• Parenting

    My Pregnancy Favorites

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    I remember scouring “pregnancy favorites” lists when I was pregnant with my first baby! Now that I’m nearing the end of my third pregnancy (all the hallelujahs and praise hands up in here), I decided that the best way to commemorate my (last??) time being with child was to make my own list.

    Pregnancy favorites list

    There are millions of lists like these online, but sometimes it’s just nice to hear from people you know (or e-know) and see if any of your favorites match up! Also, as I was making this list I realized some of these may be rather crunchy recommendations, and did you know I’m kind of a crunchy mom? Fun fact! 🙂

    1. Pregnancy pillow – The one I use and love is so old that it’s not for sale anymore, but this one has all kinds of great reviews and it’s affordable. If I was in the market to replace my ancient one, this one is probably what I’d grab! My bump this time around is bigger than either of my other two pregnancies, which means my back pain is also worse than it’s ever been (fun!). My pillow has been keeping me sane, especially now that we’re at the bittersweet end.
    2. L’Occitane Organic Certified & Fair Trade Approved Pure Shea Butter – I’m pretty sure that stretch marks are genetic (right?), but since when did that ever stop a pregnant woman on a mission to prevent them? I’ve used this shea butter every morning with each of my three pregnancies, and while I didn’t manage to escape stretch marks completely, it helps sooo much with the itching! Living in the desert, some sort of lotion/moisturizing action is necessary anyway unless you want to rock the “I’m a lizard” look, and I like that this stuff doesn’t smell like anything and doesn’t stain. And I really only got a few stretch marks so I’m going to go ahead and say that without this, I would have a lot more.   
    3. Sunstone Women’s/Pregnancy Tea – ***All the disclaimers that I’m not a health professional nor am I any sort of pregnancy veteran, so you should definitely check with your doc, etc.*** This tea was recommended to me by a friend in my first pregnancy. She knew I was going for an unmedicated birth and her midwife had her drink this tea sooo I drank it, too. I’m sure that again, genetics have a lot to do with this but both of my previous labors have been really short and uncomplicated (and unmedicated), which I attribute partly to my faithful guzzling! I used to add honey or agave to sweeten it a little, but now I just chug it, I guess the taste grew on me? 🙂 Typing this makes me feel guilty that I haven’t been drinking it as much this time around so BRB, going to make myself a cup.
    4. Slim and Toned Prenatal Barre Workout – I’m a firm believer that the more active I am, the better I feel, even (especially?) during pregnancy. I’m not a gym-goer during this season of life because I feel like by the time I get all the kids and myself out the door and do a workout it’s like, my whole morning is gone. So I really love at-home workouts that I can do quickly in the morning before we start our day. This one has been a fav, mainly because it burns but each segment is only 20 minutes long, which seems doable both at the barfy beginning of pregnancy and at the end of pregnancy when you’re feeling especially elephanty and don’t want to move. You also could do more than one segment at a time but… I basically never do.
    5. Hypnobirthing – Last but not least! I know this won’t be for everyone, but if you’re even slightly interested in alternative ways to combat fear and pain during labor, I’ve loved both of my Hypnobirth labors. Even if you choose to go with an epidural, I feel like the visualization, deep-breathing and other massage/labor comfort measures you learn could help anyone have a more pleasant birth. And fair warning that if you ever ask me about Hypnobirthing in person I’ll probably talk your ear off about how awesome and helpful it’s been for us! Highly recommended.

    This oldie always makes me laugh! I’m currently at the third from the right and I don’t think I’ve ever gotten to the last one, but I still have plentyyyy of days left I suppose.

    Tell me, am I missing any of your pregnancy favorites? I still have a whole 4 weeks of pregnancy (at least… my babies tend to come late) so enlighten me with any third trimester lifesavers, pretty please.

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  • Bilingual Kids, Parenting

    My Child Won’t Speak Spanish

    If you’re raising a bilingual kid here in the U.S., no doubt you’ve experienced this issue (or will at some point): your child all of a sudden refuses to speak Spanish.

    Agh! The frustration! The confusion! Do you try to force it? Do you pretend you don’t understand English? Do you just carry on and ignore it? Have you done all of these things, like I have? 🙂

    I anticipate that this could be something we experience more and more with our kids, though luckily so far it hasn’t happened tooooo often. But the other day, while casually googling “my child won’t speak Spanish” (as one does, haha), I found the most brilliant analogy that I just had to share here.

    It comes from the research of Dr. Sabine Little, who works with bilingual families to see how they negotiate language policies at home. She thinks of the home language/minority language (Spanish in our case) as “Great Aunt Edna’s Vase.”

    Vase in the shape of a woman's head.

    Imagine that Great Aunt Edna passes on and leaves her treasured vase to her nephew. All kinds of things could happen, right? The nephew could have exactly the same taste and love her vase because he finds it beautiful. He also could think the vase is rather hideous, but keep it because it reminds him of how much he loved Great Aunt Edna. Orrr he might not care too much for either the vase OR Great Aunt Edna, so he stuffs it in a corner somewhere and lets it gather dust. Finally, he may think it’s so atrocious that he gives it away immediately and never thinks about it again.

    And that’s without taking into consideration what other family members might think and express about the florero!

