LatinaLista — It will be 18 years tomorrow (April 30) since children’s author Pat Mora forced the children’s book publishing industry to take one day out of the year to seriously consider diversity in children’s literature by proposing a day that celebrates both children and childhood literacy.
The result has been the national observation of Children’s Day/Book Day, also known as El día de los niños/El día de los libros .
According to Mora’s website:
El día de los niños, El día de los libros/Children’s Day, Book Day, also known as Día, is a daily commitment to link all children to books, languages and cultures, day by day, día por día.
Since 1996, libraries and classrooms have embraced the day to acquaint children with books and authors in the hopes of fostering a life-long love affair with reading.
This year is no different but mixes a bit of high-tech with the low-tech skill.
Qlovi, an online literacy platform for classroom teachers that provides writing and reading activities, created the Qlovi + Authors online event. It’s a series of live virtual author readings via YouTube and Google Hangouts on Air.
is a one-day event on April 30, 2014, starting at 9 am EDT (8 am CDT, 6 am PDT) and ending at 5 pm EDT (4 pm CDT, 2 pm PDT). One author will read at the top of each hour.
This year, in honor of El Día de los Libros, Qlovi hosts a one-day event featuring eight children’s book authors reading their stories live online starting at 9 am EDT (8 am CDT, 6 am PDT) and ending at 5 pm EDT (4 pm CDT, 2 pm PDT). One author will read at the top of each hour.
The featured authors are: René Colato Laínez — From North to South / Del Norte al Sur; Elisa Kleven — Welcome Home Mouse and “Glasswings: A Butterfly’s Journey;” Duncan Tonatiuh — Separate Is Never Equal — Sylvia Mendez and Her Family’s Fight for Desegregation and Pancho Rabbit and the Coyote — A Migrant’s Tale; Antonio Sacre — A Mango in the Hand — A Story Told Through Proverbs; Sonia Nazario — Enrique’s Journey — The True Story of a Boy Determined to Reunite with His Mother; Yuyi Morales — Niño Wrestles the World and Just in Case — A Trickster Tale and Spanish Alphabet Book; Carmen Tafolla — What Can You Do with a Paleta? / ¿Qué puedes hacer con una paleta? and That’s Not Fair! / ¡No Es Justo! — Emma Tenayuca’s Struggle for Justice / La lucha de Emma Tenayuca por la justicia; and José-Luis Orozco — De Colores — and Other Latin American Folksongs for Children and Diez Deditos — Other Play Rhymes and Action Songs from Latin America.
Anyone with an Internet connection and the ability to watch live-streaming video will be able to enjoy seeing these Latino and Latina authors share their talents and creativity while inspiring the next generation of writers. Those wanting to view it are asked to register.
