BOOK DESCRIPTION/REVIEW

How does cereal with orange juice or a pretzel covered cake sound?

Marisol McDonald and the Clash Bash (Marisol McDonald y la fiesta sin igual in Spanish) is the story about a unique little girl named Marisol McDonald, her unusual birthday, and her doting love for Abuelita. When Marisol’s birthday approaches, she wants nothing more than to have abuelita by her side. Unfortunately, Marisol’s grandma is all the way in Peru and bringing her to the United States can prove to be challenging. Yet nothing can stop Marisol, her occurrences, and her determination for making her 8^th birthday party the best one yet. Will Marisol decide the theme of her birthday on time? Will Abuelita make it? I cannot give that away, but you will for sure fall in love with the girl and her ‘Chullo’ (Peruvian hat).

Did I mention that this book is filled with amazing vocabulary in BOTH English and Spanish? And finally, in times when teaching children that being unique is O.K., this book could not have exemplified the subject better than it did. Being one-off a kind is really awesome!

BOOK DETAILS

Title: Marisol McDonald and the Clash Bash (Marisol McDonald y la fiesta sin igual)

Author: Monica Brown

Spanish Translation: Adriana Domínguez

Illustrator: Sara Palacios

Language: English and Spanish

Publisher/Year: Children’s Book Press, an imprint of Lee & Low Books Inc. (New York,      2013)

Ages: 4+

ISBN: 978-0892392735

Hardcover: 32 pages

Price: $15.19

Where to Buy: amazon.com 

The Giveaway!

We’re giving away one copy of Marisol McDonald and the Clash Bash to one lucky winner. All you have to do is leave a comment telling us yours our your niños favorite birthday memory. Then, enter the Rafflecopter below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Editor’s note: We continue with our 31 Days of Reading in Spanish. Check out the book review below and don’t forget to enter our weekly GIVEAWAY of $100 worth of books in Spanish!

BOOK DESCRIPTION/REVIEW

Because my parents were immigrants, there were many typical “American” things I was not exposed to when I was growing up. For example, I did not get to experience classic movies or story books. Now that I am a mom, it is very important to me to expose my son to the classics. Luckily, I have found some classic books in bilingual editions. I am so thrilled that I am able to read these books to my son en español!

As you may know, The Very Hungry Caterpillar is a story about a caterpillar’s metamorphosis into a beautiful butterfly. La oruga eats and eats until he doesn’t feel well, and then he eats a beautiful green leaf and he feels better. It is an excellent opportunity to talk to kids  about how eating so much food makes it feel sick, but a green leaf (healthy food!) makes the oruguita feel better.

In addition to providing an opportunity to talk to kids about food and healthy eating habits, the book touches on themes of transformation and growing up. It is also an excellent way to learn about the days of the week and counting.

    BOOK DETAILS

    Title:  La Oruga Muy Hambrienta/The Very Hungry Caterpillar

    Author and Illustrator: Eric Carle

    Ages: 3-5 years

    Publisher:  Philomel

    ISBN: 978-0399256059

    Price:  $9.39 on Amazon.com

    Website: www.eric-carle.com

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]

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?

I have to admit I never, ever thought that it would feel this good! Touching it, feeling how soft and silky the cover feels, flipping through the pages and seeing my picture in the back flap just made all those endless hours and weekends at home trying to put this together make it all worth it.

A huge ¡GRACIAS! to our publishers, Bilingual Readers, for putting out a beautiful design and just a quality book, and for holding out hands so patiently throughout this whole process.

“Bilingual is Better” is starting to ship to some stores, but won’t be officially released until September 18. You can be ahead of the game and secure a copy on preorder via Amazon or Barnes and Noble and you will get it days after the official release.

We also have some amazing interviews and international media appearances coming up soon! To stay up-to-date make sure you’ve Liked the SpanglishBaby and Bilingual is Better pages on Facebook. You can also chat with us on Twitter and follow the hashtag #BilingualisBetter for the latest.

Yay! ¡¡A celebrar!!

Vanessa is such a curious child and she’s definitely much more interested in all topics related to science than I was at her age — or ever, really. I’m not sure where the fascination comes from, but I’m making sure to nature it (although I know very little about the subject) because I would never want to influence her with my own likes and dislikes.

Luckily, her father LOVES science too, so they get to spend a lot of time talking about insects, weather, animals and all things nature. But her absolute favorite is astronomy. Anything related to the space, the stars and the planets will make her drop whatever she’s doing and pay attention. Needless to say, she was thrilled when we got this month’s Scholastic Parent Circle book: Mi primera enciclopedia del mundo from Club Leo because the first few pages are specifically about space, the moon, satellites, space shuttles and such.

