Home grown spices!” shouts a granny at a counter. What should the girl buy? But, wait! Do you hear that? It's the sound of an old African drum. Have a turn, then learn to make cards disappear when you shout Abracadabra! When the sun starts to rise and the night market winds down, the girl has one gold coin left—just enough to buy a return ticket to the night market.
Filled with vibrant illustrations, this captivating picture book invites young readers into a world of magic, mystery, and the joy of finding treasures in unexpected places.
Space for Everyone: When Zainab runs down the stairs in the morning, she knows what she'll find: Papa cooking at the stove, Mama pouring tea, and then everyone gathering around the family table. Neighbors stop by, and there's plenty of room for them, too. There are so many beloved rituals that happen at the table: homework and crafts, aunties coming to plait hair, and festive gatherings with neighbors and relatives. But soon boxes start piling up around the house, and Zainab worries about the move—will the rituals feel the same in her new home? In the new house, the family table still feels cozy to sit around. And soon, old neighbors and new friends stop by, and everyone is welcome at the table.
A heartwarming story about how difficult it is to move, but how connecting with community makes everything better.
Meet Our Creators:
Author: Seina Wedlick
Seina Wedlick is a Nigerian-American children’s book author who enjoys writing diverse stories infused with her culture and traditions. Seina is the author of Naming Ceremony, The Night Market, & Space for Everyone. She is passionate about early literacy and equity in education. She believes in the importance of diversity, culture, and traditions which she incorporates into her books. She enjoys amplifying diverse voices as well as lending her time to support the creative arts at events catered towards socio-economically disadvantaged elementary schools. Learn more about Seina & her work on her website, here.
Illustrator of The Night Market: Briana Mukodiri Uchendu
Briana Mukodiri Uchendu, recent recipient of the John Steptoe New Talent Award, is an illustrator, visual development artist, and a first-generation Nigerian-American. Her work is inspired by her interests in folklore, film, and animation and her passion to highlight voices that usually go unheard. Briana is a graduate of Ringling College of Art and Design where she majored in illustration. She is the illustrator of The Talk by Alicia D Williams, which received a Coretta Scott King Author Honor. Her other works include: We Could Fly by Rhiannon Giddens; & Soul Step by Jewell Parker Rhodes & Kelly McWilliams. Learn more about Briana & her work on her website, here.
Illustrator of Space for Everyone: Camilla Sucre
Camilla Sucre is a Caribbean American artist from Trinidad, born in New York and raised in Baltimore. She studied at MICA (Maryland Institute College of Art) and has a passion for many things including film, TV, and of course illustration. She is the illustrator of one of our favorite picture books, Granny Came Here on the Empire Windrush by Patrice Lawrence.
Below you will find our monthly craft; printable activity sheets; and our community outreach activity where we will be exploring our own night markets. For more books to read this month, don't forget to check out our supplemental book lists:
This is also the perfect opportunity to read books celebrating Black joy and Black creators in honor of Black History Month. Check out that booklist here.
We really hope you enjoy this month of book club as we continue to keep our nationwide book club free & accessible for all. Each book is intentionally handpicked with each activity and outreach curated to engage and enrich our youth's experiences. Through these diverse and inclusive reads, working and playing together, and giving back to their own community, we hope to instill empathy, understanding, & kindness in our kids. Be sure to sign up for our book club to receive a virtual storytime reading of The Night Market & Space for Everyone read by our co-founder, Kara Cecchi, directly to your inbox. Email us at hello@mosskidsbooks.com for this month's story.
Let's Craft: shaving cream art hearts
We're bringing back one of favorite crafts -- shaving cream marbled art! We know, we know -- it can get messy but* we have a plan to streamline the process & hopefully prevent any mess. This month, we really wanted to lean in on the idea of community highlighted beautifully in Space for Everyone. Throughout the story, we see family & friends surrounding our protagonist family with so much love. We see the children understandably worried about that support & love continuing at a new, unfamiliar home. In the end, it does. Family & friends make their way to the new house. And, with another knock at the door, come new neighbors & more incredible people to add to their community. We want to celebrate the love & support we receive in our communities by creating a heart to gift to them (& one for ourselves, we know the kids are going to want to keep one of these).
