On November 1st, McDonald’s celebrated the joy of reading by including four different original books in their Happy Meals. The books focused on nutrition, imagination and play and were available  in English and Spanish. They’re a great addition to the “on the go” library and a fun reminder for kids to eat right. Below is a short description of the four books pictured above.

• “La Hormiguita Campeona”  is a book about Ant, a bodybuilder, who encourages physical fitness through exercise and eating right.
• “Doddi La Dodo y su Viaje Fantástico” – Tells the story of Doddi, a bird who travels the world. Doddi eats right to have energy to take flight again and travel even farther each time.
• “Dina la Soñadora” – Dina is the world’s smallest dinosaur, but she has big dreams. She learned that by eating right she could accomplish her dreams of growing strong and tall.
• “Billy el Cabrito Comelón”– Billy has a big appetite and eats anything and everything in his path. Until one day he get’s sick. His family teaches him how to eat right and Billy becomes a happy and playful kid.

 
The best part is that all of these books are available for free download at McDonalds.com and MeEncanta.com . Just click on the See What Goes Into Your Happy Meals icon at the bottom of the page, then click on the image of the book and you’ll see an option to download the book in English or Spanish.

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!

Last week, I received a copy of Indi Avila’s Sana, Sana book for my son Matías and I to review. What I was thrilled about even more was that Indi had taken the time to sign it and send me a very sweet note with it.

This is a story based on a classic Spanish language nursery rhyme that many of us know and love. Reading through the book, I could hear my mamá saying “sana, sana colita de rana, si no sana hoy sanará mañana” and it was an absolute joy to read to my son now.

The illustrations are vivid and colorful and easy for a 3.5 year old to follow and grasp the concept of sad and happy faces (obviously he doesn’t read). Each animal has a very cute and lovable look…in fact, muy tierno is how I would best describe it.

Lucía, the little girl who gets hurt while jumping rope, has to learn to be patient, realize the power of words, positive thinking and clear communication with her mami. Matías identified with Lucía when her mami says she had to stop crying and take a deep breath. He said“mami, así dices tú!” Clearly the message got through to him and it has sparked a new interest in mother – child relationships, seeing other children listening to their mami’s and of course the main question, ”¿Qué es sana?” The book allowed us to share a new and fun bedtime reading routine while learning new Spanish words.

As a bilingual parent who is always looking for well written and quality Spanish language books I would highly recommend adding Sana, Sana to your collection – nothing complex, just simple, easy to read and comprehend for both the parent and child. You can purchase the book for $12.00 via the Sana, Sana website or on Amazon.

We know you will enjoy it as much as we did!

The Giveaway

We are giving away one copy of Sana, Sana along with a tote bag and greeting cards to one lucky winner!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

¡Hola, todos! As a SpanglishBaby contributor for the past year, I have had the good fortune of being able to combine my passions: writing, parenting, and linguistic exploration. Now, I have the opportunity to add my primary interest and a great source of joy in my life and my son’s life: libros!

My 3-year-old son, Isaías, and I enjoy reading both translated books (such as all those by Dr. Seuss) and original Spanish titles. He is learning to read a few words in both English and Spanish, so I love the bilingual books that have large print and direct translations in order for him to compare two words side-by-side. As you all know, children change so quickly that keeping up with books that will interest them is just as difficult as keeping them in clothing that fits!

I’m thrilled to hold the title of Book Editor for SpanglishBaby. We all know how difficult it is to find Spanish and/or bilingual books for our children (and for ourselves!), but my job is to help you do just that. With my bimonthly lists of book recommendations and reviews, I hope that you can have fun sharing literature in your native – or nonnative, as in my case – language with your niños without having to search high and low for appropriate titles.

My motivation in accepting this position is not only to search for those books that currently exist, but to identify the categories in which we all need more resources: gaps in the bilingual book world. As a lifelong writer, I have a personal interest in ultimately writing Spanish or bilingual books, and this is the perfect form of research!

All of the lists I present to you will be based on a theme, as is today’s. I will be searching high and low for quality libros for all ages and on all topics. I am open to suggestions or requests for future lists or reviews, so please feel free to contact me: chelsea@spanglishbaby.com.

The following are Pascua-themed books you can get directly from La Tiendita under the category: Books & Libros | Easter/Pascua. Happy reading y ¡Feliz Día de Pascua!

Spanish and Bilingual Books for Easter/Pascua

• Huevos de Pascua (Clifford, el gran perro colorado) por Suzanne Weyn and

• La canasta pascual de Dora by Sarah Willson

• Dance of the Eggshells: Baile de los cascarones by Carla Aragon

• Saltarín y El Conejo de Pascua by Kathrin Siegenthaler

• ¿Dónde Está mi Huevo de Pascua? by Harriet Ziefert

• Clifford’s Happy Easter: Clifford y el Día de Pascua by Normal Bridwell

• Pascua by Nancy Dickmann

• La Historia de la Pascua by Patrician Pingry

• Huevos de Pascua by Kasparavicius Kestutis

• La Pascua en Todo el Mundo by Shannon Knudsen

What are you reading to your niños for Easter? Do you have any other books we can add to this list?

Growing up, I definitely remember celebrating El Día del Niño. I don’t particularly remember the date of this celebration, but that’s probably because it takes place on a different date in each of the Latin American countries I lived in as a child – Perú, México and Argentina. I do remember, however; that it was “our” day and everything revolved around us, just like when everything revolves around mami on Mother’s or papi on Father’s Day.

