A step away from the long-awaited summer, while spring still insists on having the last snowfalls of the season, there is nothing warmer than inaugurating this space within the framework of the Spanish Language Day and World Book Day festivities.
You may wonder which space I’m referring to: Kulttuurikeskus Ninho opens in its website this new section called Ninho Library to talk about what we love so much – children’s books! Here, you will find brief articles in English, Spanish, Portuguese, and other languages that will be gradually added.
In its inclusive, diverse, and multilingual environment, Ninho has been promoting activities, festivals, and events in several languages, not only to celebrate and support mother tongues, primary languages, native and heritage languages, but also to encourage intracultural and intercultural connections.
For the above, one of its many strategies is carried out through its children’s literature collection strengthening program, initiated in 2016, in which cooperation with writers, publishers, embassies and institutions is fostered to increase the number of children’s books in Spanish and Portuguese by giving books to the libraries of the Helsinki metropolitan area.
This hard work is very beneficial, because anyone residing in the country can have access to these books from local libraries. If you need help in this regard, you can find it at your nearest library and you always have the option to Ask a Librarian too.
Discover children’s books in Spanish and Portuguese that you can borrow from Helmet’s libraries. Click here!
In this section, we will be discussing these books found in libraries in different formats and languages, and we would even suggest possible books for request in the library’s acquisitions. Perhaps you will find here, from time to time, a bit of criticism towards some of these works and some amusing anecdotes about them. All this in a very concise manner and in a relaxed, friendly tone.
The goal is to present the materials available in diverse languages in public libraries, review and recommend books according to ages, and perhaps highlight other categories that will make it easier for you to select books, emphasize themes for commemorations and special situations, paying attention to their writing styles and illustrations.
We will be learning, for example, about the complaints of Camilo, a child who was bored with everything until his grandfather told him a secret; about the rebellious rooster who does not want to crow early in the morning in El gallo loco, a seemingly simple story with a moral; the imaginative and nervous Eusebio, who sees monsters everywhere in Tengo miedo; about colors with the potential to awaken other senses in Los limones no son rojos. Sounds like fun, doesn’t it? And I am sure there will be lots of surprises along the way.
May not even the icy wind dampen our celebration! Let us applaud these efforts and enjoy the richness of books written in our various languages, sharing this experience with our children. Each page is an invitation to explore, create, learn, open dialogue, and to keep alive, even sometimes questioning and modifying, our identity and cultural expressions for present and future generations.
Get to know Ivonne Carlos
Expert in Community Engagement and Culture at Cooperative 3E in Vaasa. MA in literature from the University of Bologna. Workshop facilitator, reading mediator, and creator of autonomous libraries. She adores dogs, loves baby drool, and can’t live without spicy food. She has published books, is an independent researcher, and activist.