It is our hope that children participating in this activity in schools will partner with a neighboring class to gift their hearts. A way to say "we appreciate you" & yes, this craft is very much Valentine's Day-coded too. If children are doing this in public spaces, ie the library or drag story hour, we are encouraging them to gift them to people there in those spaces. Neighbors who have come to public spaces to utilize the resources available, who I am very sure would LOVE to be surprised with a gift, a token of acknowledgment. If children are participating in book club at home, this is a perfect opportunity to gift to your actual neighbors! This is a celebrate and educate teachable moment where, as parents, we can discuss our need for community, our need to be kind, a light in a world filled with so much dark, so much hate. A gift to our youth to open the door to a more neighborly society. Maybe, if we see each other as people again, no one's rights will be taken away. Maybe, our neighbors won't be taken away. Just maybe, we can be a catalyst to create change in our own communities.
Materials:
Shaving cream (foam, not gel)
Liquid food coloring or liquid watercolors
Shallow pan or tray
Cardstock paper
A tool for swirling (a bamboo skewer, toothpick)
Old giftcard or piece of cardboard to remove shaving cream from paper
Wipes or paper towels for clean-up
Pencil
Scissors
*NOTE: we will be putting $ store table cloths down on each table station to streamline cleanup, as well as a small cardboard box to deposit the excess shaving cream from the giftcard you scrap off.
Modifications:
Easy: May need to set-up with hand-over-hand assistance for swirling, scraping. Cut out heart shape for child. Allow child to sign own name on back.
Moderate: Allow children to create, may need occasional assistance, including reminder to use two hands when cutting & to turn paper, not scissors.
Hard: Allow child to create with no modifications.
Instructions:
1. Gather materials. Fill your tray with a shallow layer of shaving cream. Just enough to coat the bottom of the tray is fine.
*Note: With a large group, create two stations -- (1) shaving cream station & (2) scrapping station. These two stations may need adult assistance.
2. Spread evenly. Remind yourself, & the kids, that this is NOT whipped cream.
3. Squirt several drops of each chosen color onto the surface of the shaving cream. Use bamboo skewer/toothpick to swirl colors around in shaving cream.
4. Place paper on top of shaving cream and pat lightly, just so the paper makes even contact with the shaving cream. Pull your paper off and lay flat on the table or a separate tray.
5. Scrap off all of the shaving cream with squeegee, old giftcard or a piece of cardboard.
*Note: The best part is the paper and coloring will be DRY as soon as you get all of the shaving cream off. So, no mess and no drying time!
6. Have child draw two hearts on the marbled paper with a pencil. Then, cut out the hearts with scissors. Encourage them to write their names on the back of both -- (1) so we can keep track of whose art is whose & (2) to let the recipient know who created the heart that they will be gifting.
7. Feel free to use the same tray again. You can add more colors or simply use what is in your pan as long as there is color to pick up.
*Note: The food coloring WILL stain hands, but will come out after a few generous washings with soap.
Remember: We encourage you to request your local library purchase the title for your community to share. It's easy to request. Head to your local library's website. On the site, there will be a "Suggest A Title" tab (see below). Just add these books The Night Market / Space for Everyone by Seina Wedlick & submit. You can even share this blog with them. After reading or listening, we encourage you to please review the books on goodreads, on Amazon, & on your social media platforms. Reviews will help get the word out about these incredible books!
