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For the weekend of November 13-15, Jacey and I headed down to Miami for the annual Miami Book Fair International.  We were excited to participate in such a popular annual event and to spread our mission of bilingualism to the wonderful South Floridians!

On Saturday and Sunday of that weekend, Milka Duno joined us to sign her book and take photos with fans.  We truly enjoyed spending those two days with her (an awesome and dedicated woman!)

Milka’s book, Go, Milka, Go!/¡Corre, Milka, Corre!, highlights her life and the importance of studying hard to succeed.  She spoke with children about the importance of education and her foundation, Milka Way. The program’s mission is to inspire children and young adults to “Aim for the Stars” and achieve academic excellence.

I personally felt inspired by how she brightened up the day and spoke words of encouragement for so many children, families and fans who got to meet and speak with her.  Indeed, one fan even drove two hours just to meet her and get his copy of her book autographed!

We were honored to have Milka join us because her passions are so closely aligned with ours and because she is such a great person.  We share our focus on education and literacy not bound by language.  We’ll be sure to let you know the next time Milka will visit our booth!

Milka’s first book is bilingual in Spanish and English and at the reading level for ages 8-12.  We brought back a limited number of autographed copies. Buy yours now before they’re gone!

Check out some of the photos below. Thank you Milka!

1 Comments on Spending the Day with Milka Duno, Indy Racecar Driver, last added: 12/22/2009

If you haven’t guessed already, we at bububooks are fans of Theresa Breslin. Now we know her books are not bilingual, but we love the topics she covers.  Indeed, when we expand to monolingual yet ethnic books, we’ll be sure to include Theresa’s titles in our collection!

Book Cover for Divided City

Divided City is a story for young adults and takes place in Glasgow. The two boys in the story come from different sides of the city, geographically, socially, historically and religiously. One is Roman Catholic while the other is Protestant.  They meet on a soccer team and forge a friendship through their unwitting and reluctant help to an asylum seeker.  As they each face their own internal struggles within their families and communities, the two boys, Graham and Joe, face their external struggles through each other.

“A gripping tale about two boys who must find their own answers–and their own way forward–in a world divided by differences.”

By enveloping the story in the rivalries of soccer (football), Breslin brings forward the tensions of various differences and tensions that circles in society face.  Once again, her structure also neatly sets up these differences. In the beginning, the chapters alternate in telling the separate stories of Joe and Graham. As the two grow together, at first simply in the time they spend together and later in their friendship bonds, their chapters blend together as well.  A riveting read (I couldn’t put it down!), Breslin uses this story to highlight where ethnic tensions come from and how we just might be able to rise above them.

Read this book if you get the chance!

Rome Library

Jacey and Laura both represented bububooks at events this past weekend.  Jacey visited beautiful northwest Georgia for the annual Georgia Literary Festival in Rome.  Despite the cold temperatures, she says she enjoyed her time up there and got to meet some pretty cool people, authors and booksellers.  Maybe she and her husband will make a camping trip up there in the near future!

Laura headed up to Columbia, South Carolina, for the South Carolina Association for the Education of Young Children conference.  Having never been to South Carolina before, she thoroughly enjoyed the city of Columbia and the people.  By the end, she was giving hugs as she left the conference!  At the conference, Laura met lots of GREAT people who are all seeking to improve the lives of children and teachers in South Carolina.  She says it was an inspiring weekend and she looks forward to going back as she develops stronger relationships with the people she met from throughout the state.  She’s so sad (and has been chastised by us) that she didn’t get any pictures of her new friends but promises to take more pictures next time. It has been her favorite trip for bububooks by far!  Thank you South Carolina and the SCAEYC!

I had so much fun this past weekend in Atlanta at the Georgia Association on Young Children conference.  Not only did I enjoy meeting various childcare providers from throughout the state, but I also appreciated the enthusiastic response from them regarding our mission at bububooks to help bilingual children with literacy and cultural identity development.

