For Cryin' Out Loud

I couldn't have said it better myself:

Confessions of a Community College Dean shares his understanding of why bilingual education is so important in our culture.

If you've ever met anyone from a country outside of the U.S., you might be intimidated, like I am, when you discover how many languages they speak, fluently. There are many cultures who encourage their students to learn not two, but many different languages from an early age. Why should our country be any different?

Read on for more from Dean Dad:

"In the last few weeks, two of the biggest, most respected and sought after employers in our service area told me, independently and without prompting, that they desperately want bilingual employees.

Given two similarly qualified candidates, one bilingual and the other not, both employers made it abundantly clear to me that they’d hire the bilingual one in a heartbeat. The ability to communicate with Spanish-speaking clients (or, more importantly, potential clients) is a major business advantage, and one for which they’re willing to pay."

Each of the sixteen Kane/Miller Spanish language titles, from our Libros del Mundo series, are also available in English. These are great resources for young readers, or adults with little knowledge of Spanish, for an introduction to reading, writing, and speaking another language.

What are your thoughts on bilingual education in the U.S.?

Guji Guji Honored

The International Latino Book Awards awarded our Spanish edition of Guji Guji second place in the Best Children's Picture Book category.

Chih-Yuan Chen wrote Guji Guji as well as On My Way to Buy Eggs. Both titles are available in Spanish as part of our Libros del mundo series in paperback editions.

USS Boxer Humanitarian Mission

A few weeks ago, my son's preschool sent out a notice about a humanitarian mission that one of the parents was participating in as part of his role with the US Navy.

My son chose over a dozen stuffed animals from his collection to donate and Kane/Miller provided Spanish language books from our Libros del Mundo series.

Photograph from

Dougal the Garbage Dump Bear

by Matt Dray

Just this week, emails have been circulating with stories about the mission and the ways in which these books (and hundreds of stuffed animals) are reaching children in South America. This note was sent from Navy Dad, Jeremy, to his wife, who then shared it with the staff and family members from school:

You remember those donated books? Well 1 set was dropped off in Dental this afternoon and that is the PERRRFECT place to drop them off. Here's why:

They don't bring very young children on board for surgeries but a couple pre-teens do come on. I went there for a cleaning and noticed an 8 or 9-year-old girl sitting with one of our translators. I turned to the Dental Officer who is a buddy of mine and said, "Isn't she a little young to be here for surgery or dental work?" He said, "Yes, but when any adult comes in for surgery they have to bring an escort to help them home after the surgery. A few of them bring their older children as escorts. So while they are waiting in the Dental area for their friends/family’s surgeries to be done I always see if any of them need any teeth pulled or anything."

The girl was looking sort of bored so I remembered the donated Spanish kids books from Kane/Miller...I ran up to my stateroom and grabbed 1 of the 2 sets. I gave them to the enlisted translator and said, "Ask her if she likes to read and if she does tell her she can look through these books and take one or two." The translator asked her and she said, “Yes, she likes to read.”

While I was waiting I noticed the young girl going through them and she started reading one. When I came out afterwards I noticed she was gone and so was the book.

Kane/Miller loves being able to give back to the community when we can and we so enjoy hearing stories about how our books are used, and knowing that children around the world are now reading our editions - and translations - of some pretty wonderful books.

How has your school or family given back?

International Ask a Question Day

It's not as if we have all the answers, but there certainly are several questions we address in our children's books. Here are several:

¿Quién se esconde? (Libros del Mundo)	¿Quieres Jugar? (Libros del Mundo)
Are We There Yet?	Could a Tyrannosaurus Play Table Tennis?

Duck's Key, Where Can it Be?	What's Going On?
Who's Hiding?	Why?

Make an Appointment

Minji's Salon

From South Korea, Eun-hee Choung takes imaginative play to a whole new level in this picture book about a young girl and her make-believable salon. Minji's mother heads to her hairdresser for a color and cut while at home, Minji creates a whole new look for her canine volunteer.

The Spanish edition of Minji's Salon, El salón de Minji, joins the Libros del Mundo series in March 2008, ensuring that all young children (most particularly, little girls) will have a new character to remind them of yet another way to make playtime and dress-up time into an interactive at-home adventure.

Minji's Salon
by Eun-hee Choung
978-1-933605-67-8
Hardcover with Dust jacket
$15.95
March 1, 2008

El salón de Minji
978-1-933605-79-1
Paperback
$7.95
March 1, 2008

Learn a Foreign Language Month

To celebrate this December event, I'm including a listing of all our Spanish language titles available in our Libros del Mundo series - including two upcoming March 2008 releases.

From Germany

Apolo

by Caroline Grégoire

From the Netherlands

Benny
by Sieb Posthuma

From Australia

La cama grande de Sofía
by Tina Burke

From Germany

Contando con Apolo
by Caroline Grégoire

From Taiwan

En camino a comprar huevos
by Chih-Yuan Chen

From Italy

Feliz Cumpleaños Tengo 1
Written by Matteo Faglia

From Taiwan

Guji Guji
by Chih-Yuan Chen

From Germany

Lo que Eduardo sabe hacer
by Wilfried Gebhard

From Switzerland

Marta y la bicicleta
Written by Germano Zullo Illustrated by Albertine

From the Netherlands

Pescadito
by Sanne te Loo

From Japan

¿Quién se esconde?
by Satoru Onishi

From Australia

¿Quieres Jugar?
by Deborah Niland

From South Korea

El salón de Minji
by Eun-hee Choung

From England

Suerte
by Gus Clarke

Job Opening

Kane/Miller is seeking a part-time Marketing Assistant. Please submit a resume if you reside in the San Diego area and are interested in applying for this newly created position.

Position: Marketing Assistant

Summary: Long-term, part-time position, approximately 25 hours a week during the afternoon hours, in the La Jolla office.

Eligibility: Fluency in speaking Spanish, proficiency working with Microsoft Word and Excel, experience in professional writing and communication, familiarity with children’s publishing and/or child development is preferred, but not required.

Duties: Tasks include (but are not limited to): packing and shipping of review copies and other press materials, organizing and maintaining marketing calendar, online research, data entry, and light office duties. Occasional travel may be required (both out of state and within driving distance).

Pay: Competitive, hourly rate, with a potential for an increase after six months.

Contact: Please submit resume and references to Sondra Santos LaBrie, Marketing Manager, Kane/Miller Book Publishers, P.O. Box 8515, La Jolla, CA 92038, 858-456-0540, sondra@kanemiller.com