NHCC Holds First Children's Bilingual Book Festival
April 23, 2019
The LAII is proud to partner with the National Hispanic Cultural Center on its first annual Children's Bilingual Book Festival.
Taking place this Saturday, April 27th, the event coincides with National Poetry Month, Children’s Day/Book Day, Arbor Day, Semana Cervantina, and the local Poesía eres tú poetry contest for elementary school students, this festival will celebrate bilingual children’s books written in Spanish, English, and Native languages.
The LAII's own faculty affiliates Dr. Anna Nogar and Dr. Enrique Lamadrid will present on their recent book, Sisters in Blue / Hermanas en azul (University of New Mexico Press, 2017), while LAII K-12 Education Consultant Dr. Katrina Dillon will offer a teacher workshop on "Windows, Mirrors, and Doors: Culturally Relevant Literacy Resources for the Classroom."
The focus on Spanish-English and Native Language-English books and authors makes this festival particularly meaningful and vibrant, reflecting the identities of many children in New Mexico and the Southwest. We want to encourage children to see themselves in contemporary children’s literature as well as introduce a bilingual body of work to a wider audience.
The festival will emphasize books for readers in grades K-6, though there will be activities for kids of all ages, including families. The festival will also launch a summer reading program at the NHCC–connecting children struggling with reading with free reading tutors who will provide one-on-one and group tutoring at the NHCC over the summer.
