Review of KUTU the Tiny Inca Princess – for Multicultural Children’s Book Day

I am so proud to be participating as a Reviewer again this year for Multicultural Children’s Book Day!  This year I am lucky enough to be reviewing not 1, but 2, beautiful multicultural children’s books. Here is my review for one of the books I was gifted to review for this event.

Kutu the Tiny Inca Princess, written by Mariana Llanos and illustrated by Uldarico Sarmiento, is a wonderfully illustrated bilingual (English and Spanish with a few phrases in Quechua) story of bravery, selflessness, perseverance and self-worth – all set in Cusco, the capital of the Inca Empire. In this book, the heroine, Kutu, is a tiny Inca princess the size of a cob of corn. She is kept in a bag for her own safety. She hates it and wishes every day that she wasn’t so small.

When Kutu’s city is devasted by a drought, everyone runs around trying to remedy the situation, but to no avail. Kutu also wants to help, but everyone tells her not to touch anything for fear she will get hurt. Everyone wants to protect little Kutu. But, courageous Kutu refuses to sit idly by and do nothing, and instead goes out on her own to find the gods for help. She dares to go where no one else will. She finds and asks Apu, the spirit of the mountains, as well as Mama Killa, the moon god, for help – but they are unable to bring the water back to Cusco. Kutu finally finds Inti, the sun god, and begs for help. I don’t want to give away the ending so you’ll have to read the book to find out how Kutu brought the water back to Cusco, ended the drought and saved her people! At the end, Kutu learns to love herself and no longer wishes to be bigger. 

The lesson in this story is such an important one, not just for kids but for adults, too. Everyone has insecurities or something they wish they could change about themselves, but these things don’t have to hold you back. If you are brave, care about others, have confidence in yourself and try your best and persevere – you can accomplish great things! For the little ones, they will see themselves in Kutu and learn that being small doesn’t mean you can’t do big and important things!

As you can probably tell, I love multicultural children’s books and this is the first one I’ve seen about Inca culture and folklore – so it’s extra special. The author weaves a beautiful heart felt story and as an added bonus, includes a few phrases in the Quechuan language to make the story even more authentic feeling. This is a lovely and unique book to add to any library!

Now, for more about MCBD:

Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2020 (1/31/20) is in its 7th year! This non-profit children’s literacy initiative was founded by Valarie Budayr and Mia Wenjen; two diverse book-loving moms who saw a need to shine the spotlight on all of the multicultural books and authors on the market while also working to get those book into the hands of young readers and educators.  

Seven years in, MCBD’s mission is to raise awareness of the ongoing need to include kids’ books that celebrate diversity in homes and school bookshelves continues.

MCBD 2020  is honored to have the following Medallion Sponsors on board

Super Platinum

Make A Way Media/ Deirdre “DeeDee” Cummings,

Platinum

Language Lizard, Pack-N-Go Girls, 

Gold

Audrey Press, Lerner Publishing Group, KidLit TV, ABDO BOOKS : A Family of Educational Publishers, PragmaticMom & Sumo Jo, Candlewick Press,

Silver

 Author Charlotte Riggle, Capstone Publishing, Guba Publishing, Melissa Munro Boyd & B is for Breathe,

Bronze

Author Carole P. Roman, Snowflake Stories/Jill Barletti, Vivian Kirkfield & Making Their Voices Heard. Barnes Brothers Books,  TimTimTom, Wisdom Tales Press, Lee & Low Books,  Charlesbridge Publishing, Barefoot Books Talegari Tales

Author Sponsor Link Cloud

Jerry Craft, A.R. Bey and Adventures in Boogieland, Eugina Chu & Brandon goes to Beijing, Kenneth Braswell& Fathers Incorporated, Maritza M. Mejia & Luz del mes_Mejia, Kathleen Burkinshaw & The Last Cherry Blossom, SISSY GOES TINY by Rebecca Flansburg and B.A. Norrgard, Josh Funk and HOW TO CODE A ROLLERCOASTER, Maya/Neel Adventures with Culture Groove,  Lauren Ranalli, The Little Green Monster: Cancer Magic! By Dr. Sharon Chappell, Phe Lang and Me On The Page, Afsaneh Moradian and Jamie is Jamie, Valerie Williams-Sanchez and Valorena Publishing, TUMBLE CREEK PRESS, Nancy Tupper Ling,Author Gwen Jackson, Angeliki Pedersen & The Secrets Hidden Beneath the Palm Tree, Author Kimberly Gordon Biddle, BEST #OWNVOICES CHILDREN’S BOOKS: My Favorite Diversity Books for Kids Ages 1-12 by Mia Wenjen, Susan Schaefer Bernardo & Illustrator Courtenay Fletcher (Founders of Inner Flower Child Books), Ann Morris & Do It Again!/¡Otra Vez!, Janet Balletta and Mermaids on a Mission to Save the Ocean, Evelyn Sanchez-Toledo & Bruna Bailando por el Mundo\ Dancing Around the World, Shoumi Sen & From The Toddler Diaries, Sarah Jamila Stevenson, Tonya Duncan and the Sophie Washington Book Series, Teresa Robeson  & The Queen of Physics, Nadishka Aloysius and Roo The Little Red TukTuk, Girlfriends Book Club Baltimore & Stories by the Girlfriends Book Club, Finding My Way Books, Diana Huang & Intrepids, Five Enchanted Mermaids, Elizabeth Godley and Ribbon’s Traveling Castle, Anna Olswanger and Greenhorn, Danielle Wallace & My Big Brother Troy, Jocelyn Francisco and Little Yellow Jeepney, Mariana Llanos & Kutu, the Tiny Inca Princess/La Ñusta Diminuta, Sara Arnold & The Big Buna Bash, Roddie Simmons & Race 2 Rio, DuEwa Frazier & Alice’s Musical Debut, Veronica Appleton & the Journey to Appleville book series  Green Kids Club, Inc.

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, Afsaneh Moradian, Agatha Rodi Books, All Done Monkey, Barefoot Mommy, Bethany Edward & Biracial Bookworms, Michelle Goetzl & Books My Kids Read, Crafty Moms Share, Colours of Us, Discovering the World Through My Son’s Eyes, Educators Spin on it, Shauna Hibbitts-creator of eNannylink, Growing Book by Book, Here Wee Read, Joel Leonidas & Descendant of Poseidon Reads {Philippines}, Imagination Soup, Kid World Citizen, Kristi’s Book Nook, The Logonauts, Mama Smiles, Miss Panda Chinese, Multicultural Kid Blogs, Serge Smagarinsky {Australia}, Shoumi Sen, Jennifer Brunk & Spanish Playground, Katie Meadows and Youth Lit Reviews

FREE RESOURCES from Multicultural Children’s Book Day

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