Chicago Latino Book & Family Festival

The Latino Book and Family Festival is back to bring the message of the power of reading to Latino families across the United States. The first of this year's events is being held in Chicago this weekend on March 28 and March 29th.

The featured authors in Chicago include personalities like Raul de Molina ("La Dieta del Gordo"), Maria Marín ("Mujer sin Límite"), Susan Orosco ("Latino Power"), and Xavier Serbia.

The event is free to the public and takes place at the Unity School in Cicero, IL. Doors are open from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturday and from 11 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on Sunday.

Leer es Poder is one of their key messages. What a powerful thing to learn at any age.

LinaLuna- musica for the wide green world

I wish I could say that we listen to Spanish language music in the car, but- thanks to the backseat dvd player- when we're driving somewhere as a family, what's mostly playing is an animated movie or a dvd of Plaza Sesamo.  Where we do listen to Spanish language music frequently is at home.  Specifically, we have dance parties in the kitchen and great room, sing and dance while we cook, and, once the weather's nice, leave the door open and enjoy music outside from the jardin or terraza.

Now that spring's here, we're rediscovering our favorite nature-themed Spanish-language musica- Lina Luna's self-titled debut, which I stumbled across purely thanks to my iTunes recommendations (and which you might have heard of recently, too, as it won a Latin Grammy for Best Latin Children's Album!).  LinaLuna is a young Colombian psychologist who had the dream to create a cd of great children's music. 

She writes on her website: "Lina Luna es un proyecto que nace de mi trabajo como psicologa y del gran amor y respeto que siento por los ninos y su mundo."

What our kids love about the music is how fun it is to listen to and how it lends itself to acting out the lyrics and dancing along.  Their favorite songs are "Planeta Tierra" and "El Sol," though they enjoy listening to any of the eight upbeat tracks available.  What I love about LinaLuna is not the nature vocabulary or the musical immersion it offers, though I do like that; what I LOVE is that it gives off such a happy, positive vibe without ever being sentimental or didactic.  It's FUN to listen to, even for adults.  Even for the 20th time in a row!  You can't help yourself but crank it up and head outside to feel the sun on your skin.  

And for the rainy days, you can still head over to LinaLuna's official website and enjoy the brightly colored animated music videos with your nenes!  

I'm Just Like My Mom Giveaway

Last August, Aurora interviewed Jorge Ramos on his new bilingual children's book, Me Parezco Tanto a Mi Mamá, Me Parezco Tanto a Mi Papá. The interview includes a variety of questions on the inspiration behind the book, as well as more personal questions about Mr. Ramos' life.

This week, Spanglish Baby has posted a new interview with Jorge in which he discusses his views on bilingualism and Spanglish. They are also giving away a free autographed copy of the book! So what are you waiting for? Andale - go check it out here!

The Woman Who Outshone the Sun

The Woman Who Outshone the Sun/La mujer que brillaba aún más que el sol is a bilingual book that has been a part of my classroom library for several years. The book is based on a poem by Alejandro Cruz Martinez, a Zapotec poet who dedicated himself to collecting the stories of his people.

This Mexican folktale retells the legend of Lucia Zenteno, a beautiful and mysterious woman who symbolizes the forces of nature and epitomizes that which is considered “different”. Lucia’s beauty outshines the sun. She is glorious to behold, as she glides through the story accompanied by butterflies, flowers, and an iguana that walks by her side. She seems to be at one with nature; while she bathes in the river, the fishes and the water flow in and out of her hair. She is womanly, sensuous, and natural. The elders respect and admire her, but others in the community do not understand her ways, and mistreat her.

The dignified Lucia does not react to their hurtful words. Instead, she goes about her business, keeps to herself, and walks with her head held high. This infuriates some of the people, who misunderstand her and suspect that she is ill-intentioned. They treat her with even more cruelty, and succeed in driving her out of the village. What the villagers do not expect is that when Lucia leaves, the river and the fishes go with her. The people soon realize how much they have lost when Lucia leaves.

This book has many teachable points. It is a perfect springboard for a discussion or study of natural resources. Water is, in fact, a “main character” in this story. Children can begin to understand how precious it is, through this book. Respect and acceptance of that which is different are themes in this story as well. I also like for my students to take a close look at the illustrations by painter Fernando Olivera. The artwork complements the book perfectly in its depictions of the animals, the villagers’ clothing, and the haunting Lucia who flows from one page to the next, full of life.

