Children's Books and Music
I met a very creative woman, Claudia Paz, who is Tere's daughter Kim's childhood best friend. Claudia makes children's books for ages 4-7 (1st and 2nd grade) in Spanish. She has two books now and will release the third very soon. The books come with a CD of music that goes along with the story and that children can sing along to. The music and story are culturally Latin (with Afro-latin rhythms, a peñada and everything). She writes the story and creates the illustrations herself and composes the music with her two brothers and sister. I've also hung out with her brother Christobal and they are very sensitive (as Tere puts it) and talented people. The messages of the books are very wholesome, like being there for your friend when he is in need and not making fun of him.
She has a great Colombian publisher and the books are a HUGE hit in South America. She was even invited to Washington, DC, to promote her book to a Spanish immersion elementary school there. She gave a concert performance with a projected Powerpoint display of a book for 150 children and they loved it. She has one of those charismatic personalities that enables her to retain the attention of a concert hall full of people when she wants to. One of her dreams is to tour to promote her book in the United States (the other is to start a version of Sesame Street in Latin America). She and I both think California would be a great place to start marketing her book and see if there are bilingual or immersion Spanish elementary schools that would be interested in inviting her to perform. We also talked about expanding the potential of the material for teaching by providing a translation of the text and lyrics for adult non-native speaking language teachers or interactive activities that children could engage in after being exposed to the material (she is also an elementary school teacher in Lima and the mother of two).
So, this entry is also a solitication of interest. If anyone reading this is interesting in or knows someone who might be interested in promoting Claudia's children's books and performances in the States (ie, contacting various Spanish immersion or bilingual elementary schools), please send me your contact information and she can send you a sample of her Powerpoint presentation and music. I know she would really appreciate it.
She has a great Colombian publisher and the books are a HUGE hit in South America. She was even invited to Washington, DC, to promote her book to a Spanish immersion elementary school there. She gave a concert performance with a projected Powerpoint display of a book for 150 children and they loved it. She has one of those charismatic personalities that enables her to retain the attention of a concert hall full of people when she wants to. One of her dreams is to tour to promote her book in the United States (the other is to start a version of Sesame Street in Latin America). She and I both think California would be a great place to start marketing her book and see if there are bilingual or immersion Spanish elementary schools that would be interested in inviting her to perform. We also talked about expanding the potential of the material for teaching by providing a translation of the text and lyrics for adult non-native speaking language teachers or interactive activities that children could engage in after being exposed to the material (she is also an elementary school teacher in Lima and the mother of two).
So, this entry is also a solitication of interest. If anyone reading this is interesting in or knows someone who might be interested in promoting Claudia's children's books and performances in the States (ie, contacting various Spanish immersion or bilingual elementary schools), please send me your contact information and she can send you a sample of her Powerpoint presentation and music. I know she would really appreciate it.
posted by Richard @ 9:14 AM
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