If you’re searching for some great new titles to add to your kids’ bookshelves, look no further than multilingual publisher Barefoot Books. El fandango de Lola by Anna Witte is a rich, beautiful tale about a girl named Lola, who finds her mother’s tacones and becomes fascinated with the idea of learning to dance flamenco. Her Papi teaches her to dance in time to surprise everyone at her Mami’s birthday party.

Niños and niñas alike will love this story because it teaches a subtle lesson about sibling rivalry (Lola is jealous of her older sister, Clementina, before discovering dance) and it includes fun rhythmic wording to go along with Lola’s dance steps.

In true Barefoot Books style, the illustrations are gorgeous. The book also comes with a narrative CD, which is a great option for car rides or letting your little ones do story time alone.

For more from Barefoot Books, check out their Facebook, Twitter, and blog.

The Giveaway!

We are giving away a copy of El Fandango de Lola with a CD to one lucky winner! Just enter with the Rafflecopter widget below.

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Like me, my daughter Vanessa is fascinated by maps, atlases and geography in general. And like most first-graders, she’s addicted to the iPad and it’s endless apps. So I was intrigued when I was approached by Barefoot Books — one of my favorite multicultural children’s book publishers — regarding a new app they recently launched together with Touch Press – the creators of some of the best apps out there.

I knew the Barefoot World Atlas app would be well done, but I honestly didn’t expect it to be so amazing. I mean, I have so many good things to say about it that I don’t even know where to begin. For starters, it’s available in Spanish, English and Catalan, which is a HUGE plus in my book.

As soon as the app finished downloading*, Vanessa took the iPad from me and started exploring it. There was no need to explain how to work it because, like most kids her age, she’s growing up in a world surrounded by tablets and smartphones. Even so, the Barefoot World Atlas is extremely easy to figure out. The first thing Vanessa did was spin the 3D globe with a swish of her little finger. She then zoomed in and started pressing icons here and there.

I decided to sit back and watch her play with the app and all I could hear was “Ooooh” and “Aaah” and “Cool!” as she explored the world.

The app is loaded with endless information regarding each country, including sound effects, animated icons and multimedia features, which allow kids to learn more about many particular features of each country. The written and spoken Spanish is flawless and the possibilities for learning are never ending.

It has quickly become both Vanessa and Santiago’s (he’s only 3, but he copies everything his big sister does) favorite app and it’s the first one they’ll go to when allowed to use the iPad.

This is the perfect app for parents with kids in dual language programs to reinforce what they’re learning in social studies. But it’s even better for parents who, like me, are raising bilingual children by teaching them Spanish at home. The Barefoot World Atlas app is available for the iPad, the iPhone and iPod touch for $4.99 at Apple’s iTunes store.

(*A word of caution: the Barefoot World Atlas takes a while to download because it’s a pretty large file, but it’s totally worth all the space it takes)

THE GIVEAWAY

Two winners will each receive a code to download the Barefoot World Atlas app for free (you need to have an iPad, iPod touch or iPhone) and a copy of the Barefoot World Atlas book.

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As multicultural families, we all know that travel is an important part of raising well-rounded kids. When we can, hopping on a JetBlue flight is a great way to expose them to other worlds. But even when we’re too busy to leave home, we can take the niños on plenty of aventuras just by opening a book.

For the second year, JetBlue is showing its support for literary adventures through its Soar With Reading campaign. Along with PBS Kids, JetBlue is promoting reading by giving books to children with limited access to them. To help, all you have to do is go to the Soar With Reading site, tell JetBlue the title of your favorite children’s book, and they will donate a book to a deserving child. Sharing your favorite will also enter your name in a sweepstakes to win cool prizes!

To further endorse this worthy cause, JetBlue and PBS Kids are hosting events in public libraries and community centers around the country this summer. I was fortunate enough to attend last week’s event in Orlando. My kids got to see PBS characters Hooper and SuperWhy!, listen to a story reading by Orlando Magic player Glen Davis, and dance along to a performance by Steve Songs.

Amalia, Isaiah, and Yahaira with Hooper at the Orlando Public Library!

Taking our little ones to fun events focused on reading is just one more way to encourage them to be readers for life.

After you have visited the Soar With Reading page to help in the book donation process, enter our giveaway for a chance to win a JetBlue travel backpack chock-full of summer reading goodies for your family! It includes a JetBlue activity packet in both English and Spanish, two fantastic stories from Barefoot Books (one in English and one in Spanish), and some fun PBS Kids items such as pencils and a bookmark.

The Giveaway

We’re giving away one JetBlue travel backpack filled with summer reading materials to one lucky winner.

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