Please tune in and listen to podcast #8, where you will get a chance to have Latino Soul author Nilsa Mariano reach right in and grab your heart with her compelling story "Hunger," a fantastic story that recounts the hunger of our Latin@ children to be proud of who they are, and where they come from. I remember the first time I read Nilsa's story, right after she submitted it, and I was in tears. I couldn't help thinking how much it would have meant to me as a child-- getting a lot of negative messages about being Latina--to have had an experience like the one that Nilsa writes about in "Hunger." And I was crying not because I was feeling sad about the past, but because I was so grateful that there are children in today's world who are lucky enough to be in the audience when Nilsa tells her stories. God bless you for being in the world Nilsa, and for helping our children to walk tall, and to dream big...

This podcast is very dear to my heart, because it touches on a theme that I think is crucial for Latin@s: how do we work to support our children's sense of cultural pride and dignity? Especially in a world that so often tries to rob them of it. Is it easy, no! Is it possible? Yes! On podcast #8 we get a lesson from the story "Hunger" by Latino Soul contributing author Nilsa Mariano on how we can reach out to our children—not just our own but any and all latino children—and show them just how beautiful and special they are, and how part of that beauty and specialness comes from being Latino, in all the different ways that being Latino can be expressed. When I interviewed Nilsa for this podcast, I asked her what she wanted people to take away from her story. She said: I want them "to believe in possibilities, to believe in self-respect, to walk with pride, and to be a mentor to those coming up now."

Nilsa Mariano is a teacher, storyteller, writer, editor, and award winning and published poet. A proud boricua who now lives in Binghamton, New York by way of Brooklyn, Nilsa prides herself on being a teller of traditional folktales, a teller of stories of grief and healing, and a devoted and loving mom. Her short story "Hunger" is her first commercial publication, but several of her poems have been published in literary magazines, and since being published in LS, she has had two more poems accepted in forthcoming anthologies.

Nilsa is the founder and editor of the monthly LATINO COMMUNITY NEWSLETTER: BROOME COUNTY AND BEYOND: IN OUR OWN WORDS. The mission of the LATINO COMMUNITY NEWSLETTER is to share information and knowledge with and about the Latino Community, and to support Latino literacy by promoting Latino writing. The NEWSLETTER features articles, community and cultural resources, editorials, interviews and updates on local businesses and community events. Nilsa says that with the newsletter, "We want to enrich, challenge and uphold our traditions with a vision toward the future." So check out the Latino Community Newsletter that always keeps "nuestra gente en mente." Nilsa has a Dr. Seuss quote on her newsletter site that really inspires me and goes perfectly with the theme of podcast #8. It goes like this:

"The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go." Dr. Seuss.

For news and information about the Latino Community Newsletter, please email Nilsa at nmariano@stny.rr.com. You can also get to the newsletter on the latinosoul website, where you'll find links on the April Featured Author page, and the April Featured Story page. Check it out, on www.latinosoul.com.


Dr. Susi's Book Club: this month my theme is on children, thanks to Nilsa, and so I would like to recommend a couple of exceptional bilingual, Spanish/English children's books. Both of these books are all about the love of family and the power of family values in teaching our children what's important in life. They are funny, lighthearted, but instructive, and children love them

1) Carlos And The Squash Plant/Carlos y la planta de calabaza, by Jan Romero Stevens, (Jeanne Arnold, illustrator)

Synopsis: "Having ignored his mother's warnings about what will happen if he doesn't bathe after working on his family's New Mexican farm, Carlos awakens one morning to find a squash growing out of his ear."

2) A Gift from Papa Diego/Un regalo de Papa Diego, by American book award winner Benjamin Alire Saenz, (Geronimo Garcia, Illustrator).

Synopsis: little Diego loves his grandfather but they don't see each other often because Papa Diego lives in Mexico. Little Diego asks for a superman outfit for his birthday—he wants to fly across the border to be with his grandfather. His parents buy him one, but will little Diego be able to fly? How will he be able to enjoy one of his happiest birthdays ever?

Dr. Susi's Suggestion: Support Latino writers and family literacy by picking these books up for your kids today!


Latino Soul Hero of the Month!: You know, you hear a lot of bad things about education in the United States, and a lot of equally negative things about teachers who aren't doing their job well enough. But we all know that there are exceptional teachers out there giving heart and soul to their students and their education. So this month I am thrilled to give you some information about Latino teachers doing wonderful things for our children. The Latino Soul Hero of the Month is Michele Sanchez-Capriotti, Reading Specialist at Bear Valley Elementary School in Moreno Valley, CA.

