We just got word that the interview we did with Jorge Ramos for Al Punto about our book Bilingual is Better will be airing mañana! Al Punto is Univision‘s Sunday morning show and it airs at 10 a.m. ET/1 p.m. PT.

The interview was taped about two months ago when we went to Miami for the press tour and I had just been wondering when it would air when we got notice that it was happening this Sunday. We can’t wait to see it and we hope you’ll make the time to check it out too!

We loved that Jorge Ramos — whom I worked with while I was a news producer at Univision eight years ago — could identify with the topic of raising bilingual children as he shared his own struggles with his teenage son. Both Ana and I are very happy that the topic of bilingualism will be showcased at the national level thanks to Al Punto. We need to make more people aware of the benefits of being bilingual and why all kids should be given the opportunity to grow up with two or more languages.

UPDATE:

Jorge Ramos is quoted saying: “‘Bilingual is Better,’ de verdad es un buen libro.”

Watch the full interview here:

Curling up with our bilingual niños and a good book can be one of the best daily routines we could have. It allows us to interact with our kids in an educational and fun way. Even better if we’re reading to them en español!

To celebrate the joy of reading and raising bilingual kids, we’ve joined forces with Mamiverse and their new channel Mamiverse Books to host an interactive Twitter party with great prizes!

The main goal of this Twitter party will be to share the benefits of raising bilingual children and tips on how to do it, and, of course, provide prizes of great books (including our Bilingual is Better!) for those attending. We encourage all of  you to join us on  Tuesday, October 16th at 9-10pm EST using the hashtag #MamiverseReads. And in case you are curious about the prizes, check them out bellow!

There will be  five winners who will each take one gift pack with 10 Books and 5 CD’s plus a copy of Bilingual is Better for a combined retail value of $155.65. Check out the tittles of the books below (links included):

• Tia Isa Quiere Un Carro
• My Havana: Memories of a Cuban Boyhood
• Ladder to the Moon
• Starfields
• The Girl Who Could Silence the Wind 
• Pedro and Margarita 5-pack
• Bilingual is Better

About Our Partners

Heritage Language is a publisher of bilingual children’s books. They also have an on line store where you can find the 5 Pedro and Margarita books, as well as handpicked books by other publishers and products for people who love Spanish.

Candlewick Press is a producer of children’s books who is committed to making the world a better place, not just through the books they publish but by their green initiatives and commitment to improving their local community.

Seems hard to believe that it’s been less than three weeks since we celebrated in Miami the launch of our book “Bilingual is Better.”

We finally got the video to share with all of you just how amazing it was to be surrounded with so many friends, bloggers, celebrities and press that were there to support us, the book and, well…you! Yes, you because you are the one making this a movement, a true and bonifide revolutionof parents who are convinced that bilingual definitely is better and that all kids should be given the option.

We need to thank once more Huggies and Fisher-Price for their support and for believing in what we do. Their contributions to making this party a huge success and unforgettable fun are invaluable.

A huge thanks also goes out to Cool-de-Sac, the awesome space in Miami where we had our party, for letting us take over for the day. If you live anywhere close to their locations in Miami and/or Mexico, you must take your kids there!

And now, enjoy the show!

It’s been almost two weeks since Bilingual is Better was released and so much has happened since then. For starters, we spent a whole week in Miami in a packed press tour and hosting an amazing book launch party. While some of the interviews we did were live — including those for CNN en Español — some of them aired last week and we’re still waiting for dates on the others, including the one we did with renowned Hispanic journalist Jorge Ramos for Al Punto.

I honestly can’t wait for that one. As some of you know, I worked as a news producer in Univision for almost five years and going there two weeks ago to be interviewed about the book was like going back home. Not to mention that Jorge made Ana and I feel at ease as soon as we sat with him and confessed he too struggled to raise his teenage son bilingual.

But I don’t really want this post to be about all the different interviews, stories and press appearances we’ve taken part in since the launch of our book. It’s not that I don’t deem them important, but you can find all that info in our Bilingual is Better website or on our Facebook Page. What I would like to do is share with you the overwhelming — and many times surprising — positive response we’ve gotten not only from the press, but also from those parents who’ve already read the book and have told us they were able to see themselves, their children and their specific situation in its pages.

There’s nothing more rewarding than hearing a parent say that they identified with what we wrote and that they found the information in the book useful. But more than anything, we’ve been amazed at how many parents and non-parents alike already know and believe that being bilingual truly is better. I mean, I guess we’ve known for a while — thanks to our SpanglishBaby community — that many  parents are raising bilingual children, but it’s awesome to hear that even those who might not yet be a part of our community are interested in the topic and believe its of utmost importance.

