A New Year Begins for the Latin Baby Book Club

Dear Readers,

Last year was a rough one for the LBBC as I tried to juggle both this site and our sister site, MommyMaestra, as well as several freelance jobs. All while homeschooling two children. I certainly owe René Colato Laínez a huge debt for his continued commitment to the site and regular postings.

To be quite honest, I was also a bit disappointed in how the number of Latino children's literature had dwindled. There are still several small, independent publishers who continue to do great work, supporting and publishing stories by Latino authors for Latino children. But the building momentum that we experienced a few years ago when I first started the LBBC has definitely lost its steam.

Last month, though, something happened that started a movement among Latina bloggers to do something about the lack of Latino kids' lit available to our children. The New York Times published this article about how young Latino students don't see themselves in books. And they're right.

Latino children's lit only accounts for 3% of the children's books published in this country. That tiny number is up from 1% when I first started this blog. You can read more about what my experience has been over the last several years with regards to this industry in my article on NBC Latino.

So as I said, the result has been a the start of a small movement by Latina bloggers to put pressure on publishers to invest in a variety of Hispanic authors to reflect the diversityof our cultures so that all our children can relate to the characters they see in books. Not all of our kids are Mexican, or Cuban, or Puerto Rican. But they ALL deserve the right to see their own experiences, their own faces, staring back at them from the pages of a book.

So Latinas for Latino (Children's) Literature has been born. You may have joined us for our first (and very successful!) Twitter party on December 18th where we were pleased to have Arte Público, author Gwendolyn Zepeda, and illustrator Christina Rodriguez join us as our special guests.

We have many more events and special projects in the works and would love for you to join us for each and every one.

But to begin, take a look at this article about why it's important for our kids to have access to these books. It's about more than just learning to read. And read the comments that other Latina moms have left regarding how easy it is for them to find these books.

Then take a look at our blog carnival where each of us wrote a response to the NY Times article. My response includes three things YOU can do to make a difference. At the bottom of the article are links to all the other Latina bloggers who responded with beautiful, thoughtful words.

So what does this mean for the LBBC?

Well, it means I'll be trying to refocus my energy here and share more books - both new and old - with you. I'll also be changing with the times and expanding my reviews to include eBooks. But I can't do it alone. I need help with book reviews and hope that if you have a book that you and/or your children just love, you'll consider writing up a short review and sharing it here with us.

There is still a possibility that the LBBC will be merged with our sister site, MommyMaestra.com. It would make the most sense, but I'm still struggling with that as I have a soft place in my heart for this little blog that has shared so many wonderful stories and has a life of its own. In the mean time, this site will be having some major housekeeping done. Lots of updates and remodeling. A new life for a new year, no?

You don't have to be a Latina mom to get involved. We welcome everyone - men, women, Latinos, and non-Latinos - to join us in our mission to get more Latino children's literature into the hands of our children.

Con mucho cariño,

~Monica