I also had two pleasant surprises throughout the weekend. First, my hotel happened to be in a Korean part of town.  Being half-Korean, I found my way to a BBQ restaurant and indulged in some good ol’ Korean BBQ!  Even better, I invited some newly made friends to join me. It was both their first times to try Korean food and they loved it! I thought, “what a great way to embrace our mission by introducing people to a new cuisine!”  Second, as I was packing up at the end of the conference, I walked past a room where a session was still continuing.  The attendees were singing a song I had never heard before. However, the tune was that of the Air Force Song! I found myself humming the Song as I finished loading up the car (I’m an Air Force veteran).  I couldn’t believe I still remembered the words and it brought back many memories of the jovial times in which we would sing the first verse. J

Thanks to GAYC and all the attendees for making my trip so joyful! Off we go into the wild, blue yonder…

Laura

Book cover

We at bububooks are excited to announce our newest book, Luna Needs a Miracle!/¡Luna Necesita un Milagro!, written by celebrity Chef Paul Luna.  Now you must be thinking this book is about food, but it’s not!  Luna explores the themes of love, fear, family and friendship in this bilingual—Spanish/English—children’s book.  The main character, whose name is also Luna and does not speak or understand English, faces his fears as he prepares for his first day at a new school in a new country in this colorfully illustrated hardcover.

Luna prays for the school to be closed and, as a result, no longer worries about his first day in a new situation.  Yet as he walks closer and closer to school that morning, Luna discovers the school is still open, but finds his prayer answered in another, more universal way. (We won’t want to spoil it!)

“Experiencing something radically different from what you know can be frightening, but can also create a window of opportunity upon which you can take action with clarity and confidence,” said author Luna.  He continues, “writing this book was a way for me to break past my own fears of doing something new and unknown, while also sharing an important lesson that we are all the same.  We all have fears, challenges and successes in our lives.”

Laura, founder of bububooks, got to personally meet Luna and his fiancée, Cynthia.  “Our missions are quite the same. We understand and appreciate the value of languages and of reading.  It was never any question to him—the book had to be bilingual.  I am inspired by his passion and am proud that we are carrying their book. We look forward to reading more from him!”

Get the book in hardcover version at www.bububooks.com for $24.99.

Theresa Breslin wrote this book based on real experiences from when a group of prisoners attempted to break out of Alcatraz in the late 1940s. The story is told from the point of view of Marty King, a young, simple man who wants to grow tomatoes in the warm sun of Mexico and somehow manages to get into bad situations that ultimately land him in Alcatraz. Because he is small, some other prisoners convince him (as if he really had a choice) to help prepare for a break out by crawling through an air vent and making an imprint of a key on a bar of soap. Without ruining the story, Marty shares his insights into the legendary prisoners at Alcatraz and his own life.

The first element that stuck out to me was Breslin’s use of structure in this story. We first meet Marty after he’s in Alcatraz and subsequently learn how he grew up with his Ma in Chicago and, in between, how he gets bullied into the escape party and how he got into Alcatraz to begin with. The next element Breslin exceeds it that her use of voice. We can picture Marty as he speaks, through the way he speaks, as well as Marty’s cohorts and fellow prisoners. We sense who they are simply through their dialogue. Because of these two elements, Breslin presents an entertaining and highly impactful story in slightly more than 80 pages.

Now this book is not bilingual and we do not carry it at bububooks (yet). However, we wanted to share it with you because not only is Theresa Breslin an amazing author, but also because the publisher of this particular book is special to us. They are known as Barrington Stoke and are located in Great Britain. Barrington Stoke uses its own font and paper that are designed to help dyslexic people read. The font, with its “a”s and “g”s shaped more like how we write them rather than type them, is also useful to English Language Learners who may need to reconcile the difference between handwritten English letters and typed English letters. Further, Barrington Stoke uses readers as consultants on titles before they’re published. If you’re interested in becoming a consultant, email them at [email protected] or visit www.barringtonstoke.co.uk.