She was so excited to see all that information that she asked if she could read it in the car after I picked the book up from our box. Since she learned how to read this year in kindergarten, she tries to read anything and everything she sees. Even though I was driving and I couldn’t really see what she was reading, I gathered it was super interesting because of the tone of her voice, which pretty much could be described as astonishment at all she was learning! When I finally got around to seeing what she was reading, I was surprised at her excitement. This children’s first encyclopedia is full of colorful images, tons of interesting descriptions and easy-to-understand information.

As a parent raising bilingual children, my favorite part of Mi primera enciclopedia del mundo is that it allows me to expose my children to vocabulary they wouldn’t normally be exposed to. I mean, while we speak Spanish at home all the time, it’s not like we necessarily talk about science, geography and history all the time. One of the biggest worries that parents of bilingual children have is that our children’s vocabulary in Spanish won’t be as extensive as it’ll be in English since they get schooled in the latter, but books like Mi primera enciclopedia del mundo can definitely help in this arena.

The Giveaway

We’re giving away one copy of Mi primera enciclopedia del mundo to one lucky winner.

To enter, all you have to do is leave us a comment telling us how you teach your children about science and nature.

That’s all you have to do to enter this giveaway. If you want to up your chances at winning, then this is how you can get additional entries (only after you’ve completed the step above):

**Please leave a separate comment for each so we can count them and avoid mistakes.

1. Subscribe to receive blog updates and subscriber-only content via email and leave us an extra comment letting us know you did so or that you’re already a subscriber. Make sure to leave the comment using the same email you subscribed with.

2. Follow us on Twitter and tweet about this giveaway including a link to the post and @SpanglishBaby. Copy the link to the tweet in an additional comment on the giveaway’s post.

3. Like SpanglishBaby on Facebook and join a thriving community of parents.

This giveaway ends Thursday, June 14 at 11:59 p.m. EST and is open to everyone with a U.S. mailing address over 18 years of age. Check out the Giveaway Rules.

I don’t know if it’s because she’s been exposed to both English and Spanish since she was born, but my daughter has always shown an interest in other languages. Last year I started exposing her to French by using the Little Pim line of products. One of her favorite things is a poster that shows how to say “hello” in different languages, which is exactly the topic of Say Hello! the Scholastic Club Leo book I decided to review this month.

The book tells the simple story of Carmelita and all the people she meets in her neighborhood on her way to her abuelita’s home. All the people are from different countries and so they say hello to Carmelita in their own language. There’s the lady at the French bakery, the neighbors from Kenya, the owners of a Japanese restaurant and so on. Vanessa was quick to point out that she already knew how to say “hello” in three languages: Spanish, English and French.

I like that through the story my children can not only learn how to say “hello” in different languages, but it also gives me an opportunity to talk to them about other cultures and peoples of the world. The colorful illustrations really help me do this and I love that they portray a diverse neighborhood because my children are not really exposed to anything like that.

I think this is the perfect book for those children growing up bilingual, but even more so for those who are not so they can be introduced to the notion that there are tons of other languages spoken throughout the world. The book is in English, but has Spanish phrases embedded in it — as well as a pronunciation guide of all the “hellos” at the end of the book.

The Giveaway

We’re giving away one copy of Say Hello! to one lucky winner.

To enter, all you have to do is leave us a comment telling us how you teach your children about other cultures and languages.

That’s all you have to do to enter this giveaway. If you want to up your chances at winning, then this is how you can get additional entries (only after you’ve completed the step above):

**Please leave a separate comment for each so we can count them and avoid mistakes.

1. Subscribe to receive blog updates and subscriber-only content via email and leave us an extra comment letting us know you did so or that you’re already a subscriber. Make sure to leave the comment using the same email you subscribed with.

2. Follow us on Twitter and tweet about this giveaway including a link to the post and @SpanglishBaby. Copy the link to the tweet in an additional comment on the giveaway’s post.

3. Like SpanglishBaby on Facebook and join a thriving community of parents.

This giveaway ends Wednesday, May 9 at 11:59 p.m. EST and is open to everyone with a U.S. mailing address over 18 years of age. Check out the Giveaway Rules.

Yesterday was one of those days that I really, really wished Ana and I didn’t live so far apart. I woke up to the news that though it won’t hit shelves until Sept. 4, our book, Bilingual is Better, published by Bilingual Readers, is already available for pre-order on Amazon! And all I wanted to do was run out and give Ana ¡un abrazo fuertísimo!

After all the sleepless nights and the many weekends spent encerrada in the library, I really don’t have the words to tell you how this feels! Seeing the cover of our book on Amazon made this all the more real! We are extremely proud of the work we’ve done and really can’t wait until we can finally share it with all of you.