    So the moral of the story is that this inherited gift can be a source of pride, conflict, guilt, love or disregard. And that’s just a vase! Imagine how complicated feelings can get when the inheritance is not an object, but a language!

    I’m working on a follow-up post with specific strategies on what you can actually DO when your kids won’t speak Spanish, but I thought this research was so interesting! Dr. Little found that parents often fail to talk with their kids about any complicated feelings regarding their bilingualism, which means that language could easily turn into a battleground for the family. I know I’ve seen that happen.

    Now that we’re a year away from our four year old starting kindergarten and officially switching from a mostly-Spanish day to a mostly-English day, I’m trying to prepare for this elementary school phase that Dr. Little calls “a common point of linguistic rebellion.” Her best advice? Keep renegotiating language choice with children as they grow up, and talk as much ABOUT language choice and the home language as IN the home language.  

    I’d love to hear from you, what has worked in your family (or hasn’t worked at all?). For us, pretending we don’t speak English wasn’t an option because hello, our kids are no dummies. My best strategy so far has been either asking a question in Spanish to gently remind everyone what we’re speaking (“Mommy, I did a puzzle today at school!” “Ah, ¿y de que era el rompecabezas?”) or just straight-up saying “En Español, por favor” if my more subtle approach isn’t working.

    Let me know in the comments what you do, and if you found the vase analogy as amazing as I did!

    (Photo of the vase by @evelyntannus on Instagram.)

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  • Book Review, Reading

    Crucial Lessons from “168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think”

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    I’ll start off by saying that 168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think is not a new book. It was written in 2010, but I happened to come across it in January of this year. It seemed like the perfect thing to read as I was thinking about what I wanted to accomplish in 2019 and how I wanted to spend my time.

    I loved, loved this book! It gave me so much to think about and some solid strategies to manage my time a little better (desperately needed, especially with a new baby due in a few weeks).

    Cover of the book 168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think

    The book starts off with a discussion about the common modern narrative about how nobody has enough time. Laura Vanderkam, the author, kind of pokes fun at an article in a magazine that asked people what they would do with 15 extra minutes in their day (relearn how to play the flute! write thank you letters! read a book!). She points out that if we’re scrambling for 15 extra minutes to write a thank you letter, no wonder we feel completely overwhelmed and crunched for time when it comes to achieving big things like building a career, spending quality time with our kids, or exercising consistently.

    Needless to say, she strongly disagrees with this narrative and argues that the 168 hours we have in a week is plenty of time to achieve our career goals, spend enough time with our families, fit in exercise and hobbies, AND get enough sleep every night. And then she gives some pretty convincing examples of people who do all of that.

    If you’re raising an eyebrow and feeling like that’s impossible, I highly recommend reading this book! The reason she comes up with 168 hours is that 24 hours seems like such a short amount of time to try to cram everything in, but the reality is that our natural rhythms and schedules are often made up of weeks more than individual days. Plus 168 hours gives us so much more flexibility than one day.

    This book was so helpful to me (I’m still thinking about it months after I finished it). So I decided to share some of her main points here:

    • Keep track of your time, hour by hour, for a week or two so you can see how you’re actually spending your time. This was both gratifying and rather eye-opening for me. On the one hand, I was like “Oh hey, I’m doing tons of stuff!” (things that by the nature of spending most of the day at home with very little kids are immediately undone, you know, but still). But I also realized that I was spending way too much time online. I love Instagram, but I hadn’t realized I was using Facebook much more than necessary (especially since it’s an app that I don’t even particularly like). I immediately put screen time & app limits on my phone and was amazed at how much it helped.
    • Figure out what you’re best at doing— your core competencies— and spend your time doing that. Nobody is better than you at nurturing relationships with your kids and partner, so maximize your time doing that. Laundry on the other hand? That can probably be done by someone else just as well as by you. Most of us do it because we have to, not because we really enjoy it, so it’s a perfect example of something you can spend a minimal amount of time doing. What are you really great at and what can you outsource?
    • “Busy” does not = “productive.” I think most of us feel like we’re doing a lot, but being busy doesn’t mean we actually did much that was important during our 168 hours. I love the term “procrasticleaning” because it describes what I find myself doing so often— clearing my kids’ junk off the floor or organizing emails in my inbox to avoid doing what I actually should be doing. She also slams inefficient meetings that could be finished in 20 minutes if everyone stayed on task, time spent at your desk multi-tasking between screens, and doing fairly unimportant busy work. All of this, she says, leads to us feeling like we’re ALWAYS working, when in reality if we were more efficient and focused with our time, we’d probably get the same amount of things done in a lot less time. These days, instead of making a massive to-do list every morning, I write down 1-3 things I absolutely need to do for work during quiet time. Then I put my head down to focus on those completely for the two-ish hours I have while my youngest daughter naps.  
    • Outsource! She’s a big fan of outsourcing housey things like house cleaning, laundry, grocery shopping, cooking and lawn care. Not sure I totally agree with her here. I mean, I do agree that it would be ideal, just not that it’s possible for every family; if you’re struggling to pay rent, you probably aren’t going to be hiring someone to come mow your lawn. And also some people really like cooking!
    • Schedule time for hobbies. One really great activity she advises doing is to come up with a “list of 100 dreams.” These can be anything from “run a marathon” to “always have fresh flowers in the house.” Once you know what you’d like to be doing with your leisure time— read more books, volunteer with an organization you care about, take a class— then you can choose 2-4 at a time and schedule a time for them to happen. I thought this was really key, because it’s easy to say “I wish I had more time to practice the piano,” but then spend any free time you DO have doing things like watching TV or scrolling on your phone (neither of which is nearly as rejuvenating or fun as we think). She’s especially hard on TV watching, because apparently the average American watches 20-30 hours of TV a week (enough for a part-time job!).