For more information on Theresa Breslin and her work, please visit: http://www.theresabreslin.co.uk/

bububooks' logo

After a great weekend at Latino Expo USA and the Chicago Chinatown Dragon Boat Race for Literacy, I thought I would use today’s blog to offer two reasons to shop at www.bububooks.com

1)   Reading skills transfer across languages. Even if your child learns to read in Spanish or Chinese, they’ll be able to transfer those reading skills once they start to learn English.  Therefore, read to your child in the language you’re most comfortable.

Also, children like to read the same books over and over.  If you have two languages at home (each parent has their own dominant language), use bilingual books to read the story to your children in both languages.

The most important thing is to read to your child!  It does not necessarily have to be in English.  Read in the language you are most comfortable.

2)   These books help your child to develop their cultural identities.  The main character in most children’s books is Caucasian.  bububooks strives to offer storybooks that highlight aspects of Latino (mostly Mexican-American as of now) and Chinese culture.  Even if your child doesn’t speak a foreign language, the lack of children stories that discuss topics related to your culture will affect how they view themselves and your culture.

Thanks for your continued support.  We hope to see you at our next event or online!

I enjoyed these tips so much I had to share them with you.  They were written by Deanna Lyles, cofounder of Bilingual Readers, a brand new publishing company which provides resources for bilingual and multilingual families and communities.  This article was taken from www.SpanglishBaby.com.

A very patient Spanish speaking mom has been reading her daughter Sara’s favorite book Yo Tigre out loud to her in Spanish every night at bedtime for the last month. But tonight Mom’s out with some friends, and it’s English speaking Dad’s turn to read Sara to sleep. He dutifully pulls out adorable children’s book after adorable children’s book, but it’s no use: Sara wants Yo Tigre, and Where the Wild Things Are just isn’t going to cut it. What’s a bilingual Dad to do? Is it alright for a parent in a One Parent One Language home to break his commitment to speaking to his child only in his native language when the child’s love of reading is at stake?

Most of us are aware that reading aloud to small children is one of the greatest tools parents have for helping their children’s language development along. But when it comes to reading aloud in a bilingual home, many questions arise as to who should read to children in what languages. In OPOL homes the easy answer is that each parent should read to the child in his or her native language, but putting this principle into practice is often anything but simple.

Although they are sometimes hard to find for certain language combinations, bilingual books are one of the best tools for getting the most out of storytime in a OPOL home. While reading monolingual books to your children is certainly beneficial, bilingual books are an especially useful tool for bilingual families. Bilingual books allow both parents to take turns reading the same book to their kids, each parent in his own language. If one parent reads a book to a child in English and the other parent reads the same book in Spanish, the child will automatically begin to associate both languages with the stories and objects on the pages of the book. We all know that children love to read and be read the same stories over and over again, so hearing the exact same text in each language every time a book is read is an easy way to reinforce vocabulary and sentence structure for the bilingual child.

In addition to taking advantage of bilingual books, there are also other strategies for reading consistently to your kids while sticking to the OPOL method. Regardless of whether or not you read monolingual or bilingual books (most families will read both),establish a routine to make sure that each parent is reading to the kids in his or her language every single day. If you stick to this routine, it’ll be a great tool for developing your child’s language abilities in both languages. You can also make recordings of your voice reading your kids’ favorite stories out loud. This way your child can still listen to Mom’s soothing voice read a story in Spanish or Dad doing all the fun voices in English anytime, anywhere. (A friend confessed that these recordings are also great for long trips in the car).

Last but not least, if you’ve broken the rules and read a story to your child in your second language, don’t beat yourself up over it. While consistency is key in any bilingual home, nobody’s perfect and slipping up every once in a while will not scar your child for life. The same thing goes for those of you who may not have been consistent readers in the past. Thankfully each day is a new opportunity to read to and with your children. Happy reading!

Summer break is in full swing.  We’ve listed our top ten books for summer reading below as well as Laura’s review of each of them.  Buy them at www.bububooks.com for your kids’ enjoyment during the summer break!