This book is useful and enjoyed by my bilingual students. Both English and Spanish text are on each page, accommodating independent or shared reading. Recently, I had the pleasure of inviting my father to my classroom as a guest reader. He read this book to my students, and was struck by its beauty.

Book Drive Update

A quick note to say gracias to all of you who have written to tell me you are sending donations to our book drive for Peruvian Hearts. I was especially touched - and very, very thrilled - when one amiga sent me the copy of her Amazon.com bill (she's having them shipped directly to Peruvian Hearts) and I began reading all 15 titles she had ordered, including the entire Harry Potter series!

I was equally delighted when Jennifer Manriquez of Bilingual Fun, told me that they were promoting the drive as well, and sent me a copy of her newsletter. So I thank her very much for joining us, too.

And just a reminder - there's only a little over three weeks left in the book drive, which ends April 12th.

For those of you who are just joining us, or if you are just now getting a moment to think about it, here is a link describing in full our small book drive. Peruvian Hearts is such a fantastic organization and does a lot of great work for children living in poverty, especially those in orphanages. Your simple contribution of ONE book in Spanish for children ages 6 and up, can truly change a young child's life by inspiring them... motivating them... educating them. Don't think one book from you could do it? Stop a minute and think about your childhood. Was there any one book that you distinctly remember? I bet there is. I can think of a handful just sitting here. So please consider giving this small, simple donation.

Thanks, Everyone!

~Monica

Poemas con sol y son

My mother read to my brother and me every day when we were little, but I don’t remember her reading to us much in Spanish. We lived in the U.S. back then, and children’s books in Spanish were probably hard to come by. Whatever the reason, she read to us mainly in English.

This I do remember: When she did read to us in Spanish, she read poetry. I don’t remember more than a handful of the poems themselves, but I can still hear the rhyming verse, the soothing lilt of my mother’s voice, and vividly recall the cozy bedroom where we read at night. Many years later, when I was in high school, my mother gave those books away. She donated them to the local school in our town in Costa Rica, a tiny, rural school that was desperately in need of books. I was crushed. It felt like a cherished part of my childhood had been lost.

It’s strange, then, that I didn’t rediscover children’s poetry until my twins were two. When I happened upon that first book of poetry, I soon began calling it my “magical book.” Whenever I pulled it out, tantrums miraculously stopped, crying fits were quelled, replaced with giggles and cries of, “¡Otra vez! Otra vez!” (I felt a special kind of mother’s guilt as I left my children’s bedroom one night while one of them cried repeatedly, fat tears rolling down his cheeks and book of poetry in hand, “¡Quiero más poesías!”—even though it was way past his bedtime and I suspected I was being manipulated.)

Though other books have been outgrown or fallen out of favor, our books of poetry are here to stay. We now own no fewer than twenty of them (because once you start, you can’t stop). But even though they’re all fun books, only a few of them qualify as magical.

One of them is Poemas con sol y son, a book I love for many reasons. I’m partial to anthologies, and this one includes poems by various authors from thirteen countries. The book is divided into sections, one section per country, and the name of the country is printed on each page.

In this book you will find poems by Rubén Darío and Gabriela Mistral—but only a couple of them. (I’d only heard of a few of the authors before, so I liked the short bios at the end of the book.) There’s a little of everything, and it makes for a great mix. Some of the poems are wistful, like the one about the little boy following the moon, or the one about the abuela who tells her grandchild stories of her childhood and then begins to weep. Some are fun, or just plain silly—there’s a message for Jonah (from the whale, of course), a poem that explains why penguins wear coats and tails instead of blue jeans, and a sweet conversation between a ladybug and a snail in the spring. Some of the poems you can practically dance to.

My boys were two when we discovered this book, but it would be appropriate for children many years older as well. This book will grow with them--the vocabulary is deliciously rich and some of it is obviously over my preschoolers’ heads (and often over my head as well). I love that they will be exposed to such beautiful language, language that I can’t just come up with on my own. I read to my children in Spanish because I realize it’s such a valuable teaching tool, and because I want learning Spanish to be fun, not a chore. This book makes it easy. I’ll admit that my favorite poems are the ones that take words and play with them, shape them until they’re sometimes barely recognizable but the meaning is still clear. Take this excerpt from Palabrota, by Argentinean author Silvia Schujer:

Una palabra
palabritera
despalabrábase
por la escalera.

¡Pobre palabra!
se apalabró
palabrincando
cada escalón.

