As author of “An Honest Boy, Un hombre sincero” — the only children’s book on the life of Cuban legend José Martí — Magdalena Zenaida evokes a sense of cultural pride by embracing biculturalism. We sat down with her to chat about bilingualism, raising proud, bicultural identities and what José Martí means to her.

How do we interest our children in bilingual literature and why should we?  

I think a great way to interest children in bilingual literature is to look at it from the same perspective we do literature in a single language. What I mean is that I prefer introducing language as a function of the story rather than the other way around. Children are drawn to stories more than dictionary-style translations. I think learning a story they love brings a language to life the way memorizing a song does.

For me, I thought it was important to write “an honest boy, un hombre sincero” with the Spanish poetry interspersed throughout the story with translations of the poetry to follow. This was partly to showcase Martí’s poetry and how it fit into the lyrics of Guantanamera, but also to reflect the way I think a lot of bilingual children interact with language at home.

How do we make language learning and history fun?  

I think language and history learning are always at their best when there is a cultural context around the subject and how it relates to the child. One of the great things about Martí was that he recognized how important it was for Latin American, and all children, to have the base of knowledge about ancient Western civilization that was popular at the time, but he saw it as only a starting point. He thought that the internal pride and development that could come from knowing the legends and roots of one’s own land would create greater ways of thinking and connecting with each other. That’s why in this really simple way, I like the idea of talking about Martí, who was a complex political thinker, and connecting him to children who might know about Pitbull’s Guantanamera, or parents who listen to Celia Cruz’s, or grandparents who experienced Martí’s same feelings of exile. It’s a way of connecting.

How does the history of Latin America influence our children’s future across the United States?

This is a complex question with so many answers. I would say that most parents tell me they are interested in teaching their children Spanish because “x” percentage of the country will speak Spanish one day. But I think that really separates language as a skill the way someone would learn a math formula, rather than seeing it as a living language, a part of a growing culture. Latin America is still a place of amazing natural resources and the United States is still, despite its difficulties, a place of professional opportunities. I think Martí was very forward thinking in seeing that these two things were interdependent instead of a one-way relationship, that it wasn’t a producer-consumer relationship even in the early 20th century that would benefit all people. I think the more children are exposed to culture and history of those surrounding them, it breeds a caring about their environment and those further afield and how those things can be integrated.

{Image courtesy of Vanessa Bell}

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

I first found Frida on a used books table in a farmer’s market when my girl was barely months old and SpanglishBaby wasn’t even a reality yet. I immediately grabbed it with a feeling of having scored a precious gift. Camila is now almost 6 years old and this book has been a constant in our nighttime reading for years and today we grab for it with joy to celebrate Frida Kahlo’s 106th birthday!

Jonah Winter’s Frida is a colorful peek into the life of Mexico’s iconic and most renowned female painter, Frida Kahlo. In a poetic fashion suitable for kids of all ages, Winter manages to condense in 32 pages the troublesome and alluring life of Frida — from her childhood, her accidents, her lifelong ailments, her love, but most of all the creativity, imagination and passion that she had for life.

Even though it may seem difficult to talk to children about such tough topics as the ones Frida lived through and which ultimately were the catalyst for her life’s work, the perfect marriage of text and illustration (by Ana Juan) convey the story in such a magical way that kids are easily enthralled and are left wanting to know even more about Frida.

BOOK DETAILS

Title: Frida

Author: Jonah Winter

Ilustrator: Ana Juan

Age group: 4 to 8

Publisher/Year: Arthur A. Levine Books; Tra edition (February 1, 2002)

ISBN: 0439331188

Price: $4.89 on Amazon.com

BOOK DESCRIPTION/REVIEW:

There’s very few things I like more in the world than traveling, that’s why any book related to traveling, geography or other countries and cultures is a must in our home.

While The Worldwide Adventures of Rohini Molini series is in English, I wanted to review it because of its message about teaching children that there’s more to the world than just their town. Rohini Molini is a 5-year-old girl who goes on short adventures to a different country in each book together with her dog Bugle and her little neighbors Jackson and Florence. So far they’ve visited Australia, Spain, India and Thailand. Turkey is next.

The one about Spain has Rohini and her friends learning about Flamenco dancing, the difference between a siesta and a fiesta, and churros con chocolate caliente (yum!). Each book in the series includes additional illustrated information about each country as well as a map, which gives you the opportunity to expand on the geography & cultural lesson.