Latino Soul tips its sombrero to Bear Valley Elementary School, in Moreno Valley, CA, for the collective effort that resulted in the blockbuster success of the Family Literacy Fiesta which took place on March 11th. Latino Soul contributing author Michele Sanchez-Capriotti, who is a bilingual Reading Specialist at the school, organized the event at which an estimated 400 people were in attendance! The goal was to provide literacy opportunities/activities for the students and their families, to have fun with books and to target students who need additional support with reading. Latino Soul salutes the parents, teachers, administrators and everyone else who had the generosity and vision to help make the Family Literacy Fiesta a huge success. Here's a glimpse of what went on the Family Literacy Fiesta at Bear Valley:

• every child who attended was given a dog tag that said "reading award" on it
• guest readers--who were dressed up as characters from the books they read--read to the students every 20 minutes! I hear that Tigger and Winnie the Pooh were a particular hit with both kids and parents!
• other guests supervised literacy games like sight-word bingo, and sightword bean bag toss
• there was a "make and take" booth where kids made bookmarks, stationery, wordwheels, etc.
• there were book raffles
• books were sold below cost for $1 a piece
• books were read in Spanish and English
• Nachos were sold and eaten
• Piñatas were broken
• the place was filled to capacity!

I hear that given the success of this year's fiesta, teachers are already starting to work on their costumes for next year's literacy fiesta.

I talked to Michele about the literacy fiesta, and she told me that "the best thing about the day was watching the parents listening to their kids read stories, helping them sound out words, and congratulating them for trying to read above their level. The kids got so excited that we had 2nd graders trying to read 4th grade words!"

I want to particularly congratulate Michele, and her assistants, including her husband Michael, for all the grass roots work they did to get people out to the event. It isn't easy to get hundreds of people to a literacy event on the weekend, and it was only through tireless efforts, and pure ganas, that they pulled it off. After hearing all this, it won't come as a surprise to learn that in May Michele will receive Moreno Valley's Board Leadership Award for outstanding service to the educational community. Latino Soul salutes Michele Sanchez-Capriotti for these exemplary efforts on behalf of Latino Family Literacy and Latino children.

Michele tells me that if you are interested in having a literacy fiesta at your school, she will be glad to email you a packet developed by Katie del Monte and the presenters at the California Reading Association, to whom she want to give all the credit. Email Michele at mcapriotti@mvusd.k12.ca.us . And if you've got an upcoming or past literacy event that you would like me to publicize on the Latino Soul podcast, please email me at soup@latinosoul.com . Remember what Dr. Seuss said "The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go." Let's make sure our kids--as award winning Chicano writer Luis J. Rodriguez says--have the cultural literacy to be able to choose where they want to be in society, and not have that choice made for them.


And finally, I want to plug another literacy event, this one for all ages, that is taking place all over the country. And that is the Edward James Olmos Latino Book Fair. The Book Fair will be in Houston, at the Houston Community College, Central Campus, on Sat and Sunday, May 6 and 7th from 12-6pm. for all of you in the Houston area, go check out the book fair, and the booths put up by NPR's Tony Díaz. You will be able to meet some of the Latino Soul authors, who are doing a panel on "how to get published" and who will also be reading from Latino Soul and from their own books. Get your autographed copies of Latino Soul (Barnes and Noble booth), and of the other wonderful books of Latino Soul authors Marie Delgado Travis (Coordinator), Esther Bonilla Read, Maria Luisa Salcines, Olga Valle-Herr, Margarita B. Velez, Rogelio Gomez. Special thanks to Marie for organizing this, and for all the time and planning that she has put into this over the last many months.

Since I won't be back with you until May 10, I want to wish you all a happy Cinco de Mayo in advance. And for those listening who don't know this already, and I know you're out there, 5 de mayo is not the commemoration of the day Mexico gained independence from Spain (that's Sept. 16th). But it is a day that celebrates freedom and liberty, and the unparalleled courage of 4000 Mexican soldiers who defeated a French army twice as large in Puebla, Mexico. For more information about Cinco de Mayo, and to find out why it's more than just a reason to buy 2 for 1 margarita's at your local bar, go to this award winning website: www.vivacincodemayo.org You'll be surprised what you find there!

Tune in to podcast #9 next month (May), when I will have the pleasure of hosting *myself* on the program, and reading my story about baseball, good solid Puerto Rican values, and the incomparable wisdom and courage of my abuelita. So please join me next month to hear my rendition--complete with my attempt at my Puerto Rican grandmother's accent)--of "Don't Do It, Willy!."

Thanks again to Nilsa Mariano for gracing podcast #8, and as my bilingual eight-year-old son Max Fernando said at the end of podcast #8:

ADIOS, Y HASTA LA PROXIMA! (listen to the podcast and you can hear his adorable voice!)