Or this excerpt from La bicicleta, by Eugenio Montejo of Venezuela:

La bici sigue la cleta
por una ave siempre nida
y una trom suena su peta…
¡Qué canción tan perseguida!

Some of the poems provide food for thought—did you ever stop to think that maybe the H is silent because she was tired and fell asleep? And then there’s my favorite poem, which is also the shortest one in the book, by Colombian poet Jairo Aníbal Niño. The title asks, ¿Qué es el gato? and the answer reads, simply:

El gato
es una gota
de tigre.

My only regret is that I didn’t buy the hardcover edition, because we’ve been so hard on our paperback that it’s held together with tape. Still, I’ll never get rid of it. My kids may want it someday.

Pon, pon: A jugar con el bebé!

I love going back home for a lot of the obvious reasons, but also because, as an avid reader, it gives me a chance to stock up on books in Spanish. Now that I'm a mami, I've added children's books to my list. The selection tends to be much more varied than back in the States--especially now that we live in Colorado! I know there's always the option of getting books online, but there's nothing better--for me, at least--than to spend time browsing a bookstore, just picking up whatever looks interesting.

I should clarify that by "home" I usually mean Perú because even though I left many years ago, I still feel like that's the one place that will always pull me more than any other. Having said that and because my extended family and mis suegros y cuñada live in other Latin American countries, my search for books in Spanish is not limited to Perú. I have the fortune to visit Puerto Rico at least once a year and Mexico every two years.

It was actually during our last trip to La Isla del Encanto this past Christmas where I found the most wonderful collection of children's books which I immediately purchased for my daughter, Vanessa (and for myself, too!). The series is called "Colección 9 Pececitos" and it includes five books full of colorful illustrations with titles such as Los Tres Reyes, Pon, pon: A jugar con el bebé! and ¡Vamos a Jugar! All the books are supposed to be suitable for kids in their preschool years all the way to tweens. And, although my daughter might still be too young for some of them, she will eventually grow and be able to understand and appreciate them. So, it was totally worth the buy!

Vanessa loves to sing and it warms my heart to hear her tiny voice, especially when she sings tunes that take me back to when I was a child. It is so important for us to pass on all the traditional songs, nursery rhymes and finger plays both her father and I grew up with which is one of the reasons I enjoy Pon, pon: A jugar con el bebé! so much. The book, written by Josefina Barceló Jiménez and illustrated by Mrinali Alvarez Astacio, is described as reflecting la cultura puertorriqueña. But the reality is that although the wording might be different, I bet most of us--no matter which Latin American country we hail from--have heard a version of most of these songs. Check them out for yourselves:

Pon, pon

(Sing this while taping your index finger on the palm of your hand)
Pon, pon, nena pon
el dedito en el pilón.

Tortitas

(Sing this while clapping your hands softly)
Tortitas, tortitas, tortitas de manteca
a mamá que de galletas.
Tortitas, tortitas, tortitas de tostones
a papá que da calzones.
Tortitas, tortitas, tortitas de casabe
a mi hermano que no lo sabe.
Tortitas, tortitas, tortitas de pan y queso
a abuelita que me da un beso.

La Linda Manita

(Sing this while waving with your hand)
La linda manita
que tiene el bebé
qué linda, qué mona,
qué graciosa es.

My daughter's face lit up when I opened up the book and I started singing this last song for her. She had been to Puerto Rico before and had heard her cousins, grandparents and aunts sing it to her, so it was a moment of remembrance and recognition. We hadn't sung it in a while, maybe because she's a little older now, but the fact that her vocabulary grows exponentially every single day, allowed her to sing along which made the whole experience even more enjoyable.

All of these songs and finger plays are part of our cultural heritage. Raising bilingual children is more than just teaching them Spanish. It's about our music, our foods, our traditions and our holidays--among other things. We are committed to making this a reality and invite you to join us at SpanglishBaby as we explore these aspects and all others of this fantastic and sometimes challenging journey of raising our children to become bilingual and bicultural.

René Colato Laínez- New Contributor

Hola Latin Baby Book Club Friends,

I am excited to be part of this great blog. My name is René Colato Laínez and I am a children's book author. Every month, I will bring new bilingual titles, interviews, poems y muchas cosas más.

My childhood heroes were Cri Crí-el gallito Cantor and El Chapulín Colorado.

¿Quién es el que anda aquí?
Es Cri Crí, es Cri Crí

-¡Oh! ¿Y ahora quién podrá ayudarme?
-¡Yo, el Chapulín Colorado!