    One thing I appreciate about this book is that she doesn’t make it seem like it’s easy to live the life you want. It definitely takes a lot of planning and discipline to organize your days so you don’t spend time doing things like scrolling on social media, checking your email, or running errands.

    I think that no matter what your life looks like— and even if you aren’t able to implement all of her suggestions, like hiring out your laundry— we can all benefit from looking critically at how we use our time (both our leisure time and our work time). And her examples of people who have organized their life more efficiently to be able to do everything they want to were really inspirational for me (thinking specifically of the CEO mom of 6 who coaches soccer on the weekends and sleeps 7 hours a night).  

    Whether or not you’ve read the book or not, I’d love to know: what things do you want to fit in your life right now? My big ones are reading consistently, exercising most days and practicing the piano for a couple of hours each week.

    (Photo of the book by @madelinessummerlife on Instagram.)

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  • Entrepreneurship

    A Few Thoughts on Alt Summit

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    Have you ever heard of Altitude Summit? It’s a conference for bloggers, small business owners and social media folks that I’ve been following for YEARS (I guess because I follow a lot of bloggers that go or have gone).

    This is the first year I’ve been able to attend, and now that I’ve had a minute to think through the experience, I thought I’d share what it was like for me in case you’re interested.

    Beach ball in pool

    For the 10th anniversary of the conference, the Alt Summit organizers made it massively bigger (someone told me that ¾ of this year’s attendees were first-timers). The conference was much longer than before (6 days) and spread out among 4 different hotels in Palm Springs.

    This meant that the ticket was also more expensive: $700-$1100, depending on when you bought the ticket. (And that’s JUST the ticket, so adding in hotel, travel, meals, etc. meant it would get pretty pricey.)

    So, when the Alt Summit folks put out a call for presenters and I realized that if you presented you didn’t have to buy a ticket, I decided to pitch a presentation.

    You guys, there were HUNDREDS OF PITCHES.

    I knew the chances were pretty slim that mine would get chosen (a feeling that was magnified x a million after I read some of the other amazing pitches). But it did!! So I decided to go for it, and I was so so so excited to finally get the chance after wondering what it was like for so long.

    Woman sitting at purple desk on purple phone

    WHAT I LOVED:

    • By far, the best part for me was meeting so many entrepreneurs. I think that this conference was originally designed as a blogger conference, but over the years it’s also become a conference for (mostly female) entrepreneurs in creative fields. It was so exciting and inspiring to see how many types of businesses can exist and really become hugely successful.
    • A close second for me was a meetup I attended with other Latina jefas. I’m naturally an introvert, and although it’s easy for me to chat with people, I definitely do best in a smaller group setting. There really weren’t very many Latinx at this conference, so it felt like such a treat to meet gente and really get to know them & have fun in a very relaxed environment.
    • Staying at the Saguaro. I had originally planned to attend with a friend that couldn’t make it at the last minute, so I ended up with the room to myself. I thought about finding a roommate, but I wasn’t really that excited about sharing my bed with a stranger for so many days. Also Josh was like, “You’re pregnant! Just enjoy it!” so I was like WELL OK THEN! I promised myself I’d make time to work every day (instead of socializing with roomate/s) and honestly was way too excited about uninterrupted sleep for the first time in, oh, about 4 years. The Saguaro was definitely the least fancy of the 4 hotels, but I thought it was fine and super convenient to be able to run back to my room at any time, especially since one of the parties and many of the sessions were held at this hotel.
    • Many of the sessions/classes. I think the behind-the-scenes of blogging and small business ownership are so fascinating, and I loved hearing from people that are doing big things in their businesses. It was kind of thrilling to be able to learn from people like Joy Cho of Oh Joy, or Elle Rowling from Solly Baby; and it was just as helpful to pick up tips on copywriting, batching your social media content, working with brands, or improving iPhone photography from other very nice folks I had never heard of before.
    Saguaro hotel, colorful rooms, blue sky

    WHAT I DIDN’T LOVE:

    • How long the conference was. 6 days is a LOT of days. And I technically missed the first one, because I caught a ride with a friend from Phoenix on Sunday (when it started) and we got there after that day’s sessions had ended. It felt like people started off so excited and chatty, but by Thursday everyone was getting pretty tired. I also didn’t like that Friday was billed as another conference day but there weren’t actually any sessions scheduled (just informal meet-ups organized by conference attendees). For me, taking that much time away from my family and business was logistically challenging (and also I just really missed them all by Thursday!). If I attend again, I probably won’t stay the whole time.
    • I feel like in years past, people just RAVED about every detail of Alt Summit. And while there were many really lovely things, I was underwhelmed by some of it, too. Maybe it’s because I was pregnant and super tired by the end of the day, but I didn’t think the parties or closing concert were particularly great. I also know some people were upset that only the first few rows could actually see Joanna Gaines during her keynote speech, since she sat on a stage with no risers and her speech wasn’t broadcast on the big screens in the room. I sat in one of the last rows so I definitely could only hear her and it didn’t bother me, but I can see how those details either elevate or bring down an event.
    • The food situation. There was only one meal provided per day (lunch), and since the conference was spread all over, you got three meal tickets at random hotels. If your lunch ticket happened to be at a different hotel than where you wanted to do a session or class, it was on you to exchange it with someone (or miss lunch). Every other conference I’ve been to has at least a couple of meals included, and while it wasn’t a huge deal to buy my own food, for a conference ticket that’s pretty high priced I was just surprised (and hungry, #sopregnant).
    Mural of Frida Kahlo

