events

The Madrid Book Fair is a couple of days away, so we’re extra busy with preparations. This will be our first year with our own stand at the fair, and we’re very excited about this amazing opportunity to meet so many families in Madrid. We’ll be in booth number 178, so if you live in Madrid please stop by to say hi and check out our newest books!

Book Fair Information:
From May 27th until June 12th

Monday to Friday:
11:00 am until 2:00 pm
6:00 pm until 9:30

Saturday, Sunday &  holidays:
10:30 am until 2:30 pm
5:00 pm until 9:30 pm

Remember that we’ll be at booth 178, see you there!

Many of you have written us with your questions about bilingualism for the experts at Sinews, and we often receive questions about when Sinews plans to give a bilingualism workshop for parents in your city. But a group of parents from Cartagena took matters into their own hands and invited our friends at Sinews to visit them and give a workshop. Thanks to their initiative and the cooperation of the Escuela Oficial de Idiomas in Cartagena (which is allowing them to use their meeting space), everything is ready for this special workshop:

May 14th from 10.00 am to 13.00 pm

Sinews presents its “Workshop for parents: Bilingual Children: ¿HOW? ¿WHEN?”
at the Escuela Oficial de Idiomas building in Cartagena (c/ Ronda de Ferrol, 12 A - 30203, Cartagena)

The price for this workshop is 50 euros/parent and 75 euros per couple, and it includes a copy of our fabulous book “CONSIGUE QUE TU HIJO SEA BILINGÜE”, by Barbara Zurer Pearson.

Space is limited, but there are still spots available. If you live in the area (Murcia, Lorca, Águilas, Torrevieja…), this workshop is a great opportunity for you to learn more about raising bilingual children and ask any and all questions you may have. Bilingualism expert Mariana Lombardo (who is also available for on-line consultations with families interested in bilingualism) will be happy to answer all of your questions.

Click here for more information about the workshop.

It’s time for the annual Kids in Madrid Fair! As always, there will be music, shows, magic, crafts, fun activities and more…all in English! This year’s fair has a bilingual Carnaval theme, so be sure to dress up your kids in their favorite costumes and visit Hotel Convención this Sunday March 6th from 11:00 am to 7:30 pm. Bilingual Readers won’t be participating directly this year, but our good friends at Australian Kids will be selling all of our books at their stand. Please stop by to say hello!

For those of you who missed the presentation of Barbara Zurer Pearson’s book Consigue que tu hijo sea bilingüe, Barbara will be featured on today’s edition of Madrid Live on Radio Círculo. Tune in to Radio Círculo (100.4 FM) at 6:30 pm (or tomorrow at 9:30 am) to listen in as Ann Bateson interviews our favorite linguist!

Barbara Zurer Pearson just arrived in Madrid and will be spending a few days here promoting her book, so we’re taking advantage of her stay to have an official presentation for parents and the media. The event is being sponsored by the wonderful people at the Instituto Internacional and will be held in their headquarters on calle Miguel Ángel 8 at 7:30 pm on Wednesday October 6th. This will be an informal workshop-style presentation where readers can truly get to know the author and try to find answers to their specific questions about raising bilingual children. For more information on this event, please call 91 354 6857 or email info@bilingualreaders.com. We hope to see you there!

*Want to tell a friend about the presentation of Consigue que tu hijo sea bilingüe? Click here to download the pdf version of the invitation. The more the merrier!

As we mentioned a few weeks ago in our post about fall highlights at Bilingual Readers, we have just published our first book for parents, Consigue que tu hijo sea bilingüe. We decided to publish this book in response to the many questions about childhood bilingualism we receive from parents on a daily basis. We’re confident that this clear cut, down to earth book by Barbara Zurer Pearson, a linguist with over twenty years’ experience in researching childhood bilingualism, will provide our readers with many of the answers they’ve been looking for.

And for those of you who live in Madrid, you’ll even get the chance to personally ask the author anything you like in a couple of weeks! Barbara Zurer Pearson will be spending a few days in Madrid promoting her book, so we’re taking advantage of her stay to have an official presentation for parents and the media. The event is being sponsored by the wonderful people at the Instituto Internacional and will be held in their headquarters on calle Miguel Ángel 8 at 7:30 pm on Wednesday October 6th. This will be an informal workshop-style presentation where readers can truly get to know the author and try to find answers to their specific questions about raising bilingual children. For more information on this event, please call 91 354 6857 or email info@bilingualreaders.com. We hope to see you there!

*Want to tell a friend about the presentation of Consigue que tu hijo sea bilingüe? Click here to download the pdf version of the invitation. The more the merrier!

image from unesco.org

Today is International Literacy Day, a yearly event which draws attention to literacy needs around the world. This unique celebration was created by the UNESCO in 1967 and provides a great reminder for parents, children, teachers and book lovers across the globe to cherish the gift of reading and help make that gift possible for those who may not otherwise learn how to read. The UNESCO website reminds us that “some 776 million adults lack minimum literacy skills which means that one in five adults is still not literate; 75 million children are out-of-school and many more attend irregularly or drop out.” While these figures are astounding, it helps to know that there are many people out there working hard to make sure that each and every child gets the opportunity to learn how to read.

By teaching our children to speak and read in more than one language, we are also giving them the even greater power of being able to break down the language barriers which often prevent us from making a difference with our neighbors abroad. This is just one more reason why we encourage bilingual families to make reading a priority at home. If literacy is power, bilingual literacy may just be one of the most powerful tools we can give our children. What a great privelege it is for us to take part in raising this new generation of bilingual readers.

