SB Finds : Books + Libros

Like any little girl her age, my 5-year-old daughter loves to draw. Like any little brother, my 2-year-old son loves to copy her. And so they can sit there for a nice long while surrounded by paper and crayons, markers, pens and pencils. She drawing and making up her own little books and him scribbling. I’m not a very artistic person, but I do love art. Although my husband doesn’t really draw, he’s been a photographer and videographer for moreRead More ...

Just in time for MLK day and following the Fall 2011 release of the new children’s book, Chocolate Me, I had the opportunity to participate in a bloggers’ panel with actor and author Taye Diggs. Diggs, along with childhood friend Shane Evans, created this autobiographical story about a black boy who feels out of place in a class full of white children. He is preoccupied with his looks until his mother reassures him by telling him that he has “cottonRead More ...

One of the best parts of raising bilingual and bicultural children is that from the get go they are exposed to more than just one culture. Plus, because both my husband and I have family outside the United States, my children have had the opportunity to travel and experience how people live in other countries. So I was intrigued when I saw a set of three books entitled Nuestra Comunidad Global (Our Global Community) on Scholastic’s Club Leo catalog and IRead More ...

   After Papá Noel has come and gone – 12 days later, to be exact – there is another round of celebration yet to arrive. El Día de los Reyes, celebrated in various ways in several Spanish-speaking countries, is the day that commemorates the arrival of the Three Wise Men. Food, letter writing, and parades abound as children wait for them to appear. Because there are so many different Reyes traditions throughout the Latino world, a great way to teachRead More ...

It’s here again…finalmente! The day our kids eagerly await all year: la Navidad. The kids are out of school, overloading their bellies with treats and snooping around the house for presents. While you’re preparing for feasts and family time, remember to take a moment each day to read to your bebés and teach them what Christmas means to you. As with every holiday, we are making the search easy with a list of great bilingual book recommendations from La TienditaRead More ...

Recently, I was asked to join a select group of bloggers as first official members of a program called the Scholastic Parent Circle. As such, I’ll be reviewing one book from Scholastic’s Club Leo selection every month, as well as giving a copy away. I’m pretty excited about this opportunity because I’m always looking for quality and fun books in Spanish and we all know how hard those are to come by. We already have a nice collection of SpanishRead More ...

 It’s that time of year already! Time to celebrate a beloved American tradition of food, family, and football. Though it may seem that Thanksgiving is all about stuffing ourselves with casseroles and seeing out-of-town relatives, we must remember the lesson underneath all the holiday bustle: be grateful for the things and people around you. Regardless of nationality, language, or culture, we can teach our children to recognize the fullness of their lives and the history of giving thanks. Below areRead More ...

Too many people associate the phrase “early reading” with elementary school. In fact, an affinity for reading begins developing much earlier than that. Exposure to how words on the page become spoken words are valuable even in infancy. This exposure is all the more crucial for Spanish reading skills, since many of our children will have less reinforcement of Spanish literacy than of English literacy in school. In an English-majority culture, we are always fighting the proverbial uphill battle toRead More ...