The official title of our book is Bilingual is Better: Two Latina Moms on How the Bilingual Parenting Revolution is Changing the Face of America and, modestia aparte, we’re super happy with how it came out. With chapters on everything from why bilingual truly is better to identity and assimilation, our aim was to make sure there was something for everyone.

Oh, and we’re super happy to finally be able to publicly thank the awesome Jeannette Kaplun, of TodoBebé and Blogs de Mamás, for writing the perfect forward. ¡Mil gracias, amiga!

Since you are all part of this revolution, we can’t do this without you, ¡para nada! As first time authors we are barely learning what it takes to get a book on the shelves of bookstores. According to many articles we’ve read and advice we’ve received, Amazon pre-sales are extremely important since this is mostly what determines how many actual paperback prints get ordered by the likes of Barnes and Nobles.

If you are planning to one day buy the book, we urge you to consider taking advantage of the pre-order price of $17.99. Not only will this get the book in your hands as soon as it comes out, but you will also send a loud message to bookstores letting them know there’s a huge need for this book to be largely available in print.

Here are some easy ways you can send a loud and clear message that Bilingual IS Better!

1. Pre-order the book on Amazon HERE.

2. Share the link to pre-order Bilingual is Better on Amazon with your friends on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, by email, forums, etc. There are various share buttons on the book’s Amazon page to make it super easy for you. You can also just click and tweet the phrase below!

Example tweet: Pre-order SpanglishBaby’s book “Bilingual Is Better” on Amazon! Get it now & be part of the #bilingualkids revolution! http://bit.ly/HLXwvM

3. Click the LIKE button on the book’s Amazon page.

4. Do you have a blog or website? Share the news about the Bilingual is Better pre-order with your readers! If you have an Amazon Associates affiliate account you can add it to your store or share the affiliate link and be compensated for any sales through your link!

We can’t thank you enough for your support over the years! We’ve accomplished this together! ¡Gracias!

{Photo credit: Creativity103}

From our family to yours: Happy New Year 2012!

We hope the new year brings new beginnings and continued success in your efforts to raise bilingual and bicultural children!

We thank you for your support and can’t wait to see what 2012 has in store for all of us. For starters, we’ll be launching our much anticipated (at least by us) redesign, which we are sure you’re going to love because SpanglishBaby is going to be so much easier to navigate.

2012 also means the publication of our first book, which should be out in the Fall and which we’re furiously working on as we speak so we can meet the mid-January deadline!

We can only hope that more and more people realize and accept the fact that being bilingual and bicultural is an asset, something to be proud of and something that needs to be promoted and supported.

¡Feliz Año Nuevo 2012!

Con mucho cariño,

Roxana + Ana

{Ana and I in San Diego}

Ana and I have a big announcement to make today: SpanglishBaby will soon be a book! We’re writing un libro!

A couple of months ago, we were approached by Bilingual Readers – a bilingual publishing house based in Spain which we highly respect and whose bilingual children’s books we’ve reviewed in the past – to see if we’d be interested in taking SpanglishBaby to yet another level by publishing a book about raising bilingual and bicultural children in the United States today. Our response was a resounding: ¡claro que sí!

SpanglishBaby turns 2 1/2 years old tomorrow – yes, we published our first post Feb. 9, 2009 and you can click here to read it), but it feels like we’ve been at it for much longer. Maybe it’s all the hours and hours of work we’ve put into it or the amazingly supportive community we’ve become. And, although Ana and I had talked about the possibility of one day turning the blog into a book, we didn’t think the opportunity would arise only two years after we launched.  It´s set to be published on Fall 2012 and we are set to deliver!

Ana and I got to spend the last few days together in San Diego. A rarity we fully took advantage of by talking not only about the future of SpanglishBaby but with an incredibly productive breakfast meeting to organize ourselves as we venture into the exciting realm of writing our first book. We were able to figure out a lot of things, but other things are still pending.

So, as we jump into this new adventure, we hope you won’t mind that, along the way, we may ask for your opinion on certain topics. We’d like for this book to be an extension of the blog and we know that without your input, it would make no sense. If you have any particular ideas about what you’d like to see in the book or just questions you think need to be answered to make this bilingual and bicultural journey a bit easier or more realistic, you know how to reach us!

Raising bilingual and bicultural children is not something we only write passionately about, but also something we believe in wholeheartedly. This book represents another vehicle through which we can continue to spread the value and need behind raising our children so they can survive in this global society without forgetting sus raíces. Nothing could make us happier! We surely hope you feel the same way!

UPDATE: The book, Bilingual is Better, is now available for pre-order on Amazon and Barnes and Noble!