Libros solidarios (Teaching Language and Building Community with Latine Children's Literature in Spanish, K-6)

Latine Spanish-language children’s literature is powerful for supporting bilingual learners’ language and literacy development and nurturing cross-linguistic connections. Libros solidarios shows K–6 teachers how to grow biliteracy through authentic Spanish-language picture books, early readers, and middle-grade literature on key topics like identity, family, community, and immigration. Written in Spanish with brief English introductions to each chapter, this book is perfect for use in any space with bilingual and multilingual Spanish speakers.

The heart of this book is 18 K-6 classroom-ready unit plans. Built around Spanish-language text pairings, the units encourage deep engagement with the texts' themes and advance a metalinguistic study of varieties of the Spanish language. For each unit, teachers will get:

• Unit Overview: Essential questions, Spanish-language objectives, translanguaging objectives, and key concepts
• Unit Projects: Recommendations for multiple means of expression to evaluate students’ learning (aligned with UDL)
• Sample Activities: Language study charts, sample teacher moves, personal reflections, and book club discussion guides for language practice and content analysis 
• Language Study: Guidance for intentional analysis of Spanish language practices and characteristics in texts
• Translation Discussion Guide: Prompts to examine differences between the languages and create opportunities for cross-linguistic discussions and connections
• Reading Group Guides: Additional paired texts for guiding further reading and teaching on the topic

An essential resource for bilingual education programs and Spanish language classes, this innovative book will help teachers nurture their students’ language and literacy skills while honoring their linguistic and cultural practices.