My favorite favorite book is Don Quijote de la Mancha. I still remember the first line of the book:

En un lugar de la Mancha, de cuyo nombre no quiero acordarme...

But I will always recordar this blog. Look for my contributions the second week of every month.

Saludos,

René Colato Laínez

March BOM: José-Luis Orozco's Diez Deditos

Diez Deditos
& Other Play Rhymes and Action Songs from Latin America
By José-Luis Orozco
Illustrated by Elisa Kleven

The LBBC’s recommendation for February’s Libro del Mes, is José-Luis Orozco’s Diez Deditos.

As Lydia mentioned in the previous post, sharing songs and rhymes is super important for helping children build literacy skills and learn cultural norms. In our opinion, one of the best books on the market for teaching Spanish folksongs and finger plays is Diez Deditos. It contains 34 play songs and finger rhymes that are popular in the Spanish-speaking world. Orozco has carefully selected pieces with lively tunes and engaging story lines. Each song includes the musical arrangement to help teachers find the right tune and rhythm. But what I like best is that the book also has simple diagrams/illustrations for each to show the accompanying actions.

It is really hard to choose just one piece to share with you, so instead I narrowed it down to two. Both are fun little finger plays with important lessons. The first is called Mi Familia:

"Este chiquito es mi hermanito.
Esta es me mamá.
Este altito es mi papá.
Esta es me hermana.
Y este(a) chiquito(a) y bonito(a) soy yo."

Sweet, easy for children to relate to, and most importantly, it begins teaching masculine/ feminine concepts for Spanish words. As with all the songs in the book, there is an English translation.

The second piece is called Cinco Pollitos. It is funny and has great rhyming and rhythm structure.

"Cinco pollitos tiene mi tía.
Uno le canta,
Otro le pía.
Y tres le tocan la sinfonía."

The illustrations are colorful and full of action. Elisa Kleven is the illustrator for Abuela and Isla by Arthur Dorros, as well as Hooray, a Piñata, which Dana reviewed here.

Parents and teachers cannot possibly go wrong with this book. It is certainly a must have for any bilingual family’s library.

If you would like to buy your own copy of Diez Deditos, please click here. Or you can follow the link in our sidebar to the LBBC’s on-line store. We have both new and gently used copies available.

Fun with Songs, Rhymes, and Games

What was your favorite nursery rhyme as a child? Do you remember the songs or lullabies that your parents or grandparents sang to you at bedtime? Sharing songs, rhymes, and games with young children is important for two reasons: first, these activities offer a great opportunity to start building literacy skills. Secondly, the lyrics, melodies, and rhythms are part of a child's cultural heritage; they are a special link to past and future generations.

Parents can make these activities a part of their daily routines even if they don't feel comfortable reading. If a mother remembers the songs that her mother sang, for example, singing those songs to her child is a wonderful way to continue a family tradition, and to expose the child to language and rhyme.

Colorin Colorado has compiled a number of our articles that offer an overview of some of these activities in our new section, Getting Ready to Read: Family Activities. The articles are available in English and Spanish, and include many ideas that parents can start using at home right away.

Also, be sure to take a look at our Meet the Author section, and the clips from our new video interview with Lulu Delacre, an acclaimed Latina author and illustrator who has published numerous children's books. In these video clips (also available in Spanish), Lulu discusses the ways that songs and games can help build early literacy skills (a great feature for parent literacy workshops!).

She also describes the inspiration behind her beloved characters, Rafi and Rosi, and reads aloud from Rafi and Rosi: Carnival! And don't miss the clips where she discusses how she got started publishing collections of Latin American nursery rhymes, and the importance of maintaining connections to one's heritage - another great segment to use in parent discussions about reading! (The full interview will be available online in the spring.)

The LBBC and Peruvian Hearts' Library Project

Ana Dodson is an amazing and inspiring young woman.

Born in Cuzco, Peru, Ana was adopted as a baby and brought to America. In 2003, she and her mother decided to return to Peru for a visit. Before leaving, she collected books in Spanish and teddy bears to take to a few of the orphanages that they had planned to visit. One in particular, The Hogar Mercedes de Jesus Molina, deeply touched Ana. And her visit there prompted her to establish Peruvian Hearts, a non-profit organization dedicated to enhancing the lives of children living in poverty in Peru through nutrition, education and healthcare.

She was only 11 years old.