printable activity sheets:
Penguin Random House library marketing team (our favorite!) has created activity kits with discussion sheets for educators and activity sheets for readers. The Night Market packet includes a "Make Your Own Jellyfish" craft & a "Draw Your Own Night Market Stall". Space for Everyone packet includes a "Before/After Discussion" worksheet, a "Family Table Collage" activity, & a prompt to "Draw Memories" in the given box. Download the activity kits below:
Community Outreach: visit a night market
This book reminds me so much of My Rows and Piles of Coins by Tololwa M. Mollel and with our very well-known love of Book Fairs, we have decided this is the perfect opportunity to teach money management & math concepts while hosting our own Night Market. We will be setting up mini booths (we're using these to create booths, classrooms may already have them) with various goods they can purchase using gifted gold coins (we're using these as coins). Our plan is to dim the lights & add twinkle lights to immerse ourselves into the Night Market. We will have a booth with samples of hot mint tea/hot chocolate paying homage to Space for Everyone. We will have a booth with thrifted children's books. We will have two other booths with little trinkets from the $ store. Each kid will be gifted a small bag of 6 coins & they have to stop to purchase something at each category of booth (beverage, book, trinket) -- that way they aren't spending all their money on the little trinkets. They need to save 1 coin in order to purchase a ticket back from the Night Market -- a great way to showcase the importance of saving money. The beverage sample station will be 2 coins, the book station will be 2 coins, & the trinket stations will be 1 coin. Each child will need to be able to count out the coins to purchase.
This doesn't need to be extravagant. This is a way for us to celebrate & educate with our kids -- learning about money management & experiencing a Night Market is the perfect way to teach about diversity around the world, to be curious, & to witness a cultural experience outside of their own. To raise kinder kids.
supplemental books:
We're also reading The Last Stand, Sari-Sari Summers, Maribel's Year, & Meena's Saturday to celebrate & educate on markets, moving, & memories around the table!! There are a few great resources for some of our supplemental books, check them out below:
^stamping craft idea for The Last Stand inspired by The Pumphrey brothers' art using produce!
Please do not skip the community outreach activities. We truly believe this outreach activity is a vital part of childhood & an opportunity to raise kind kids. Teaching our youth the importance of celebrating & educating cultural experiences & old friends / new neighbors. To learn the importance of understanding the diversity of our world & of our own communities. To learn kindness, empathy, acceptance, & understanding of everyone.
YAY! Another MOSS Kids Book Club pick, craft, printable sheets, and community outreach activity. We would love to see all the hearts & markets your kids create. You do not need to share kid's faces. Please be sure to tag us on Instagram @mosskidsbooks & use #mosskidsbookclub. Sharing about MOSS Kids Book Club is a way for your community to learn more about what MOSS Kids has to offer & for them to know about brand new diverse & inclusive books. By doing so, we can reach & help more kids across the country. We'd also love to hear any feedback you may have, please email us at hello@mosskidsbooks.com. We appreciate you all so much for taking the initiative to bring kids together to read diverse books & hopefully learn vital life skills to help make our world a better place.
sign up for our book club
Want our blog with a video storytime sent directly to you email each month? The perfect way to connect with your kids, get friends together, a classroom activity, or even a library storytime.
Don't Forget: We Have Local moss kids book club locations in eastern north Carolina!!
Tuesday, 02/11 at 1030am: MOSS Kids Book Club at Wilson County Public Library in Wilson
Wednesday, 02/12 at 7pm: Picture Books on Tap at Larema Beverage Co in Rocky Mount
Saturday, 02/22 at 10am: MOSS Kids Book Club with Drag Story Hour at Boxyard RTP, with queen reader Stormie Daie
We're continuing our SCHOOL POP-INS! We have plans to visit 4 local elementary schools across two counties bringing our MOSS Kids Book Club right to them & then donating the book to their school library for all to enjoy. We're hoping to expand & add more later this year!
We're continuing Lunch Bunch! We will be popping in every week this month to a local school to read with a small group of third graders, to diversify their bookshelves (they get to keep the books!) & to develop a love for reading. Our Lunch Bunch pick is -- The Kids in Mrs. Z's Class: Emma McKenna, Full Out by Kate Messner!!