Melanin Brown is a very wise thirteen-year-old seventh grader who witnesses a new student being bullied because of his beliefs. This situation makes her feel very uncomfortable, and she knows that the actions of those students are wrong. With the guidance of her parents and her experiences with teachers and friends, paired with her own desire to treat people the way she wants to be treated, Melanin learns how to deal with and address various social constructs while coming into her own voice. Melanin is the type of everyday heroine we all wish we had when we were young. Knowledgeable beyond her years, caring, and innocent, Melanin is a leader whose empathy (and even sarcasm, at times!) transcends boundaries and limitations. Meet your new favorite role model as you join Melanin along this journey of self-discovery–you might just learn a lot about yourself, too!

Available online and at: Amazon – Barnes & Noble – Mascot Books

How can children begin to heal after losing a pet? Balloons for Tiger takes an imaginative look at this tough topic as colorful balloons travel from the hands of children to their beloved cat who has passed on. This book lets children open up their hearts and imaginations for a magical journey to the farthest corners of the world, where they’ll meet skydivers, astronauts, superheroes, and everything in between. As they watch the balloons’ voyage to the other side of the rainbow bridge, they learn to positively process their grief. Balloons for Tiger is a great tool for any child who has experienced the loss of a pet—or any other loved one, too.

Available online and at: Amazon – Barnes & Noble – loriorlinskyauthor.com

Winner of a Mom’s Choice Gold Award and two International Latino Book Awards (including one in the Latino Focused Children’s Picture Book category)
La Finca (The Farm) is an illustrated songbook for children ages 2-7 that introduces the Spanish language through music and games. Developed by Yolanda Borrás, founder of I’m Bilingual!® this book invites children to imitate animal sounds in Spanish! In this visit to the farm, children will move, jump, run and participate in fun music and movement activities throughout the book. The combination of colorful pictures, music, movement and games stimulates the learning process and provides a full Spanish immersion experience for young children.

La Finca book features:

– Printable pages for coloring, matching pairs and rhythmic card games
– Pre-reading illustrated page for beginners that are learning to read in Spanish
– Activity guide for parents and teachers
– The mp3 song and PDF English translation for La Finca are available at I’m Bilingual! website

Benefits for young children:

– MULTICULTURAL SETTING – Set in a farm in the Caribbean, this book invites children to explore and engage in conversation about – other cultures.
– LANGUAGES AT AN EARLY AGE – Children that are exposed to languages before they are 5 years old can take advantage of the “golden” window of opportunity for language development and can speak as native speakers. Books like La Finca support children in this process.
– MULTIMODAL LEARNING – Children who use La Finca engage in aural, visual and kinesthetic stimulation. By combining multiple learning styles, children internalize concepts and words faster and at a much deeper level. Adding games and music provides a fun learning experience for all.
– SUPPORT FOR EARLY MUSIC DEVELOPMENT – All children should sing, play and move at a very young age. La Finca invites children to do all three activities which promote the development of their inner rhythm and inner ear, two necessary skills needed for school and life.

Available online and at: Amazon Prime

www.yolandaborras.com https://www.yolandaborras.com/spanishforchildren

Los pajaritos (The Little Birds) is an illustrated songbook for children ages 1-6 that introduces the Spanish language through music and games.

Developed by Yolanda Borrás, founder of I’m Bilingual!® this book invites children to fly with the birds, swim with the fishies, hop with the bunnies and join in other fun music and movement activities, all in Spanish. Children learn through play.

The combination of colorful pictures, music, movement and games stimulates the learning process and provides a full Spanish immersion experience for young children.

Los pajaritos book features:

– Printable activity pages
– Pre-reading illustrated page for beginners that are learning to read in Spanish
– Activity guide for parents and teachers
– Free access to the mp3 song Los Pajaritos to sing along with the book (I’m Bilingual! website)
– Free downloadable PDF English translation of the book (I’m Bilingual! website)

Available online and at: https://www.amazon.com/Los-pajaritos-Yolanda-Borr%C3%A1s/dp/0692822569/ref=sr_1_1?crid=IODTUCOXP1ME&dchild=1&keywords=los+pajaritos+yolanda+borras&qid=1607696765&sprefix=los+pajaritos+yolanda+borras+%2Caps%2C163&sr=8-1

This is the second book in the children’s book series, Adventures in Ticoland. My youngest daughter loves animals. Years ago, at the age of 7, she created an imaginary world where animals are the stars. It’s not just a theme park or zoo or resort, but it’s much more than that. In fact, it’s an entire community of animals living, laughing, playing and learning lessons together. My daughter drew up a bunch of animal characters and I came up with short stories in rhyming form for fun reading. The main character is a little girl named Tico, which is actually the nickname of my daughter. The stories are intended to teach valuable lessons, through the eyes and imagination of a little girl, as lived and shared by the animals of Ticoland.

Personally speaking, I started this book series as a special gift to my daughter. I know that she’s not always going to be 7 years old. One day she will grow up and possibly lose some of her wild imagination and childhood innocence. This book series is my way of capturing her imagination as a little girl. So that no matter how old she is, she can always look back at this childhood project with fondness and joy.

Available online and at: Amazon – https://www.amazon.com/Adventures-Ticoland-Magical-Animals-Continues/dp/1098020480

Barnes and Noble – https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/adventures-in-ticoland-joseph-lim/1137027544

Kobo Books – https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/adventures-in-ticoland