    OTHER THINGS:

    • I mentioned before that this is the first time the conference has been held simultaneously at four hotels. There were shuttles that ran between the four hotels all day long, though I know a lot of attendees used Uber or Lyft to get back and forth instead because sometimes the shuttles could take a while. Personally, my strategy was to just choose one hotel per day and stay there for most sessions (instead of trying to go back and forth between different hotels all day long). Unfortunately this meant that I couldn’t get to EVERY session I was interested in. I know this bummed some of the other attendees out, but hey, life is about making choices, no?
    • I’d heard for years that the fashion at Alt Summit was crazy and also really important. I suppose being pregnant was kind of a blessing in disguise, because I didn’t really have the luxury to stress about what I would wear— I just took the 5 things that still fit me, haha. Once I got there though, it really wasn’t a big deal. Lots of people do wear fun, bright colors and there were plenty of fashion bloggers taking outfit pictures. It was so fun to see what everyone was wearing, but I felt fine wearing my regular clothes (and I wore the same outfit all day).
    • It’s a BIG conference. This year was bigger than ever, with something like 1200 attendees I think. I went by myself and met plenty of nice people, but there’s no way to meet even a fourth of the people there.

    For me, the big question is “Would I go back again?” (or buy my own ticket). I am still thinking this one through.

    Because my business caters to bilingual families and a Latinx audience, I feel that We All Grow Summit (a conference for Latina creators and entrepreneurs that I attended last year, and was planning to attend this year until I realized I’d be about 5 minutes away from giving birth) is a much better fit. At Alt, while plenty of people thought my business was really interesting, it just wasn’t right for the audience of most of the influencers that I met.

    However, now that I know what it’s like and how to prepare, I would consider attending again to learn more about the business of blogging & connect with sponsors (so from a blogger perspective, not necessarily a small-business-owner perspective).

    So there you have it! If you have any questions about Alt (including “um, why did you think I’d be interested in reading allllll of this?”), I’m happy to answer!

    (First and third photos by Paige Major. Fourth photo my pic of the Frida Kahlo mural created at Alt Summit by Michael Corr.)

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  • Bilingual Bookworm, Bilingual Kids, Book List, Reading

    Spanish Poems for Kids

    At my elementary school in Mexico, a big part of our curriculum was memorizing poetry and then reciting it in front of the class. It actually was more than reciting– it was “declamar,” which means you had to say the poem with convincing emotion and include dramatic hand gestures, too (more like acting out the poem). The kids who were really good at this got to go compete with kids from other schools at a poetry-reciting contest.

    I was always great at memorizing the poems (my long-term memory is shot, but my short-term memory is and always has been amazing!); but with my little mouse voice, I can’t tell you how many times my teacher asked me to speak louder because nobody could hear me.

    Needless to say, I never won one of those contests. 🙂

    Two books of Spanish and bilingual poems

    However, I do think it’s pretty cool that poetry was such a big part of our education! Just the other day I explained the concept of rhyming to my four-year-old and realized that I actually say little poems to my kids all day long (“Caracol, caracol, saca tus cuernos al sol,” etc.).

    I’d love to claim that this is a byproduct of my excellent poetry education as a child, but the truth is that most of them come from one of my very favorite children’s books, ¡Pío Peep!, a classic (and beautifully illustrated) bilingual book of songs and little poems.

    One thing that I think is really great about Spanish poems for kids is that because most bilingual kids are also bicultural, knowing the sayings and rhymes of two cultures allows children to fully participate in both. Knowing the little rhymes everyone else grew up on helps you get jokes and literary references, too (if you’re Latinx, tell me you haven’t bonded with someone over “los pollitos dicen,” haha).  

    All of this is to say that April, which is National Poetry Month in the U.S., seemed like a great time to share some of our favorite books of Spanish poems for kids (a couple are bilingual!). As always, if you have favorites of your own, I would be THRILLED to have more recommendations.

    ¡Pío Peep!: Traditional Spanish Nursery Rhymes by Alma Flor Ada and F. Isabel Campoy (bilingual English/Spanish)

    I mentioned before that this book is one of my favorites! We got it as a gift at our baby shower for our first daughter and, four years later, I still pull it out all the time. It has so many of the Spanish songs and nursery rhymes I remember from my own childhood and now love singing to my kids. And in addition, I think the English translations are really well done. They’re not literal translations, which is essential especially in poetry because that way they can actually rhyme in English, too. Highly recommend!

