Illustrations by Elizabeth Gómez
SBN: 978-1-55885-988-3
Publication Date: May 31, 2024
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 32
Imprint: Piñata Books
Ages: 4-8
Children’s picture book highlights the fun and power of being bilingual!
“My name is Gerónimo Pérez,
but everybody calls me Bilingual.
I like my name Gerónimo,
but I like Bilingual better.”
The boy speaks English and Spanish and loves the ease with which he can flip back and forth between the two, “easy as pie, / so smooth, so cool, so beautiful, suuuuper sweet.” He can taste the words—and dance with them too! He explains the instructions for his grandmother’s medications and translates his grandfather’s stories. He helps his mom and anyone else who needs his assistance, whether on the bus or at school. “Sometimes I feel like I’m a parrot with two tongues: / one for Spanish and the other for English.” Gerónimo is a superhero with bilingual powers!
Acclaimed children’s book author Jorge Argueta returns with another compelling story featuring an important theme for all immigrant children: speaking more than one language. With whimsical illustrations by Elizabeth Gómez, this book turns the lore of superheroes on its ear while encouraging kids who are learning multiple languages. Parents and teachers will appreciate both the positivity exemplified by a boy’s endless enthusiasm for his bilingual skills and the reimagining of what it means to be a hero.
JORGE ARGUETA, the poet laureate of San Mateo County, is a Pipil Nahua Indian and prize-winning poet and author of more than twenty children’s picture books, including Una película en mi almohada / A Movie in My Pillow (Children’s Book Press, 2001) and Somos como las nubes / We Are Like the Clouds (Groundwood Books, 2016), which won the Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award and was named to USBBY’s Outstanding International Book List, the ALA Notable Children’s Books and the Cooperative Children’s Book Center Choices. His books in the Madre Tierra / Mother Earth series are Tierra, Tierrita / Earth, Little Earth (Piñata Books, 2023); Viento, Vientito / Wind, Little Wind (Piñata Books, 2022); Fuego, Fueguito / Fire, Little Fire (Piñata Books, 2019) and Agua, Agüita / Water, Little Water (Piñata Books, 2017), winner of the inaugural Campoy-Ada Award in Children’s Poetry given by the Academia Norteamericana de la Lengua Española. The California Association for Bilingual Education honored him with its Courage to Act Award. Jorge is the founder of The International Children’s Poetry Festival Manyula and The Library of Dreams, a non-profit organization that promotes literacy in his native El Salvador. Jorge divides his time between San Francisco, California, and El Salvador.
ELIZABETH GÓMEZ, a Mexico City native, has lived in California for more than 30 years. She has illustrated many books, including Jorge Argueta’s award-winning A Movie in My Pillow / Una película en mi almohada (Children’s Book Press, 2001). She received her bachelor’s in fine arts from San Jose State University.
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