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Bilingual storytime captivates young minds

A bilingual version of “De Colores” plays in the background as children gather around and El Señor Eddie cracks open a copy of Maurice Sendak’s “Where the Wild Things Are.”

After reading the first few pages, he flips back to the beginning and rereads the pages — this time in Spanish.

“Hora de Fantasía con El Señor Eddie” (Fantasy Hour with Mr. Eddie) is Barnes & Noble’s latest addition to their storytimes.

The bilingual storytelling occurs the first and third Sunday of every month at 2 p.m. at Barnes & Noble Booksellers on 4001 California Ave.

According to Thomas Robinson, Barnes & Noble Booksellers community relations manager, the store decided to combine their English and Spanish storytimes after noticing that English-speaking families were staying for the Spanish sessions.

All that was needed was someone who could easily move from one language to another. The man for the job was Eddie Fernandez, a 19-year-old Delano resident.

“I am excited and nervous but doing this helps me feel more involved with the community,” Fernandez said.

Fernandez said he wants to promote reading and education to the Latin community.
And while he is new at this, Fernandez said he enjoys seeing the enthusiastic looks on the children’s faces.

Evelyn Heckman was impressed her daughters knew more Spanish than she thought they did.

Her daughters, 8-year-old Chelsy Heckman and 5-year-old Kaylee Heckman, understood Fernandez’s storytelling as he read in both languages.

“I think it is important that the language can be switched and yet the children still get the meanings of the story,” Heckman said, adding that her daughters have a few Spanish books at home.

Josue Magallanes, a bilingual 7-year-old, found the storytime to be fun.

“It was good. I liked the part about the boy no longer wanting to be king of the monsters,” he said.

His father, Cesar Magallanes, felt the translation needed a little work, but the effort was appreciated.

“I think this is a great thing. It is important for the children to be bilingual because it gives them more opportunities,” he said.


Bilingual Storytime

The next bilingual storytime at Barnes & Noble will be held 2 p.m. Jan. 22. A children’s book character also will be present during the first session of the month beginning February. The bookstore is located at 4001 California Ave. For more information, call Barnes & Noble at 631-2575.