    Colors! ¡Colores! by Jorge Luján and Piet Grobler (bilingual English/Spanish)

    This book is a great introduction to poetry because each poem is super short. Mexican poet Jorge Luján picks one color to focus on in each poem, which is set against illustrator Piet Grobler’s beautiful images. I’m not normally into non-rhyming poetry (what can I say, I’m an unsophisticated poetry-reader), but I think this book really works for me because the poems are so bite-sized.

    Book of Spanish poetry

    Historias para colorear un mosquitero blanco by Zahylis Ferro (Spanish)

    I had to include this one because I think the writing here is so beautiful! The poems in this book are written from the perspective of three generations of women: the grandmother, who lives in a rural part of the Caribbean country where she was born; the granddaughter/mother who left (migrated to the U.S. is the implication); and the great-granddaughter who returns to the ancestral home for a visit. These poems are truly lovely and nostalgic, but my favorite part is how they all center on love for the family.

    Mi primer libro de poesía by José Luis Ferris (Spanish)

    This is an illustrated anthology that includes poems from classic and contemporary  poets from Spain and Latin America. Some of the more famous ones include Amado Nervo, Gloria Fuertes, and Federico García Lorca. It’s a nice way to introduce these authors to kids as a foundation for future Spanish literature study!

    Todo es canción: Antología poética by Alma Flor Ada (Spanish)

    I think the best thing I can share about this book is my favorite poem from it:

    Poem about being bilingual by Alma Flor Ada

    I mean if that’s not an anthem for Sol Book Box / my life / my motherhood / this blog, I don’t know what is! All of the Spanish poems in here are organized by curriculum themes (parts of the body, numbers, nature, etc.), so it’s a great one for teachers or folks with a teacher-heart. 🙂

    Amazon links are affiliate links, meaning that if you click a link and make a purchase I may get a (very) small commission. It won’t change how much you pay for an item.

     

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  • Parenting

    How Many Kids Do You Hope to Have?

    Foto of family holding ultrasound announcement

    In September, I found out I was pregnant with our third baby. This is how Josh realized I was pregnant: after taking the pregnancy test, I made plans to take him to a fancy restaurant and tell him. Buuuut right before he got home, the babysitter canceled and I cried and cried. Apparently my reaction to this not-catastrophic news was a dead giveaway, haha.  

    One of my friends mentioned the other day that every once in a while she will look around the table at her family (she has two kids) and think, “Are we all here? Is this still everyone?” She said that so far, the answer has always been yes. So although she hasn’t ruled out a third kid entirely, she feels like her 6-year-old and her 8-year-old are the only ones she’s supposed to have (at least for now).

    I think that clarity is pretty enviable! As for me, I kind of had always imagined I’d have at least three kids. At first I thought it was just because I’m one of three, so maybe it was my subconscious telling me that’s what a family looks like. But as we started considering a third baby, I definitely felt that we really were missing someone.

    I will say that after a rather trying transition from one kid to two kids, I thought we might leave a bigger gap between baby #2 and baby #3. Surprise!

    As it turned out, our kids will all be 2 years and 2 months apart, which is pleasantly symmetrical I suppose (viéndolo por el lado amable).  

    I think family size is such an interesting subject, and I’m so curious: How many kids do you hope to have? One, two or more? None? Not sure? Do you and your partner agree on the number?

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  • Español

    7 libros de no ficción en español para niños

    El mes de marzo es el mes nacional de la lectura (National Reading Month) aquí en Estados Unidos. ¿No les parece eso maravilloso? Me encanta que hay un mes entero en el cual los niños (y a los adultos) se pueden enfocar en mejorar sus habilidades de lectura y encontrar el amor por los libros. Ya casi se termina el mes, pero ¡ojalá podamos seguir celebrando los libros y la lectura!

    Como ya sabrán, a mi me encanta una buena lista de libros para niños en español. ¡En este país difícilmente podemos encontrar libros muy buenos en español sin ningún esfuerzo! Normalmente hay que planear y buscar un poco mas para poder encontrar los maravillosos, y con más razón hay que hacerlo para encontrar libros de no ficción.

    Nonfiction book with toddler looking through cutout

    ¡Estoy super feliz de poder trabajar con Read on Arizona en Español y la campaña de Conversar para Aprender para compartirles esta lista de libros buenísimos de no ficción para niños!

    Y es que les platico que es super importante fomentar ese hábito de la lectura en los niños. Es una parte muy grande de la campaña de Conversar para Aprender, ya que LEA es la cuarta estrategia (de cinco) que ayuda con el desarrollo del lenguaje y la lectura en nuestros niños.

    Y resulta que el leer libros de no ficción es SUPER MEGA IMPORTANTE para los niños, porque así desarrollan la comprensión de la lectura, aumentan su conocimiento general, mejoran su vocabulario y fortalecen sus habilidades analíticas. ¡De hecho el libro que mandamos este mes a los clientes de Sol Book Box fue un libro de no ficción por las mismas razones!

    Los libros que he incluido en esta lista son ejemplos buenísimos de libros de no ficción para niños, porque además de su texto informativo tienen ilustraciones muy bonitas y accesibles para los niños. ¡Espero que puedan encontrar uno o varios en la biblioteca o que los puedan conseguir por internet para disfrutarlos en familia!