For more information on International Literacy Day and some of the activities taking place around the world, please visit: www.unesco.org

The birthday celebration continues! As a thank you for all the support our readers have given us throughout our first year, we’re celebrating by giving away books! We’ve already given away copies of three books to three lucky winners, and you could be next! Every week we’ll be giving away a copy of one of our first seven books, so be sure to check our website at least once a week!

Today we’re so pleased to announce the winner of our third giveaway, Marta (from English Barna) has won a copy of our very first Bilingual Readers products, Marina and the Little Green Boy/Marina y el niño verde. We hope you have lots of fun adventures with Marina and her little green friend!

We’re also thrilled to announce our next giveaway in our birthday celebration. Marina and the Little Green Boy: In the City/Marina y el niño verde: en la ciudad is the second book in this collection of bilingual books about two friends from different cultures which, believe it or not, have a lot to learn from one another. Antonio Vicente’s hilarious story and Miguel Ordóñez’s remarkable illustrations make this book an instant favorite with children. And the story doesn’t end here–next fall the little green boy will try his luck at school!

So how can you win a copy of Marina and the Little Green Boy: In the City/Marina y el niño verde: en la ciudad? It’s easy to earn multiple entries by doing one or more of the following:

• Become a fan of Bilingual Readers on Facebook and/or help us get the word out about this giveaway by posting a link to this page on your facebook page.
• Follow us on Twitter and retweet this post with a link to our webpage.
• Subscribe to our blog by email or RSS.
• Sign up for our free monthly e-newsletter here.
• Leave a comment on our blog or website to tell us what you like about Bilingual Readers.
• Post an entry about the giveaway on your blog or webpage (be sure to include a link to this page).

Remember that you’ll receive one entry for each of the options above, so the more you spread the word, the more chances you have to win! The deadline for our fourth giveaway ends at midnight (CEST) on Sunday June 27th. We’ll announce the fourth winner in our giveaway extravaganza on Monday June 28th. Good luck and be sure to tell a friend!

The birthday celebration continues! As a thank you for all the support our readers have given us throughout our first year, we’re celebrating by giving away books! We’ve already given away copies of two books to two lucky winners, and you could be next! Every week we’ll be giving away a copy of one of our first seven books, so be sure to check our website at least once a week!

Today we’re so pleased to announce the winner of our second giveaway, Gemma Rodríguez has won a copy of our very first Bilingual Readers products, Sea Animals/Animales del mar and Jungle Animals/Animales de la selva. We hope you and your little ones have a great time learning about the animal kingdom in English and Spanish with this precious set of board books.

We’re also thrilled to announce our next giveaway in our birthday celebration. Marina and the Little Green Boy/Marina y el niño verde is the first title in a bilingual series about two friends from different cultures which, believe it or not, have a lot to learn from one another. Antonio Vicente’s hilarious story and Miguel Ordóñez’s remarkable illustrations make this book an instant favorite with children. But the story doesn’t stop with with the first book. Marina and the little green boy’s adventures In the City were published in March, and the little green boy will try out his luck at school in the fall of 2010.

So how can you win a copy of Marina and the Little Green Boy/Marina y el niño verde? It’s easy to earn multiple entries by doing one or more of the following:

• Become a fan of Bilingual Readers on Facebook and/or help us get the word out about this giveaway by posting a link to this page on your facebook page.
• Follow us on Twitter and retweet this post with a link to our webpage.
• Subscribe to our blog by email or RSS.
• Sign up for our free monthly e-newsletter here.
• Leave a comment on our blog or website to tell us what you like about Bilingual Readers.
• Post an entry about the giveaway on your blog or webpage (be sure to include a link to this page).

Remember that you’ll receive one entry for each of the options above, so the more you spread the word, the more chances you have to win! The deadline for our second giveaway ends at midnight (CEST) on Thursday June 17th. We’ll announce the third winner in our giveaway extravaganza on Friday June 18th. Good luck and be sure to tell a friend!

As many of you know, we recently celebrated our first birthday! As a thank you for all the support our readers have given us throughout our first year, we want to celebrate by giving away some books! Every week we’ll be giving away a copy of one of our first seven books, so be sure to check our website at least once a week!

We’re so pleased to announce the winner of our first giveaway, Blanca Alonso has won a copy of our very first Bilingual Readers products, Easy Alphabet! / ¡Abecedario fácil! We hope you and your little ones have a great time learning the alphabet in English and Spanish with this adorable box set.

We’re also thrilled to announce our next giveaway in our birthday celebration. Sea Animals/Animales del mar and Jungle Animals/Animales de la selva is a beautiful two book set of bilingual books for toddlers. Each sturdy board book contains a slew of Mike Lowery’s fabulous illustrations, which will teach your little on all about the animal world.

So how can you win a copy of Sea Animals/Animales del mar and Jungle Animals/Animales de la selva? It’s easy to earn multiple entries by doing one or more of the following:

• Become a fan of Bilingual Readers on Facebook and/or help us get the word out about this giveaway by posting a link to this page on your facebook page.
• Follow us on Twitter and retweet this post with a link to our webpage.
• Subscribe to our blog by email or RSS.
• Sign up for our free monthly e-newsletter here.
• Leave a comment on our blog or website to tell us what you like about Bilingual Readers.
• Post an entry about the giveaway on your blog or webpage (be sure to include a link to this page).

Remember that you’ll receive one entry for each of the options above, so the more you spread the word, the more chances you have to win! The deadline for our second giveaway ends at midnight (CEST) on Wednesday June 9th. We’ll announce the second winner in our giveaway extravaganza on Thursday June 10th. Good luck!