I hadn’t really paid too much attention to celebrating this day here in the States, but thanks to all the research associated with putting together this blog and the fact that Vanessa is now old enough to enjoy this type of celebration, I was thrilled when I found out about El Día de los Niños/El Día de los Libros – which turns 13 years old today and is the brainchild of award-winning bilingual children’s author, Pat Mora – not only because it celebrates a los niños, but also one of my favorite things in the whole world: LIBROS!

In Mora’s words,  she created Día (as this celebration is known) in an effort to “link all children to books, languages and cultures.” This is how Mora, a native from El Paso, Texas, describes how the idea was born: “As a mom, I knew that children often ask, ‘Why do we have Mother’s Day and Father’s Day and not Children’s Day?’ As a reader, I wanted (and want) to foster ‘bookjoy.’ Ah-ha, I thought. What if we link a celebration of children with literacy, an issue central to the well-being of children.”

Let’s Celebrate!

Today, April 30th, is the culmination of a month long celebration of children and books sponsored mostly by public and school libraries, museums, community centers and bookstores around the country. I know that in Colorado, where I live, there have been a series of events throughout the state and that more than 400 libraries nationwide have posted their celebrations at Día’s official website. But even if you can’t find any events near you, the main idea behind Día is that we all encourage our children to read and our libraries to reflect this country’s diversity.

Pat Mora - Photo by Cheron Bayna

“When the idea for Día came to me from above in the spring of 1996, I had been writing first for adults and then for children, and I noticed that books by Latinos and about Latinos were not being published and supported as they should be given our demographics,” Mora said via email from her home in Santa Fe, New Mexico, right before she left to participate in Día celebrations across the United States. “One in four children under five today in the U.S. is Latino, yet only 2% of the children’s books published are by or about Latinos.”

Mora, who was born and raised in El Paso, Texas, has written more than 25 books of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction for adults and children – many of them bilingual.

So what else can we do to help change this? The simplest answer: READ, READ AND READ. I love the idea that Ana came up with to start a tradition to buy Camila a new Spanish-language book every year on this date, El Día de los Niños/El Día de los Libros. So I copied her idea and went and got none other than Pat Mora’s beautifully illustrated Book Fiesta! – her latest bilingual children’s book.

When I read the title to Vanessa, she got really excited and asked: “una fieta, ¿pa mi?” And I told her that indeed, it was a party for her because it was her day, El Día de los Niños! Both my daughter and I were enthralled by the intense colors that jump off the pages to convey a simple message: Reading is fun!

Vanessa’s favorite page, by far, is the one with the big picture of the moon because she has to flip the book on its side to be able to read what it says:

Y en nuestras camitas                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      le leemos a la luna,

All About Books…

Book Fiesta is actually an expansion of the song Mora came up with a few years ago to celebrate Día. You can read the lyrics here. Another one of the great things about this book is that it includes a list of ideas for celebrating El Día de los Niños/El Día de los Libros, including:

Pat Mora @ 2008 U.S. Senate's Día Celebration

Host a Book Fiesta with food, music and games – but make sure books are at the center of your celebration!

• give away books as party favors or gifts
  
• select one book as the party theme and decorate accordingly
  
• help children dress up as their favorite books or characters
• include storytellers and puppet shows whenever possible
• make your own books and/or bookmarks

“I encourage parents to read to their children from the time they are little and to make that time a special time,” explains Mora. “It’s also important that children see us reading and that we make visits to the library and book stores pleasant events.”

I know for a fact that this is great advice. When I think of mi papá, the image of him holding a book always comes to mind. I never understood how he managed to find time to read, but he did and it made him happy. I’m infinitely grateful to him for showing my siblings and I that reading is awesome! I guess Mora was lucky to have a parent who thought so, too.

“I love to read, one of the many gifts my dear mom gave me. It’s a huge pleasure to share what we love” she told me. “Also, I know that literacy is power and essential in our democracy.”

¡A leer!

The Giveaway

As a special gift to SpanglishBaby readers, Pat Mora is giving away one autographed copy of  “Book Fiesta!” to one lucky visitor. ¡Gracias, Pat!

All you have to do is leave us a comment letting us know what you think about having a celebration like Día or what you do to celebrate books and reading with your children?

If you want to increase your chances of winning you can get additional entries by doing any of the following:

1. Subscribe to our feed by email and leave us an extra comment letting us know you did so. Make sure to leave the comment using the same email you subscribed with.  And please make sure you verify the subscription when you receive the email to do so.

2.  Subscribe via RSS.  Once you do, or if you’re already a subscriber, email us the “Secret Phrase” at the bottom of the post to:  giveaways@spanglishbaby.com.

3. Blog or Tweet about this giveaway. Just make sure to send us the link in an additional comment below.

4.  Email 5 friends and BCC us to:  giveaways@spanglishbaby.com.  Don’t worry-we’ll never share or collect anyone’s emails.

For the part that nobody likes, but we’ve gotta have, check out the Giveaway Rules.

This giveaway ends at midnight EST on Sunday, May 3rd 2009.  Good luck to all!

Entries/Comments that do not follow the submission guidelines will be invalid and automatically deleted.  Sorry, just need to keep  it fair…