    Spanish picture book about triceratops

    Hay un triceratops en la casa del árbol por Larousse

    Mi hija mayor está obsesionada con los dinosaurios, así que hemos leído este libro muchísimas veces ultimamente. ¿Alguna vez se han preguntado cómo sería la vida de un triceratops en nuestro mundo moderno? Sería muy bueno para jugar fútbol porque sus piernas son muy fuertes… peeeero también podría reventar el balón con sus cuernos picudos. Este libro me encanta porque aprendemos tantas cosas interesantes acerca del triceratops, pero la información se comparte de una forma tan simple y graciosa.

    El pan por Francois Laurent

    “El pan” es parte de una serie de libros llamada “Yo sé lo que como.” Igual que los demás libros de esta serie, este se enfoca en un tipo específico de comida (el pan en este caso) y les ayuda a los niños a entender de dónde viene, empezando desde el trigo que crece para hacer la harina. Este libro también está padre porque hace preguntas como “¿Cómo podemos producir el pan respetando la tierra?” ¡Me encanta el punto de vista ecologista!

    La gravedad por Jason Chin

    Este libro me lo encontré de imprevisto en la biblioteca. No tiene mucho texto, mas bien utiliza las ilustraciones hermosas para introducir el tema súper complejo de la gravedad, y hacerlo accesible a los lectores mas pequeños. Mi única queja con este libro es que hace esto por medio de preguntas tales como “Qué detiene a las cosas para que no salgan volando hacia el espacio?” pero no explica exactamente lo que ES en realidad la gravedad (obviamente mi hija de 3 años me exigió una respuesta mas exacta). Les doy el adelanto para que se preparen y no les agarre en curva (como a mi) cuando sus hijos pequeños requieran una explicación. 🙂

    Spanish nonfiction picture book about gravity

    En el parque de bomberos (Spanish Edition) por Marie Fordacq

    ¿Cuál es el trabajo de un bombero? ¿Qué tipo de cosas hace cada día? Este libro interactivo nos muestra la rutina diaria de los bomberos, desde su entrenamiento hasta una misión de rescate. Este libro fue uno de los que elegimos para Sol Book Box el año pasado. ¡Nos encanta que se puede construir un parque de bomberos con las piezas fáciles de montar que vienen al final del libro!

    ¿Sabes cómo funciona? por Cecile Jugla

    Este libro está buenísimo para los niños mas curiosos (o sea, todos) porque explica cómo los artículos cotidianos que usamos en nuestra vida se basan en la ciencia. Se divide en 6 secciones distintas (comida, ropa, entretenimiento, el hogar, la ciudad y los transportes) y en cada sección hay preguntas y respuestas. Algunos ejemplos: porqué usamos el jabón, qué sucede en el aeropuerto, y cómo se hacen las caricaturas. ¡Muy recomendable si necesitan un poco de ayuda para contestar las miles de preguntas que hacen los niños todos los días!

    LIBROS PARA NIÑOS MAS GRANDES (7+)

    Cuando pedí recomendaciones en Instagram, me dieron un par de sugerencias de libros que son para niños un poquito mas grandes. También están muy padres estos libros así que los quise incluir por si tienen lectores mas avanzados. Ambos siguen siendo libros ilustrados, pero para niños de 7-11 años.

    Viajamos tan lejos… por Laura Knowles

    Me fascina la migración de los animales. Imagínense: todas esas criaturas se pasan la vida nadando, volando o caminando por el planeta. En este libro, ilustraciones bellísimas acompañan las historias de la migración de diferentes especies, entre ellas las ballenas, las tortugas, las mariposas monarcas y los osos polares (y muchos mas).

    Sabores De America por Ana María Pavez and Constanza Recart

    Este libro se trata de la comida así que es muy fácil de amar. Aquí leemos acerca de los alimentos que hasta el siglo XV sólo eran consumidos en América (por ejemplo el maíz, la papa, los tomates, el chocolate, la papaya y el aguacate). Este libro también está muy padre, porque además de la información acerca de cada comida, en cada página viene una receta sencilla que se puede hacer junto con los niños.

    Mom holding nonfiction picture books

    ¡Así que ahí tienen! Me encantaría encontrar más libros de no ficción, así que si tienen sugerencias ¡por favor déjenlas en los comentarios!

    Este post fue patrocinado por Read On Arizona, una organización que comparte mi entusiasmo por ayudar a los padres a criar niños que aman leer.

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  • Bilingual Bookworm, Bilingual Kids, Book List, Reading

    7 Fantastic Nonfiction Books in Spanish

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    It’s (the end of) National Reading Month! Heyooo! I love that the U.S. has a whole month dedicated to helping kids (and adults) improve their reading skills and find a love for books. March is almost over, but that doesn’t mean the reading fun should stop!

    As you know, I also love a good Spanish children’s book roundup, because it’s rare for us to just be able to go to the library or bookstore and happen upon great books en español. It usually takes a little more planning and research to be able to find the fabulous ones, and in my experience that’s even more true with nonfiction books.

    Nonfiction book with toddler looking through cutout

    I’m thrilled to partner with Read on Arizonaand the Conversar para Aprender initiative this month to share a list of fantastic nonfiction books for little ones!

    You know I talk all the time about how important reading is. It’s a huge part of the Conversar para Aprender campaign as the fourth strategy (out of five) for helping kids’ language and literacy development.

