Celebrating Reading in 2 Languages

Colorin Colorado, a website for educators and families, has put together a bilingual book list for children ages 0-12+. Their list contains books that explore culture like Tales Our Abuelitas Told: A Hispanic Folktale Collection. You will also be direct to kid classics written in Spanish like the Caldecott Medal winner Snowy Day. Check out their website for the complete list:

http://www.colorincolorado.org/read/forkids/celebrate

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Photos Wanted!

This year the beautiful and practical Guatadopt calender will benefit The Do Good Charitable Foundation's: Orphanage Relief Project. The Guatadopt calender is a colorful photo collection of children adopted from Guatemala. Picture submissions are being accepted now through October 7th, so get your pictures in. Here's the link:

http://www.guatadopt.com/pages/Calendar2009.html

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Buy for Charity

Berhorst Partners for Development is a charity that works with the rural Mayans of Highland Guatemala. They describe their mission this way:

to work in respectful partnership with Mayan Guatemalans to have a positive impact on the problems associated with Guatemala's history of violence against indigenous populations, natural disasters, poverty, illiteracy and disastrously high rates of infant and maternal death.

They have a simple way for you to contribute. They raise some of their funds through the Buy for Charity website. Buy for Charity links to popular shopping sites like Target, Macys, KB Toys etc...and then donates up to 35% of your purchase to Berhorst (or another participating charity you choose). So Shop til you drop! Here's the link:

www.buyforcharity.com

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Friendship Program

After adopting internationally one family reaches out to a local immigrant family for help. The experience is much richer than they ever expected. "Forging Bonds with Immigrant Families" can be read in the Adoptive Families magazine archives. Click here to read:

http://www.adoptivefamilies.com/articles.php?aid=1433

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Huipils for American Girl

Looking for a way to instill some Guatemalan pride in your doll playing kiddo? The website Terra Experience sells traditional Mayan clothing that fits American Girl. So cute! Here's the link:

http://www.terraexperience.com/

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Identity Issues

A transracial adoptee shares her journey to make peace with her identity in the September 18th issue of the Chestnut Hill Local. Read her story here:

http://chestnuthilllocal.com/issues/2008.09.18/locallife2.html

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p.s. if anyone comes across part one of this story please share in the comments section

Julia de Burgos Books and Crafts

Taller Puertorriqueno is a Philadelphia institution that celebrates the arts of Puerto Rico, Latin America, and the Caribbean. They have an upcoming book and craft fair. Here is the description from their website:

The Julia de Burgos Books and Crafts Store hosts the largest outdoor Annual Latino Books and Crafts Fair in the region. Children are treated to workshops and storytelling while adults listen to literary lectures by renowned Latino authors, attend book signings, find bargains, and treat themselves to handmade jewelry and crafts.This year the fair will feature writer and winner of several awards Frances Negron-Mutaner introducing the book Sovereign Acts.

10/4 1:00-5:00 p.m.
2721 N. 5th Street
FREE

For more info about Taller Puertorriqueno go to their website:

http://www.tallerpr.org/

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Simple Day of the Dead Masks

If Halloween and/or Day of the Dead is your favorite holiday because you love arts and crafts then you must meet Kathy Cano Murillo. Kathy and her daughter make a Day of the Dead mask in this short how-to video. It's messy but looks pretty simple. C'mon, get creative:

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Can someone please explain...

Ever find yourself reading something about Guatemala and saying what do those numbers mean? The website NationMaster takes all those arbitrary statistics about countries and puts them in context. It gathers information from sources like the CIA Factbook and the U.S. Census Bureau and allows you to compare a statistic about one country to that of another. So if you want to know where Guatemala ranks in the world in "% of managers who claim corruption is a major business constraint" (1st) or how many Subway restaurants are in Guatemala (18) www.nationmaster.com has the scoop.

Guatemala's Independence Day

In honor of Guatemala's Independece Day here are some amazing pictures of Guatemala. The pictures are contributed by members of a group called Guatemala on the website Flickr.



If you have a homepage like My Yahoo you can have this picture feed sent right to you. Check out www.flickr.com for details.