I highly recommend taking a look at their website for lots of activities that go with the books and so that your kids can vote on which country Rohini & her friends should visit next.

BOOK DETAILS:

Title: The Worldwide Adventures of Rohini Molini: A Short Trip to Spain

Author: Lea & Tim

Age group: 3 to 6

Publisher/Year: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform/Sept. 2012

ISBN: 978-1480001244

Price: $8.16 on Amazon.com

Website: rohinimolini.com

THE GIVEAWAY!

We are giving away one set of four books of The Worldwide Adventures of Rohini Molini to ONE lucky winner! All you have to do is leave us a comment telling us which country you think the authors should include in the series. Then enter the Rafflecopter below.

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I grew up in Des Moines, Iowa, where the only place I heard Spanish was within the walls of my high school. And what’s more, I took French! Eventually, I learned Spanish in college and then as a student in Venezuela and Cuba.

While my first job out of college didn’t require Spanish at all, my second did. I worked at a nonprofit that partnered with public schools to provide literacy programs to elementary-aged kids. My students were almost all children of immigrants from Latin America. I saw firsthand how so many of our students were operating in bilingual, bicultural worlds. Kids translated for their parents, for one another, and their teachers. They did it with such ease, navigating between cultures and languages.

We were a literacy program, so naturally, I wanted to find books that resonated with my students’ experiences. I researched and came up with the usual suspects (“Too Many Tamales” anyone?) or nothing at all. Certainly not enough to fill afternoons every day. Over time, I started discovering new books here and there — but never had a great way to find them.

Fast forward to a little over a year ago. I was eight months pregnant and searching for a book to show my son what life would be like as a sibling. In this case, I wanted a book that showed a multiracial child, to reflect our own family. We couldn’t find the right book, until months later, when it was too late. It was out there, but incredibly hard to find.

When I searched on the typical sites, the substance was lacking, but there was no shortage of ads for hair care products. And while I do love Kinky Curly for my daughter’s hair, it wasn’t going to help explain big brotherhood to my son! So, my husband and I decided to solve our own problem and create Zoobean, a site that handpicks remarkable kids’ books and catalogs them in a way that makes sense to parents.

When we created our sets of tags, we did this with all kinds of kids in mind. Our own kids and their experience growing up in a multicultural family (and world). And also the other children we know and love, like the kids I worked closely with in my earlier career. How did that work? We made tags like “English and Spanish,” “multicultural,” “multi­ethnic backgrounds,” “Latino or Hispanic,” and many more. We are just getting started, and trying to make it possible for parents to find books about a wide variety of topics that also reflect their kids and families.

Geena Davis says about girls in media, “If you see it, you can be it.” I believe this completely, for all kids. That’s why it’s critical that we make it easy to find the books that reflect our own families and children. If they see it, they can be it. There is the problem of there not being enough representation of Latino kids in children’s books, which we hope to help improve longer term. Now, we have to make it easy to find the books that are out there and get them into the hands of families that want them most!

What are your favorite bilingual books? If we don’t have them in the catalog already, please recommend today!

Jordan Lloyd Bookey is Chief Mom at Zoobean, a site that curates and catalogs remarkable kids’ books, handpicked by parents. Before she decided to make the leap as an entrepreneur, Jordan served as Google’s Head of K-12 Education Outreach, where she was responsible for the company’s worldwide programs that expand access to technology and computer science kids. Jordan is originally from Des Moines, IA and now lives with her family in Washington, DC. You can usually find her at 1776 DC, working on Zoobean with her husband and Chief Dad, Felix, or exploring the city and trying to keep up with her children, Cassius and Florence.

For almost two years now, I’ve been taking Vanessa to a monthly Spanish children’s book club started by a bilingual mom I’m lucky to call my friend. While I’ll never get tired of raving about the benefits of joining a Spanish-speaking playgroup, once kids get a bit older and start school, it’s not as easy to participate in weekly meetups for the kids to be immersed in Spanish. Enter the idea of a Spanish children’s book club.

If your kids are already in school and you want a more structured way of exposing them to literacy skills in Spanish, a book club is the way to go. But how do you go about doing something like that? In my case, I got really lucky because my friend Sisi — who worked 16 years as a bilingual kindergarten teacher and is one of the original members of our Spanish-speaking playgroup — was the one who came up with the idea and took the lead. Truth is, though, that you don’t have to be a teacher to do something similar.

