As many of you know, I have been a Literacy Specialist for over fifteen years in New York City.  Working in such a diverse city, I have always been surprised by the lack of multicultural reading material that has been available to my students over the years.  Every good reading teacher knows that children relate better to books and texts that they can personally connect to and see themselves in.  It's the best way to instill a true love of literature in them and to create lifelong readers and learners.     You can imagine my excitement when I learned that I would have the opportunity to review the new bilingual picture book La Familia Cool: El tesoro más valioso / The Most Valuable Treasure by Dania Santana.  It is a heartwarming story about a multicultural family who celebrates its diversity and takes pride in instilling values in its members.  My sons and I especially loved all of the different characters in the book who mirror … [Read more...]