    Reading nonfiction is ESPECIALLY important for kids though, because it helps them develop reading comprehension, build background knowledge, improve vocabulary, and develop analytical skills. In fact, the book we sent out to our Sol Book Box subscribers this month was nonfiction for these very reasons!

    The picture books below are the perfect intro to nonfiction thanks to their compelling text and kid-friendly visuals. I hope you can pick up one or a few at your local library or online to enjoy as a family!

    Spanish picture book about triceratops

    Hay un triceratops en la casa del árbol by Larousse

    We are in a dinosaur phase right now, so this book has been a big hit lately. Have you ever thought about how a triceratops would do in our modern world? He’d be great at playing soccer/fútbol because of his super strong legs… buuut he might accidentally pop the ball with his horns. I like it because it shares so many interesting facts about the triceratops in a silly, kid-friendly format.

    El pan by Francois Laurent

    “El pan” is part of a series of books called “Yo sé lo que como.” Like the other books in the series, this one talks about a specific food (bread, in this case) and helps kids understand where it comes from, starting from the wheat we grow to make the flour. This book is also really great because it discusses things like “¿Cómo podemos producir el pan respetando la tierra?” I really appreciate the environmentally conscious vibe.

    La gravedad by Jason Chin

    This was an unexpected library find! It has sparse text and compelling images to take the very complex subject of gravity and make it accessible to young readers. My only complaint is that, while it asks questions like “What stops everything from floating into space?” it leaves the reader with the heavy-lifting of explaining what exactly gravity IS, which I was so not prepared to do. Fair warning so you can prep before your own small child makes you explain. 🙂

    Spanish nonfiction picture book about gravity

    En el parque de bomberos (Spanish Edition) by Marie Fordacq

    What is a firefighter’s job? What kind of things do they do each day? This interactive picture book walks us through a firefighter’s daily routine, from training to rescue missions. This was a Sol Book Box book we sent out last year. We especially love the removable figurines at the back of the book that let readers build their own fire station!

    ¿Sabes cómo funciona? by Cecile Jugla

    This book is REALLY great for curious little people because it explains the science behind 50 items we use in our everyday life. It’s divided into different sections (a few examples include: At Home, Transportation, Food, and Getting Ready). In each of those sections it teaches kids things like why we use soap, what happens at the airport, or even how cartoons are made. Highly recommended in case you need some help with answers to the many “porque’s” and “como’s” you get asked on the daily!  

    BONUS BOOKS FOR OLDER KIDS (7+)

    When I asked for recommendations on Instagram, there were a couple of suggestions for books geared toward older kids. I checked them out and they are pretty great, so I’m including in case you have older readers! Both of these are still picture books, but are written for kids in the 7-11 age range.

    Viajamos tan lejos… by Laura Knowles

    I think animal migration is such a fascinating thing! Just think of all the creatures that spend their life swimming, flying or walking across the planet. In this book, beautiful illustrations accompany the amazing migration stories of different species, including whales, albatross, leatherback turtles, monarch butterflies, and polar bears (plus lots of others).

    Sabores De America by Ana María Pavez and Constanza Recart

    This book is all about food, so it’s pretty easy to love. In it, we read about some of the foods that until modern times were consumed only on the American continent (things like corn, potatoes, tomatoes, chocolate, papaya, and avocado). This book is also awesome because for along with little facts and a history lesson behind each food, you also get a simple, kid-friendly recipe to try out.

    Mom holding nonfiction picture books

    And there you have it! I would LOVE to add to this list, so if you have suggestions for other fabulous nonfiction books your kids have loved, please leave them in the comments!

    This post is sponsored by Read On Arizona, an organization that shares my enthusiasm for helping parents raise readers.

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  • Favorite Things

    Three Things Making My Life Better

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    Sometimes, it’s the simple things that make the biggest difference!

    VEN CON UN CUENTO ON SPOTIFY

    I’m not the one that actually uses this, since it’s a playlist of short stories in Spanish for kids on Spotify. But my hija loves it, and I love it for entertaining her during quiet time so I can get some work done. 🙂

    As a side note, last week I wrote about the book The Read Aloud Family, and one of the things the author mentions is that it doesn’t necessarily have to be YOU reading aloud to your kids always. Apparently audiobooks totally count! So this little playlist is a win all around.

    Each story is short, so my daughter blew through the whole list in just a few days (I tried to ration them out a little). I thought she would color or something while she listened, but she straight up just stared at the phone, haha. Not sure if that says more about how riveting they are or how riveting the phone is…

    I’m always on the hunt for kid podcasts or audiobooks in Spanish, so if you know of any more I’d love if you shared!

    FLIC APP

    This is one of those things that I use and then kind of forget about for a while, but oh man it’s been a game changer for me.

    If you’ve never heard of it, it’s an app for sorting and deleting the pictures on your phone, which is a task I’d procrastinated for literally YEARS before I got it. Basically it works like Tinder (I think; I’ve never used Tinder): you swipe right to keep, left to delete. I have no idea why this is so much faster and easier than the regular way but… it is. And more fun.

    You can get a free version, which limits you to 100 pictures a day. That sounds like tons, but the first day I blew through that in just a couple of minutes. I ended up upgrading to the paid version for the extravagant price of $1.99 and I’ve never looked back! But the free version is nice if you just want to give it a try first.