Here’s a look at how our book club is structured: Sisi starts by reading the book and interacting with the kids at all times by asking pertinent questions and making sure everyone understands new vocabulary. Once she’s done with the book, she goes through a series of reading comprehension questions regarding the characters, the setting, the problem, the solution, etc. to make sure every kid got the story. Then, there’s always some kind of activity or craft related to the theme of the book. Sometimes it involves food and the kids love that. Before we’re done, all kids get a copy of the book and a stamp in their “passport” so they can keep track of all the books they’ve read.

I highly recommend starting something similar for your bilingual kids and so I wanted to share some ideas on how to get started:

1. If you already belong to a Spanish-speaking playgroup, talk to the other moms to see if maybe one of them is interested and has the abilities to lead a book club for children. Maybe you can help organize all the little details, but someone else can be the “teacher.”

2. Keep in mind that for a Spanish book club to be successful it should be for a smaller group of kids who are a bit older and are already fluent in Spanish.

3. On that note, choose a book that you feel all kids will understand, but that hopefully will teach them new vocabulary words. The theme of the book should lend itself to fun activities and a lively discussion.

4. The club shouldn’t last more than 1 1/2 hours, including snack time and an activity that includes movement.

5. You can alternate who’ll be hosting the club every month to make it easier on everyone.

6. A fun way for kids to keep track of the books they’ve read is through a passport. Kids really enjoy the challenge of filling it up with stamps.

¡Buena suerte!

In my father’s grand tradition of celebrating Thanksgiving in April — or whenever else he felt like it — he and I didn’t celebrate my birthday in May. We did celebrate it with cake or maybe a family gathering. But I always got my big gift, the one I looked forward to all year, in July.

Back in the eighties there was only one place to find books in English in Costa Rica — where I grew up. It was called simply The Bookshop, and it was small, unassuming, and staffed by friendly English speakers. And every year, in July, they had a huge sale. My father would take my brother and me there for our “birthdays” and we would emerge, after what seemed like hours, with piles of books. Money was never an object, and I understand now how important it was to my father for us to have access to books in our minority language. It was the place that introduced me to Enid Blyton, Madeleine L’Engle, James Herriott, and countless other authors I remember fondly from my childhood.

I realize now that I had total control over what my boys read when they were smaller — and I always, always read to them in Spanish. Books I found in Costa Rica, Eric Carle and Dr. Seuss translated into Spanish, and my favorite, lots and lots of children’s poetry, some of which I remember my own mother reading to me when I was little. For quite a while, in fact, they were literally a captive audience — their cribs were crammed in a room so tiny that I could sit between them and read to them that way.

Once they were able to read on their own, though, that all changed. They simply did not want me to read to them out loud anymore, period. They were giddy with their ability to pick out books and read them themselves, without my help. For the most part, I’ve been letting them, and I spend their reading time with them while reading myself.

The books they choose, however, are almost invariably in English. While they read, they chitchat about what they’re reading and we talk about the books in Spanish. But I’ve recently realized two things when it comes to reading around here. One, even though we have shelves full of books, my boys can be pretty predictable and they read the same ones over and over. Two, they’re outgrowing their collection of books in Spanish and I haven’t done anything about it. 

So this spring, I’m taking action. I’m going to try to be merciless and get rid of the picture books they no longer want to read. I’ll also be more selective when it comes to book shopping — I won’t buy books just because they happen to be in Spanish, as I’ve done in the past. And, most importantly, my boys need to be involved, and it needs to be fun and exciting for them, as it was for me.

We’ve started to do some online shopping together, and although it’s not quite as fun as browsing in the bookstore, it’s working out really well. I can also target their narrow interests. For Primo, it’s snakes, sharks and math; for Secondo, it’s airplanes and trains. After a quick Google search the other day, Primo and I found a beautiful hardcover book, Serpientes y Reptiles. We ordered it together, and counted down the days until it would arrive together. Secondo and I just tracked down a book called Aviones Comerciales, which he is beyond excited about.

My sleepy toddler who listened raptly to the poems of Gabriela Mistral and Carmen Lyra has been replaced by a gangly first grader, who shoves his book in my face so that I can fully appreciate just how scary the picture of the black mamba is. But he’s reading, and he’s reading in Spanish, so I’ll take it.

