A place to share books, music, techniques, and all things related to bilingual storytime!

Friday, September 20, 2013

Library Outreach to Spanish-Speaking Communities Online Class


This post is to let everyone in library land know that registration is now open for my online course "Library Outreach to Spanish-Speaking Communities" being hosted by Library Juice Academy.  This course is designed for public library staff new to the work of providing outreach to Spanish-speakers.

Many libraries struggle to serve Spanish-speakers. Even those that build a Spanish language collection or try offering programs in Spanish sometimes do not see the response they hope for from the community. Library Outreach to Spanish-Speaking Communities walks participants through the outreach process, critical for forming relationships within Spanish-speaking communities, particularly first-generation immigrant communities. Learn about the barriers to access the prevent library use, and how organizations can overcome those barriers by working with community partners and leaders.  The course is asynchronous and it runs for four-weeks.  Participants choose from two options for their final project in the course: developing an initial Outreach Plan for their organization or conducting a real Community Leader Interview to learn more about the Spanish-speaking community in their area.

Information about registration for the course can be found here: http://www.libraryjuiceacademy.com/032-spanish-speaking.php.  Don't hesitate to be in touch if you have any questions about the course.

Also, a head's up, my class on bilingual storytime, Bilingual Storytime at Your Biblioteca, will be offered again this November.  I hope to see some blog readers in both of these classes!

Friday, September 13, 2013

Bilingual Board Book Giveaway!

What better way to kick off Hispanic Heritage Month 2013 than with a giveaway?  I was recently contacted about ArteKids, a beautiful new series of bilingual board books that celebrate art from around the world and introduce first concepts.  The publisher, Tu Press, has generously agreed to give away a full set of the the books to one lucky reader of ¡Es Divertido Hablar Dos Idiomas!


These five bilingual board books, with text from the San Antonio Public Library Foundation and illustrations from the San Antonio Museum of Art are excellent choices for all public library collections.  They introduce numbers, colors, shapes, animals and vocabulary through images of diverse art, including paintings, sculpture, photography and more.  Questions in English and Spanish on each page spark interaction between child and caregiver.  Examples from Animal Amigos! include: "Can you walk like an elephant?" and "¿Por qué se esconden los monos entre las rocas?"  These suggestions help inspire dialogic reading, movement and conversation between adult and child, making the books excellent choices when introducing early literacy and school readiness concepts to parents.  The artwork from around the world featured in the illustrations is cited in the end pages of each book.  I hope that the series continues to grow!



To be entered in the drawing for a complete set of the five books currently in the ArteKids series, simply leave a comment on this post by the end of the day Friday, September 20.  I'd love it if you would share how you intend to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month this year, or how you think you may use these books if you the winner.  I will put the names in a drawing and randomly select a winner, who will be contacted by a representative of Tu Press for details on how to receive the books.

Thanks, Tu Press, for this generous offer!




Monday, September 2, 2013

Book Recommendation: Good Night Captain Mama / Buenas Noches Capitán Mamá

This quick post is to share with you a book that I became aware of over the summer, but only recently sat down to read.  Good Night Captain Mama / Buenas Noches Capitán Mamá by Graciela Tiscareno-Sato is a bilingual picture book that covers a subject I've never seen addressed in any picture book, let alone a bilingual one.  It's about a female pilot in the Air Force who is also a mom.  In this story, mom, who has the rank of Captain, takes the time to lovingly tell her curious son about her job, her uniform and her patches.  Her son goes to sleep full of pride and looking forward to the day when he will get to see her airplane.


This is the rare self-published book that I would actually hope to see on library shelves.  It is more instructional than engaging in terms of story development, but still noteworthy due to its attention to women/Latinas/moms serving in the military.

I personally was really touched by the story, because my father-in-law and his father were both pilots in the Navy.  My husband's grandfather was a teacher to other pilots.  He passed away around Christmas time the year before last.  When he was in the hospital before he passed, we had amazing conversations about his time as a pilot instructor.  He still remembered many of his students' names, and had many touching and sometimes hilarious stories to share.  The pride he felt for that work stayed with him his entire life.  I believe picture books that allow young people to connect with their military family members, such as this title, are so valuable.  You can find out more about this book on Amazon or a the book's web page.