Hispanic Lives, Latin Worlds make art in Delaware

Latino artists from our area express themselves at "Hispanic Lives, Latin Worlds — Simple Complexities" the exhibition at the Delaware Art Museum. Through many different mediums and a myriad of styles artists convey meanings. One reviewer writes:

The imagery in the exhibition's prints, paintings, photographs, mixed media works and installations capture ideas and feelings of universal importance, but especially meaningful to Latin Americans today. Included are references to ancient civilizations, nature, spirituality and the immigration experience. -Antiques and the Arts Online

This exhibition celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month and is on display until October 12th. For more information visit the Delaware Art Museum website:

http://www.delart.org/exhibitions/current/20080906_hispanic_lives.html

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Goya Latino Family Celebration with the Phillies

The Philadelphia Phillies are pulling out all the stops tomorrow night at the Goya Latino Family Celebration. The Phillies' website lists these highlights:

Performances by:

Goya’s K-Company Dancers

Fuego Dance Company

Jimmy Jorge & The Latin Express

La Familia Rojas

S.T.E.P & Caliente Dancers

Pre-game recognition of the following award recipients:

2008 Latino Legend Award – Mariano Duncan

2008 Roberto Clemente Award – Jimmy Rollins

Presentation of 21 flags representing the 21 Latino Countries

Special on-field performance by Latin Grammy Nominee – Kevin Ceballo

Fans can donate a Goya food item at the Left field, First Base or Third Base Gate.

Goya will match the food donation to be donated to Philabundance.

Oh yeah and the Phils play the Milwaukee Brewers too! Get all the details and ticket discounts at the Phillies website. Here's the link:

http://philadelphia.phillies.mlb.com/phi/ticketing/latino_night.jsp

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Kids Corner at the Smithsonian Latino Center

Next time your kiddo hops on the computer try directing her to the Kids Corner at the Smithsonian Latino Center. It is a must see! Children can explore the museum via their mouse. They can listen and learn about Latin music. They can experience interactive stories like the one detailing Dia de Los Muertos (Day of the Dead). They can even watch short interviews of famous Latino politicians, artists, writers and more. Parents who are a little short on time but want to know more about Latino traditions will also enjoy it! Here's the link:

http://latino.si.edu/KidsCorner/index.html

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Guatemala's Independence Day

Guatemala's Independence Day is next week, Sept. 15th. This post from Guatadopt's archives provides a succinct explanation of the holiday:

http://www.guatadopt.com/archives/000217.html

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Américas Book Award

The Américas Book Award for Children and Young Adult Literature is organized by the University of Wisconsin. They describe the award this way:

The Américas Award is given in recognition of U.S. works of fiction, poetry, folklore, or selected non-fiction (from picture books to works for young adults) published in the previous year in English or Spanish that authentically and engagingly portray Latin America, the Caribbean, or Latinos in the United States.

To see this year's winners click here: http://www4.uwm.edu/clacs/aa/pdf/aa08final.pdf

To learn more about the award and read about past winners click here: http://www4.uwm.edu/clacs/aa/index.cfm

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Latino Artists in Philadelphia

The Philadelphia Sketch Club presents Cultural Collision: Latino Artists in Philadelphia. The exhibit features "Philadelphia area artists who have Latin American origins either through birth or heritage and whose work reflects Latin American artistic traditions either in general style or content." The show takes place at the Gallery of the Philadelphia Sketch Club and runs through Sept. 24th. For more details click here:

http://www.sketchclub.org/exhibitions/Cultural_Collision2008.html

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Together as Adoptive Parents

Together as Adoptive Parents or TAPLINK is an adoption resource for Pennsylvania families. Visit their website at www.taplink.org and search in your county for support groups, subsidies, therapists, tutors, and more.

Guatemala Vacation Package from AAA

"Discover the rich culture and geographical diversity of Guatemala with this 7 night package that explores the heritage and traditions of this fascinating country" is how AAA describes their "7 Night Best of Guatemala" vacation package. Pricing starts at $917 per person. Here's the link:

http://aaa.p.delivery.net/m/p/aaa/email/preview.asp?cid=12798269762&pid=330462&mid=1102353268

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7 Common Transracial Parenting Mistakes

How much diversity do my kids need? Am I allowing my child to use racism as a crutch? Psychologist and adoptive parent Willie B. Garrett tackles these issues in the article "7 Common Transracial Parenting Mistakes". The article was originally published in Adoptive Parents Mgazine in 1999. It can currently be found in more than one location on the internet. It seems the points the author is making still hold true. Here's an excerpt:

current thinking suggests that to raise a child who can cope with prejudice and have a positive racial identity, parents must be of the same racial group. This is contrary to my own 20-year experience as a therapist and to reports I have received from other therapists. The vast majority of children we see who have identity and behavior problems are being raised by same-race parents and are living in their own cultural community. More than anything this suggests parenting is an art, not hard science...as an African-American psychologist who specializes in psychotherapy with adoptive families, I have observed that parents of transracially adopted children commonly have problems related to the following seven issues.

Please feel free to post comments about this article in our comment section. Here's the link to the full article:

http://www.informedadoptions.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=298&Itemid=31

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