My ALA 2016 Schedule

I will be presenting and signing books in ALA Orlando Conference #alaac16. This is my schedule.

Learning Times Two - REFORMA President's Program

Saturday, June 25

11:00 AM - 12:30 PM

HYATT Regency Orlando, Room Manatee Springs I

Every day the demand for children’s bilingual (English/Spanish) books grows as more children in the United States learn Spanish as their first or second language. Books written and illustrated by Latinos/as are important for all children, but also essential to Latino families and the schools and libraries serving them.

How do bilingual books strengthen families, foster empathy, and improve school performance? What are the current barriers to more wide spread publication and use?

Join award-winning authors Monica Brown, René Colato Laínez, Christina Diaz Gonzalez, Angela Dominguez, and Meg Medina as they discuss the importance of creating and promoting Latino bilingual books for children and youth.

Meet the Authors: René Colato Laínez 
(Children's Book Press an imprint of Lee & Low Books Inc.)

Saturday, June 25

1:00 PM - 1:45 PM

Booth 1469

Mamá the Alien/ Mamá la extraterrestre

This cheerful and timely bilingual picture book explores the path to American citizenship and what it means to be a "resident alien."

Meet the Authors: René Colato Laínez (Holiday House, Inc.)

Saturday, June 25

3:30 PM - 4:30 PM

Booth 2019

¡Vámonos! Let's Go! : An adaptation of "The Wheels on the Bus" in English and Spanish

You may know that the wheels on the bus go round and round, but did you know that las ruedas del bus ruedan y ruedan? Or that while the horn on the truck goes honk, honk, honk, la bocina del camión goes tut tuu tuu?

Young readers are in for a cheerful and cacophonous ride in this bilingual picture book that introduces them to the sounds of motorcycles, fire trucks and more in both English and Spanish. But the best sounds of all are the ones from the children as they reach the state park at the end of their trip.

Meet the Authors: René Colato Laínez  (Arte Público Press)

Sunday, June 26

11:00 AM - 12:00 PM

Booth 1474

Arte Público Press and its imprint for children and young adults, Piñata Books, will display books—in English, Spanish, and bilingual formats—by U.S. Hispanic authors.

Books by René Colato Laínez: Waiting for Papá/ Esperando a Papá, I Am René, the Boy/ Soy René, el niño and René Has Two Last Names/ René tiene dos apellidos

Happy Day: From North to South/ Del Norte al Sur

From Illustrations to Final Book

Writing a picture book is fascinating. The author is just one parent. When you write the manuscript, you make images in your head of your protagonist, his/her family and his/her environment. After signing the contract, you need to wait to know who the other parent of your book will be, the illustrator. Soon, you discovered his/her name and then you may have a clear idea of how your book will look like.   

These are the final illustrations of From North to South, illustrated by Joe Cepeda. Images provided by Children's Book Press.

Then the book is born. It is time to the delivery. But instead of going to the hospital and waiting for the doctor, you stay at your front door and wait for the postman or postwoman.

You hear the knock knock or ding dong or a "Good afternoon." And surprise!

You look at the box and wonder, "Can this be the BOX. The one I am waiting for?" So you look at the label.

FROM NORTH TO SOUTH. Yes, this is the box. But you need to open it, just to be real sure.

Then you know. It is not a dream. It is true. Finally the picture of the proud parent.

"From North to South shines a light on the painful experience of family separation from both sides of the border—the questions, the anxiety of waiting, and the hope of a child and his parents. ¡Si se puede!" —Dolores Huerta, activist, organizer and co-founder of The United Farm Workers of America, AFL-CIO

Kirkus reviews FROM NORTH TO SOUTH

FROM NORTH TO SOUTH/DEL NORTE AL SUR

Author: Colato Laínez, René

Illustrator: Cepeda, Joe

Review Date: August 1, 2010

Publisher: Children's Book Press

Pages: 32

Price (Hardback): $17.95

Publication Date: September 1, 2010

ISBN (Hardback): 978-0-89239-231-5

Category: Picture Books

After his mother is deported by U.S. immigration officials, José and his father go to visit her at Centro Madres Assunta in Tijuana, where she will stay with other women and children until she gets her papers and can return. Frankly a plea for sympathy for families torn apart by immigration rules, this tender story is gently told in Spanish and English texts, together or on opposing pages. Young José recalls his day: the border traffic jam, the joy of seeing his mother, gardening and a seed game with other children in the shelter missing their parents and a final bedtime story told in the car’s backseat. The author, a Salvadoran immigrant, teaches in a bilingual school where his students often experience family separations. Cepeda’s oil paintings, full-bleed single- and double-page spreads, use bright colors and a variety of perspectives to reinforce the joyfulness of the day. A road map of the area between San Diego and Tijuana serves as endpapers. The child’s perspective makes this a particularly moving glimpse of an increasingly common experience. (Picture book. 5-9)