Today, Peruvian Hearts has successfully implemented a number of improvements and programs to help both the children at the Hogar and in other Peruvian towns. Their goal is to make the Hogar a model for other orphanages. Ana and her organization are making or have already made a lot of improvements to the orphanage building, such as starting construction of a new dining room and modern kitchen, a covered laundry area, and the completion of modern bathrooms so that the girls no longer have to share one outdoor shower.

Peruvian Hearts also raised enough money this past year for their Education Fund, which they used to send all 19 girls at the Hogar to local Catholic schools in order to provide them with the opportunity to go to college, if they so choose.

The organization does not limit its aid to just the Hogar. It is also dedicated to helping other Peruvian children by supporting a Children’s Lunch Program through local schools. These lunch programs provide daily multi-vitamins and warm lunches to over 500 children living in surrounding Peruvian towns.

For a complete list of Peruvian Hearts programs, check out their web site here.

To me, this is an amazing and inspiring young woman and family. And so, to support Ana Dodson in the pursuit of her dreams, the LBBC for the next 6 weeks will be hosting a small book drive for Peruvian Hearts. The books will be part of their Library Project. So between now and April 12th, we ask all of our wonderful readers to please consider donating a new or very gently used children’s book in Spanish. Bilingual books will be accepted; however, they must contain FULL TEXT in Spanish (and English.) Spanish-only books are preferred, though, for obvious reasons.

To reduce the cost, you can mail your book donation as "media mail" from your local post office. Please address your donation to:

Peruvian Hearts - LBBC Book Drive
24918 Genesee Trail Road
Golden, CO 80401

We know that globally, these are hard economic times, and because of this many non-profits around the country are suffering. We’ve chosen Peruvian Hearts for a couple of reasons: Ana Dodson’s selflessness and compassion at such a young age, and to support this young Latina who is trying to improve the lives of other young Latinos in a country suffering much worse poverty than ours – and succeeding. In addition, one book is a small, relatively inexpensive donation, whose value may be powerful and life-changing.

Por favor, consider helping a child through your simple gift.

~Monica

Entra a Mi Mundo: A Gift for Mothers and Their Babies

From Mi Cielito Lindo...

"For mamis of young children that are looking for ways to help develop their children’s imagination and stimulate their curiosity, there are books on the market that center around activities for toddlers… but there is nothing like Come Into My World/Entra a Mi Mundo. Published by Lunita Company, the book contains 365 creative games and activities for children ages newborn to 5 years.

You can use the book by simply flipping through it and picking out activities, but for those mamis who like a little more structure, it is divided into months with a supplies list at the beginning of each and a space for writing down notes at the end. Told from the perspective of a child, each month contains one activity per day that will help him or her discover the world around him and/or develop her inner creativity.

For example, August 4th says…

Let’s make an Emotion Mobile. Draw or cut out faces

expressing different emotions, such as happiness, sadness, anger,

fear, and frustration. Let’s talk about these feelings. Can

you hang the mobile(away from my reach) for a

few days so that I can look atthe expressions

and explore the faces?

The authors, Lina Maria Cuartas and Annabel Lugo Hoffman, both have extensive experience with teaching children. Cuartas, who is also the book’s illustrator, is a devoted advocate for underprivileged children, and has taught young children in the U.S., Colombia and in remote villages across the Amazon rainforest. Her first activity book for school-age children, Crezcamos Juntos! (Come Grow With Me!) sold over 25,000 copies in Colombia. Co-author and attorney, Hoffman is also a trained volunteer promoting early literacy for young children. She speaks to audiences throughout the Dallas, TX area about how to prepare children for school.

In addition to beautiful illustrations, the book contains a lovely poems and an Invitation from a Child at the beginning. The book has an English version and a Spanish one. Here is an excerpt from Entra a Mi Mundo…

Regocíjate en la certeza de que cuando estoy jugando,

estoy aprendiendo. Cuando bailo y canto, estoy aprendiendo

sobre la armonía y el espacio. Al pintar con mis deditos, estoy

aprendiendo sobre colores y formas que desarrollan

mi creatividad. Cuando toco diferentes texturas, estoy

aprendiendo que el mundo está lleno de nuevas

experiencias que deleitan mis sentidos. Cuando pruebo

nuevas comidas, estoy aprendiendoa ser flexible

y curioso acerca de la vida.

This book is certainly an asset to any family looking for ideas on how to connect with their children and develop their senses of curiosity and exploration.

To learn more about this book and other products by Lunita Company, you can check out their web site here