{Photo by sean dreilinger}

My son Isaiah LOVES books, much like Roxana’s daughter. However, he is a bit younger (just turned 5) and is still learning the fundamentals of reading in English. Since starting at a Montessori preschool last fall, he has made leaps and bounds in his reading abilities and has a good handle on the basics. In addition to his English homework and the reading exposure he gets at school, I read to him in Spanish and English every day. I’m a little stumped, though, about helping him cross the barrier into a full-blown Spanish reader as he has done in English.

We have a bit of a reversed situation from many of you, or at least those of you who use the mL@H method. As I’ve previously explained, my son gets most of his Spanish exposure at his father’s house, and has therefore decided that, at least conversationally, English is his language of choice at my house. So we speak mostly English except with extended family, listen to almost exclusively Spanish music and radio, and read in both languages. I don’t have quite the advantage that some may have in terms of using Spanish vocabulary on a daily basis with Isaiah and then finding it in our books. If he’s not getting the Spanish reading reinforcement at school, how can I indicate to him that reading in Spanish is just as important/interesting and is not going to be a chore?

Other than the encouragement factor, my big roadblocks are the logistics. Montessori schools don’t use phonics as some of us may have learned them. They use a multi-sensory approach, and that’s how Isaiah has grown to understand how letters make sounds, sounds make words, and so on. I can’t exactly replicate his Montessori practice in Spanish at home, so will teaching him the traditional phonics-only way serve to confuse him? I’m unsure of whether I should wait until he has completely mastered English reading before I confuse his sounds with another alphabet.

I have experimented a bit with simple Spanish board books to see if he adjusts his vowel sounds, etc. when he knows the book is not in English. I’ve found that he first tries with the English sounds, though (such as “eh” for E instead of “ay”). That’s when I start to wonder if I’m doing more harm than good…i.e. replacing the sounds he needs to know for school with the Spanish phonetics or just risking making reading a frustrating endeavor.

I’d love to have some feedback about your experiences with preschoolers or kindergarteners and learning reading in two languages. Although I know it can happen simultaneously, would there be a benefit in waiting until Isaiah is at a higher level of English reading before I have him dive into reading to me in Spanish?

{Photo by alex ragone}

And what better way to do that than through books! Some of the ones on this list are strictly about Valentine’s Day, while others are just about feelings and love in general. Find them, along with tons of other great ones, in La Tiendita. (FYI, the first one on the list is my FAVORITE children’s book about amor!)

Fonchito y la luna by Mario Vargas Llosa

El Día de San Valentín/Valentines for Vinnie by Greg Roza

Un día del amor by Sujatha Lalgudi

El Primer San Valentín de Clifford by Norman Bridwell

On Valentine’s Day/Día de San Valentín by Judith Mazzeo Zocchi

El ladrón de estrellas by Begoña Ibarrola

El dragón frío by Ana y Andrés Guerrero

Check out all the Valentine’s goodies we have for you here and our Valentine’s Pinterest board is really cute too!

There’s so much floating around the internet about New Year’s Resolutions this time of year! I don’t tend to make resolutions, but I do love setting a few goals for myself and getting myself organized. As for my boys’ bilingualism, we’ve been chugging along the status quo has been working for us, but I thought I’d take stock of things this January and maybe formally set a few goals for myself in this area, too.

So here you have it, my list of resolutions for the year:

1. Number one is obvious:  keep talking to my boys in Spanish, all the time. They are 7 now, and I still speak to them — and they answer me — in Spanish.
2. Rule number one notwithstanding, I need to limit how much I speak to them in English. I do this in two specific kinds of situations. One, I’ll occasionally speak to them in English when we are around other English speakers in order to be polite, and I do so perhaps more than I should. This year I will try to be more mindful of this, because I’m aware of the fact that it can be a slippery slope and it isn’t always necessary. The second reason I sometimes speak to them in English is much more non-negotiable. My boys, like many autistic children, are often better prepared to deal with certain situations if they can use a script, or a stock question or answer. In the past year, I’ve often found it necessary to provide them with different scripts. I don’t want to leave any room for ambiguity by providing the answer in Spanish and letting them interpret it into English, I want to give them the exact words they should use. We often tweak our scripts together and they suggest good alternatives, but they’re always in English.
3. Keep up with Spanish school on Saturdays. This is an easy one, for now. They’re in their second year there, and still love it. They even think it’s special they have Spanish school and their other classmates don’t.
4. Keep speaking Spanish to the dog. A quirky Boston Terrier puppy is the newest addition to our family, and I speak to her in Spanish. Since I do, I’ve noticed the boys do, too…it’s funny hearing them use the same diminutives, commands and regañadas with her that I do. I don’t know that I’d recommend going to the extreme of getting a dog to motivate your children to speak a second language, but it’s a nice side benefit.
5. Keep my technology close. I’m hoping to find a few good, age-appropriate TV shows in Spanish, though the boys are much more into video games this year. The iPhone is still one of my closest allies. I have a great bilingual dictionary on it and look up vocabulary for my boys when they ask me how to say something in Spanish, several times a day. Their interests are becoming so specific that I often can’t come up with the words they are looking for — piranha shoal, pyroclastic flow — on my own.
6. Take advantage of more cultural events in our area. We’ll see how I do with this one — again, autism makes it kind of tricky. Last year I came home with a flier for a Hispanic Heritage Month festival and excitedly showed it to the boys. Music! Singing! Traditional foods and games! After I finished telling them about it, Secondo said, simply, “No quiero ir. Habrá mucha gente y demasiado ruido.” And when I think back to the days of speech delays and unexplained tantrums and remember feeling like I would give anything if only they could tell me what was wrong in any language, well, I’m just so blown away and happy that he can express himself so clearly that I respect his wishes. Sometimes they can be persuaded if I prepare them in advance (our recent ice skating outing, for example, was a huge hit), but I tend not to push the issue.
7. Find more good books in Spanish. We had such a wealth of wonderful picture books in Spanish when they were going through that stage, but they’re moving on to chapter books now, and though we have many translations of English classics, I’d love to find more books written in Spanish for older children. And although they’re really into nonfiction, I feel like none of the books we have in Spanish can compete with the many beautiful National Geographic books of facts and atlases we own.
8. Give myself some credit. We all should. I know it’s easy to think that I’m not doing enough, that there’s always something else I could do to ensure my boys bilingualism, that I know people who are doing more. But I’m doing what I can, and so far, so good.

{photo by Esparta}

Before I share about the creative people and organizations that put these wonderful little bilingual books together I must say that my two-and-a-half bilingual baby girl approves! They are perfect for my vibrant explorer who is busy putting all the words she knows in Spanish (with some English) together because the illustrations are not only unique, but strategically placed to provoke conversation. For instance, in the Colores Everywhere! book the colors white and black are on side-by-side pages. On the left page there is a big white, three tiered cake and on the left there is a black dog. The text next to the cake reads, Te gusta comer pastel?/Do you like to eat cake? and on the right it reads, Claro que si/ Oh, yes, I sure do! My nena looks for those two pages and replies to the dog, “No perro es mi pastel!/No, dog, that is my cake!”

Now, the reasons why I, a bilingual mother raising a bilingual baby, love the books. First and foremost, I love the way the code-switched titles reflect our local central Texas linguistically diverse community. Here, in central Texas, we speak in English and Spanish (sometimes within a single utterance) just like the titles of the books! Secondly, I appreciate the effort the San Antonio Museum of Art and the San Antonio Public Library Foundation have put in creating books that promote art and bilingual literacy through reading! As an avid art lover I also think the illustrator, Madeleine Budnick, did a wonderful job displaying the museums art pieces in three little books designed with children (like toddlers) in mind. As a mommy who is always on the look out for bilingual books for my nena, I like to think I have developed a keen eye in identifying quality bilingual books and I whole-heartedly think these books fall under that category.

These books have inspired me to head on south (an hour from my home) and visit the San Antonio Museum of Art with my little girl with our library tote bag carrying our bilingual books. The plan is to try and locate the artwork in the book while visiting the museum. Though she is only two-and-a-half I think she will enjoy identifying the artifacts at the museum as she already does this with icons she has seen from other books, like with certain animals, colors, and shapes.

I hope you enjoy learning about shapes, numbers, and/or colors in Spanish and English with your sprouting little ones. Suerte!

The Giveaway

One Lucky winner will receive ONE 3-book series (pictured above). Just visit the Arte Kids website and leave us a comment telling us which of the three books you think your child would like best, then enter the Rafflecopter below.

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