Recommendations for Hispanic Heritage Month

I was born wealthy. I had the good fortune to grow up in a loving, bilingual home in El Paso, Texas. All my grandparents spoke only Spanish. Mom and Dad were bilingual, though, so I always spoke both English and Spanish. Since Mom was a reader, I also had the good fortune to grow up with books in our home, and I enjoyed teachers who read to us at school, visits to the library, the fun of Summer Reading Clubs. Too often today, the word “wealthy” is reduced to money. Well, I was and am rich in family, books, and languages. How I wish I were tri-lingual!


Since sharing is often more fun than having, I like to share bookjoy, la alegría en los libros. I founded Día, El dia de los niños, El día de los libros/Children’s Day, Book Day, as one way for all of us to link all children to books, languages and cultures day by day, día por día. Día celebrations are held throughout the country around April 30th and are fun to plan at home, school, and libraries. I wrote Book Fiesta to show the fun of reading by ourselves, with our family, to our pets and reading everywhere—even in a hot air balloon and on an elephant.

  

I not only love words and languages, I love diversity: the wonder of an array of flowers, birds, and humans, families. I’ll never understand why some are valued more than others. The Hispanic or Latino national community is highly diverse. Some are new arrivals; some families that have lived on the U.S. landscape for generations. Some have ancestors from countries such as Mexico, Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Peru. Some are dark; some fair. Some Catholic; some Protestant or Jewish. Some speak only Spanish, some only English, some are bilingual.

I was a children’s book author before I noticed: hey, none of the books I read and loved had any characters who looked like me or my family, who spoke Spanish and enjoyed saying both candy and dulces. How children and the young at heart enjoy learning words in other languages! Luckily, many Latino authors are now writing wonderful books for us all. Here are ten of my favorites:

http://www.pbs.org/parents/education/bookfinder/hispanic-heritage-month-booklist/

Thanks to PBS Parents!

Women's History Month

People sometimes ask: do we really need annual observances such as African American History Month, Hispanic Heritage Month, El día de los niños/El día de los libros, Children's Day/Book Day, International Women's Day and Women's History Month? YES.

Do we see our national diversity when we look at our computer, TV and movie screens? Newspaper and magazine editors and reporters? Publishers' lists, book reviews and reviewers? Politicians and national leaders? Also, our complex national diversity is not yet appropriately recognized and celebrated in the sciences or the arts.

The theme for this year's National Women's  History Month Project is Women's Education: Women's Empowerment. This past week I was asked questions about the role of education in my life. I am a first-generation college graduate, and in answering the questions, I was remnded how grateful I feel and how important it is to motivate girls and young women to invest in themselves. I wrote, " My college education was an important factor in whatever success I’ve had as a parent, teacher, administrator, writer and speaker. For a student interested in new opportunities, a college education can be transformative. It dramatically enriches a life."

 

Program and Book Ideas for Hispanic Heritage Month

Last week on ALSC-L, librarians were posting ideas about Hispanic Heritage Month. It's satisfying reading the various posts that encourage taking advantage of the resources available for Día de los Ninos/Día de los Libros when looking for programming ideas or relevant bibliographies because it reinforces that Día is not a one-day event. Día is our opportunity to link all children to books, languages and cultures every day -- let's celebrate Día all year long!

Here are some links to check out:
Texas Library Association -- http://www.texasdia.org/
ALSC list "Growing Up Latino in the USA" http://www.ala.org/ala/alsc/alscresources/booklists/GrowingUpLatino.cfm
Jamie Naidoo's webjunction powerpoint and resources related to planning services and selecting materials for and about Latino Youth. Available at:
http://www.webjunction.org/home/articles/content/455411

Hispanic Heritage Month

For many, September now means Hispanic Heritage Month which begins tomorrow and is celebrated from September 15 – October 15. It’s easy to forget that in September 1968, Congress authorized President Lyndon B. Johnson to proclaim the first National Hispanic Heritage Week, an observance that was expanded in 1988 to a month-long celebration. Why begin a celebration mid-month? President Johnson was from Texas and grateful to the Mexican-American population that had supported him, and Mexico celebrates its independence from Spain on September 16. Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Chile also celebrate their independence between Sept. 15 – Oct. 15.

Too often, as we know, celebrations = commercialization so companies use the events to sell their products. Educational publishers can do this too, and I know people can feel cynical about this. Latinos constitute 14% of the U.S. population. Of course, I wish that their voices and contributions were appropriately represented in our history, publishing, universities, sciences, and government, but we have a long way to go. In spite of our national rhetoric (and rhetoric is in season this fall), many in our communities still doubt the full worth of their fellow Latino community members. I see and hear this as I listen and observe Latino children, graduate students and professionals not to mention those Latinos daily facing the challenges of limited economic resources.

Do I wish we didn’t need celebrations like Hispanic Heritage Month and El /El dia de los libros, Children's Day/Book Day, that Latinos and Asian, Black, Native and Arab Americans were fully incorporated into our national fabric? Sure, but in 2008 I still think we need to make special efforts to promote pride in home languages and cultures. ¡Qué vivan las culturas! May cultures thrive! Let’s share and enjoy books by Latinos during Hispanic Heritage Month and all year long.