    SETTING UP SCREEN TIME/APP LIMITS ON MY IPHONE

    I’m planning on writing (much) more about this is an upcoming post, but I’ve been reading the book 168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think by Laura Vanderkam. I mention this only because it motivated me to do something I knew I SHOULD do, but kept not doing.

    I turned on limits for for screen time and social media on my iPhone.

    This is technically something I could have done months ago when Apple released the update that made it possible, but honestly I just didn’t think it would make that big of a difference so I didn’t do it.

    But after reading Vanderkam’s book and realizing that I wanted to be a lot more intentional about how I spent my days and my time, I gave myself a 35 minute daily limit for all social media and OH MAN.

    It’s weird, but seeing that “Time Limit Reached” screen really works for me (even though, technically, I could also just tap “Ignore Limit” for either 15 minutes or for the whole day). But I think the best part is that since I go through my daily limit fairly quickly, for the rest of the day I pretty much have no temptation or inclination to pick up my phone and do the mindless scrolling thing.

    The only thing I don’t love is that it counts the WhatsApp and Telegram apps as part of social media. Since that’s where my big family group chats live (with groups for my parents & siblings, a big tías + cousins group, a primas only group, etc.), I don’t really think of those as “social media;” for me it’s more like the best way to stay in touch with my international family.

    So I do some ignoring of time limits for those apps 🙂 but it’s still helped tremendously for me to cut down on my (mostly unnecessary, let’s face it) phone time. CAN’T RECOMMEND HIGHLY ENOUGH.

    And now I’d love to hear: if you have any things making your life better right now, please share!

    (Photo of Kate Winslet reading by Wes Anderson/American Express.)

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  • Book Review, Reading

    What I Learned from “The Read-Aloud Family: Making Meaningful and Lasting Connections with Your Kids” by Sarah Mackenzie

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    I heard about The Read-Aloud Family a while ago because I follow the author, Sarah Mackenzie, who does the Read Aloud Revival podcast. If you’re interested in reading out loud to your kids more (or even interested in WHY you should be interested, ha), her podcast is a great place to start.

    Before I started the book, I wondered if it would be useful to me since, as the owner of a children’s book subscription service, I already highly value reading to my kids and do spend a lot of time doing it. I have to say that I still found it very motivating and inspiring!

    Hand holding the book "The Read Aloud Family"

    I think this book would be helpful for any parent, since it’s packed with ideas and encouragement for making reading out loud actually happen. So I thought I’d share a few of the key things I learned— that way you can see if you’d like to read it yourself! (Or, you know, just read this summary and call it good… that works too!)

    ABOUT THE BOOK

    The Read Aloud Family is divided into three sections. The first one covers why reading aloud to your children is important. The second section is more of a tool-kit on how, exactly, to make reading aloud happen, and also how to make it fun and meaningful. Finally, the third section is all book suggestions, divided up by ages (0-3, 4-7, 8-12, and teenagers).

    The most helpful parts for me were the first two sections, since we still mostly read in Spanish here at home, but I can see how her book lists are GOLD. I’m definitely planning on using them as we incorporate more English books into our read aloud time!

    THREE GREAT TAKEAWAYS FROM THE READ ALOUD FAMILY

    #1. If you want your family to be a reading family, you have to have books in your home. Mackenzie says that we send a clear message to our kids when we spend some of our hard-earned cash on books: they matter, they’re a part of who we are, and they’re important to our family.

    She recommends gifting your kids books for holidays and birthdays, as well as giving them a book allowance to grow their collection. I love that last part, because some of my best childhood memories are of getting to go to Barnes & Noble after a long day of shopping in El Paso, TX (3 hours from my hometown in Chihuahua, Mexico) to pick out a book to read on the drive home.

    #2. How to help books compete with screen time. Mackenzie compares a book to a watermelon (juicy, sweet, refreshing), and screen time to candy (possibly more tempting, but ultimately much less nourishing). Most kids love eating sticky, delicious watermelon, but if they’re offered a piece of candy, they’ll choose that almost every time.

    So she recommends that instead of setting certain times of day when screens are not an option, set times of day when screens are. This makes screen time the exception in your home, not the rule, which frees up the rest of the day for other things (including reading!). As she says, it’s so much easier to enjoy the watermelon when we aren’t tempted by the candy.

    #3. How to choose great books: the 3 question test. I loved this part because I often get asked how I choose books for Sol Book Box, and basically my answer is that I use her 3 question test (before I even knew about it!).

    Here are the things you should pay attention to as you figure out if a book is worth reading.

    • Images: Can you picture the scene in your mind’s eye? This works with illustrations, of course, but even if the book is just text, it should be capable of transporting you so you can see it in your own imagination.
    • Vocabulary: Do the words seem rich and varied? No dumbed-down books, please! And no badly translated books, either!
    • Curiosity: Are you interested in finding out what happens next? If not, it’s probably not worth reading.

    Whew! As you can see from this mega-post, I thought this book was really helpful. There’s a lot more I could have shared, but hopefully this summary gives some useful ideas to encourage you to read aloud to your kids!

    P.S. If you’d rather listen than read (or don’t have time to read), The Read Aloud Family also comes in audiobook form (and is narrated by the author!).

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