University Library News Release
Date: April 7, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Jeanette Smith, NMSU Library, (575) 646-7492, jcsmith@lib.nmsu.edu
NMSU Library to Host Día de los Niños Program
The NMSU Library will present a Día de los Niños program on Tuesday, April 29, from 4:00 to 5:00 p.m. on the second floor of Zuhl Library. The free public event will feature presentations by bilingual children's authors Amada Irma Perez from Ventura, California, and Lupe Ruiz-Flores from San Antonio, Texas. The event is targeted to college students, teachers and the general public. In addition to the presentations, there will be a question and answer session. Books will be available for purchase, and a book signing will follow the program.
After more than twenty-five years of being a classroom teacher, Perez wrote My Very Own Room: Mi Propio Cuartito (2000), which won the prestigious Tomas Rivera Children's Book Award. Her second book, My Diary From Here to There: Mi Diario de Aqua Hasta Alla (2002) won the Pura Belpre Honor Book Award. Nana's Chicken Coop Surprise: Nana, Que Sorpresa! was published in 2006. All of Perez's books were published by Children's Book Press. She is a leading advocate of programs encouraging multicultural understanding through the universal themes she explores in her books and other educational projects.
Ruiz-Flores is the author of two bilingual picture books, Lupita's Papalote: El Papalote de Lupita (Pinata Books, 2002) and The Woodcutter's Gift: El Regalo del Leñador (Arte Público Press, 2007). An award-winning journalist, she has also published poetry and numerous articles. She was one of the featured authors at the 2003 Texas Book Festival in Austin. Before her career as a writer, Ruiz-Flores worked as an engineering technician for the Department of Defense until her retirement.
The program, organized by NMSU Humanities Librarian Mardi Mahaffy and Education Librarian Sarah Baker, is part of the Library's annual celebration of the national El Día de los Niños/ El Día de los Libros (Children's Day/Book Day). The NMSU program is funded by a grant from the New Mexico Library Foundation.
Mahaffy said, "This is an opportunity to learn about the unique challenges and processes authors face when writing not only for children, but also for bilingual readers."
El Día de los Niños/ El Día de los Libros was founded by Pat Mora, the author of Tomás and the Library Lady and other children's books. The day's purpose is to celebrate children, families, culture and reading, especially in diverse and bilingual communities.
For more information, please contact Mahaffy at (575) 646-6925 or Baker at (575) 646-6087.
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