The genuine interest and acceptance of the topic of our book is proving to us that there truly is a new bilingual parenting revolution and we couldn’t be happier!

Click here to watch the story Primer Impacto aired featuring Bilingual is Better: ¿Cómo se logra una educación totalmente bilingüe?

As I shared with all of you yesterday, Ana and I spent all of last week in Miami for our Bilingual is Better press tour, as well as for our super fun book launch party at Cool de Sac. We had an incredible turnout, including several celebrities and tons of little kids who seemed to be having a blast.

In all honesty, it was a bit hard to see all those kids there having so much fun and enjoying la fiesta knowing that our own kids were so far away back home in Denver and Los Angeles. I would’ve loved for Santiago, Vanessa and Camila to be there with us, but it was simply impossible now that they’re all back to school.

The party was a huge succes thanks to our sponsors and today I’d like to share with you some highlights of Huggies® presence at our book launch celebration. We were honored to have two of Huggies® main spokespersons, Jeannette Torres-Alvarez and Poncho de Anda, as guests and in the slideshow below you’ll be able to see a few pictures of them enjoying our fiesta.

But first, let me tell you about the two Huggies® campaigns they were promoting. Early childhood expert and proud mom of two bilingual kids, Torres-Alvarez took the time to explain the features of Huggies® new Facebook app Respuestas de Mamá.

As spokesperson for Pon Huggies® a Prueba, TV personality and father of two, Poncho de Anda shared how the diaper makers want dads to put their products to the test and then tell them all about it.

Thanks to Huggies® for believing in Bilingual is Better and for making our book launch party an incredible event for all!

[Show as slideshow]

I can’t believe our first press tour is done and our Bilingual is Better launch party is over! Ana and I had such a packed schedule last week that it all felt a bit like a blur… until Thursday when the day of the fiesta arrived and we were beyond excited to be able to share our book with so many wonderful people, including a few celebrities and a lot of chiquititos! As well as a ton of media!

The party, beautifully put together by Zikei Events, had two major sponsors and today we’re bringing you highlights from one of them: Fisher-Price. But first let me start by telling you that the venue for the party was, simply put, perfecto! I’m sure those of you who live in South Florida have heard of Cool de Sac because I know that, as a mom of two little ones, if I had something similar near me, I would have a lifetime membership.

If you’ve never been, I think I should just let the photos explain what this awesome space is all about. Suffice it to say that there was not one kid in that place who wasn’t having a blast — especially with the awesome bilingual toys brought by Fisher-Price, which included those from their Laugh & Learn line, as well as the Potty Baby Dora and the Fantastic Gymnastics Dora.

The party was a huge success! We loved seeing so much support from so many people we love and meeting a bunch of news ones who, like us, believe that Bilingual is Better!

We have tons of photos from the event, but we figured the best way for all of you to enjoy them would be with a slideshow. So click away and enjoy!

[Show as slideshow]

We could continue citing more research and studies on the benefits of bilingualism, but the truth is that, to many of us, scientific fact is just the icing on the cake. It helps to justify the struggles we might face, or to arm ourselves when we need to defend our decision to raise our children with two languages to those who don’t really get it. However, for most of us already embarked on the bilingual journey, the initial spark came not from the brain, but from the heart.

The heart of a parent who so desperately needs to feel constantly connected to her child. The heart of a parent who always wants what is best for her child. The heart of a parent who wants to see himself reflected in his child.

For many bilingual households, language is the bridge to the essence of who we are and to the heart of our heritage. In my case, there is no better way for our girl to understand and love where we come from than by experiencing it for herself through our food, customs, family and the language which binds us to all of that: español.

We are now part of a growing segment of the population which has decided to go against the monolingual norm—and even social oppression—to give our children the gift of a second (or more) language, a connection to our heritage and an open door to explore diverse cultures.
The main reasons why we choose to raise bilingual children are usually more personal than not, but all those studies help back up our efforts. If we were just looking to improve our children’s cognitive development, we could easily teach them a musical instrument or sign them up to play on a sports team, but the reasons behind our choice to raise bilinguals usually go beyond simple rationale into the personal and emotional realms.

Ana and I are on our way to Miami today for what is essentially our first book tour, which will include several media appearances as well as our book launch fiesta this Thursday. Although I’m pretty nervous about the week ahead, I am even more excited! The official launch of Bilingual is Better is tomorrow and I must say that all of this feels surreal.