1. My First Book of Proverbs/ Mi primer libro de dichos

Brilliantly illustrated, this book offers insight into Mexican proverbs or “kisses of language.”  With an introduction by Sandra Cisneros, this book is a hit with parents and children alike!

2. Somos un arco iris / We Are a Rainbow

This book openly discusses the issues children face as they get to know each other’s cultures.  I like it because Nancy María Grande Tabor focuses on cultural similarities and differences as well as the misunderstandings and happiness friends experience together as they grow.  Beautifully illustrated by her own construction paper cutouts, this book serves as a great introduction into building cultural identities.

3. Celebrations / Celebraciones: Holidays of the United States of America and Mexico / Dias feriados de los Estados Unidos y Mexico

Another one of my favorites, Tabor highlights the various holidays in America and Mexico, their importance and how they are celebrated. 

4. In My Family/En mi familia

Carmen Lomas Garza brings another fascinating book to us.  She takes her readers through life with her family ranging from earaches to cooking to special days.  Included with her magnificent paintings, this book takes us into Latino culture as experienced by Garza.

5. Cincuenta en la cebra: contando con los animales / Fifty on the Zebra: Counting with the Animals

This book and #6 are fantastic interactive books.  Using her trademark construction paper artwork, Tabor offers an opportunity for you to practice the alphabet (in Spanish AND English) and counting with your child.  On each page, Nancy Tabor introduces a letter/number followed by questions such as, “Can you find two candles?” and “Is if a fat cat or a skinny cat?”  These books will keep you and your child occupied for hours!

6. Albertina anda arriba: el abecedario / Albertina Goes Up: An Alphabet Book

See #5.

7. The Woman who Outshone the Sun/La mujer que brillaba aún más que el sol

Adapted from a Mexican folktale, this story shares the importance of treating others with kindness.  With a lesson that transcends various cultural differences throughout the world, this book offers a folktale most American children will never know.  Its beauty in the story is also reflected in the artwork.

8. Angel’s Kite/ La estrella de Angel

I love this story because it is magical.  Alberto Blanco draws you in, making you follow the kite with your whole heart, eager to see what happens.  And the ending just makes you happy!

9. Baby Rattlesnake/Viborita de cascabel

Baby Rattlesnake is a Native American tale that offers valuable lessons for children.  I love it because it illustrates its theme so clearly and colorfully.  This story is one of my favorite’s to read out loud to children.

10.  Laughing Tomatoes and Other Spring Poems/Jitomates Risueños y otros poemas de primavera

While I love all four of the poem books by Francisco Alarcón, I think this one is my favorite because springs if my favorite season.  In this book, Alarcón shares poems about spring, great food, holidays, fruits, gardens and his beloved grandma.  Each poem works into its structure colorful illustrations.  I highly recommend all four books.

There you have it.  The Top 10 books we like for the summer.  Feel free to email us for any other recommendations at [email protected].  Enjoy your summer!

I’ve started this blog to get the word out about why bububooks’ mission is so important.  Also, it’s an opportunity to discuss awesome multicultural children’s books and to highlight multicultural authors and others who are contributing to the development of this field.  Your comments and suggestions are most welcome.  I look forward to our discussions.

-In 2006, 40% of American children were non-white.
-One in four children under the age of five are Latino.
-Yet a ridiculously high percentage of children’s books have the main character as white or are written by white authors. 

While I cherish the myriad of amazing children’s books available, children need characters with whom they can identify.  Further, for recent immigrant children, learning English and American culture can be overwhelming.  Think back to your study abroad experience.  Could you imagine doing that as a five year old and not by choice?  Or if you’re multiracial, think back to some of the confusing cultural clashes you had at home.  While funny now, I’m sure you can appreciate the confusion an immigrant child might experience.  But could even your experience have been less confusing if you had these types of books in your home?  I think so!  I didn’t realize how much my Korean culture was infused in me until I was an adult, but I always knew I was a little different from the white children while growing up.

The books offered at bububooks.com are all bilingual–currently in Chinese/English and Spanish/English–and are not just intended for children of color.  As diverse as America is, these books can be read by ALL children!