Going to Miami for the launch of our book makes a lot of sense for the obvious reasons, but for me, some of those are purely personal. As some of you know, I lived in Miami for almost 20 years before moving to Denver in 2006. I graduated high school there and I became a journalist there. I also got married there and Vanessa was conceived there. So, for all intents and purposes, going to Miami is going back home. I can’t wait to celebrate the launch of Bilingual is Better with so many good friends — some of whom have known me since I came to the United States when I was a teen!

We have a busy week ahead of us, so we figured the next few days would be a great time to give you a taste of what you’ll find in Bilingual is Better. For the next six days, we plan on sharing an excerpt from each chapter in our book. But before I do that, I wanted to let you know that you can see us live tomorrow on CNN en Español. Here’s more info:

Tuesday, Sept. 18, 2012

** Café CNN @ 8:30 a.m. ET

** Notimujer @ 12 p.m. ET

Excerpt from Ch. 1, “The New Face of America”

When we launched SpanglishBaby in the winter of 2009 and I shared the blog with my family back in Peru, I particularly remember the response from one of my aunts. While she praised the site for its content and design, she genuinely wondered why there would be a need for something like it. After all, a bilingual mother herself, she had raised two bilingual children in Mexico without any of the worries that we seemed to be concerned with in the blog: “Is one method better than the other? How can we make sure our kids learn to read and write correctly in Spanish? What if they refuse to speak the minority language?” The answer to my aunt’s question was obvious. While we rave about the intellectual advantages of raising bilingual children, for many of us it’s also the best way to make sure that our Hispanic heritage lives on.

My aunt didn’t have to worry about this while she was raising my cousins bilingually because they were immersed in Mexican culture by virtue of where they lived. So the determination of Latinos in the United States to preserve our cultural heritage is a foreign concept to her. It’s also something lots of people in this country — who firmly believe that all immigrants, regardless of their country of origin, have to assimilate into American culture — don’t understand and therefore reject. While all Americans, with the exception of Native Americans, were immigrants at some point, most haven’t maintained the culture, traditions or native languages of their ancestors, preferring instead to just blend into the melting pot that is the United States.

But why should we have to choose one over the other? I believe you can be perfectly American and still honor your ancestor’s heritage because if you don’t know where you came from, how can you possibly know where you’re going? Our culture, our traditions, our language are the foundations upon which we build our identity. Speaking Spanish, then, shouldn’t have to mean that you’re being disloyal to the United States — as many people have claimed — it’s just a way to keep the connection to our roots and to our familia back in Latin America alive.

This, however, is something you only understand if you are Latino. But what does that term really mean?

As most of you know already, Ana and I are in the process of promoting our first book, Bilingual is Better, which will be officially released next Tuesday, Sept. 18. To that end, we’ll be in Miami all of next week for several media appearances — details of which we’ll be sharing with you soon in case you’d like to see us — and for our book launch party.

Although nothing would make us happier than to have all of you there to celebrate with us, the party is in South Miami and it’s by invitation only. So we’re taking this opportunity to invite ten (10) of our readers in the Miami/Ft. Lauderdale area and their children to the awesome party we’re throwing at Cool-de-Sac, a super fun indoor playground in Sunset Place.

We will have a book signing and other fun activities para toda la familia! This book launch party wouldn’t be possible without our sponsors, Fisher-Price® and Huggies®, who will have many surprises for you, too!

As a preview, Huggies has invited Jeannette Torres-Alvarez, early childhood expert and proud mom of two bilingual kids, to tell you all about their new Facebook app — Respuestas de Mamás.

Fisher-Price will have on-hand for you and your kids some of their hottest toys of the season to test out and play with, including favorite bilingual ones and their Apptivity line.

The party will take place Thursday, Sept. 20 from 4 to 7 p.m. and all you have to do to be invited is sign up using this form. The first ten (10) people to sign up will automatically receive an invitation as this will be done on a first-come, first-served basis. We’ll also be keeping a waiting list and continue to invite people as the spaces become available once we have a final count.

We’re looking forward to seeing some of you out there so we can finally meet in person!

We also wanted to take this moment to thank all of those who pre-ordered Bilingual is Better on Amazon and have let us know you received your copy through posts on Facebook or on Twitter. ¡Mil gracias! We can’t wait to hear what you think about it!

¡Nos vemos en Miami!