Mass Kids Lit Fest: Bilingual Storytime with Author Lesléa Newman

After snuggling into bed each night, Alicia listens for the big voices of the tiny coquíes that live all around Puerto Rico and sing her to sleep. Ko-kee, ko-kee, the little frogs call. Ko-kee, ko-kee.

Después de acurrucarse en la cama cada noche, Alicia escucha las formidables voces de los diminutos coquíes que viven en todo Puerto Rico y le cantan para que se duerma. Co-quí, co-quí cantan las ranitas. Co-quí, co-quí.

Springfield City Library is part of the Mass Kids Lit Fest and we're celebrating Massachusetts-based children's authors with a visit from award-winning author, Lesléa Newman, for a bilingual (English/Spanish) storytime. Hear the story of Alicia and the Hurricane: A Story of Puerto Rico / Alicia y el huracán: Un cuento de Puerto Rico, which offers a tender look at the resilience of people, and native creatures, whose lives have been disrupted by a natural disaster, and the story of I Can Be...Me, which celebrates the joy of play and self-expression. Attendees are invited to stay for a frog-filled Crafternoon for Kids at 5pm in the Children's Room. 

​​This Mass Kids Lit Fest event is presented in partnership with the Massachusetts Center for the Book. For a full schedule, please visit https://www.makidslitfest.org/.

Lesléa Newman is the author of more than seventy-five acclaimed books for readers of all ages, including A Letter to Harvey Milk; October Mourning: A Song for Matthew Shepard; I Carry My Mother; The Boy aWho Cried Fabulous; Ketzel, the Cat Who Composed; and Heather Has Two Mommies. She has received numerous awards for her work, including two Stonewall Book Award Honors and a creative writing fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. Newman is also a popular presenter at conferences, libraries, and schools. She lives in Holyoke, Massachusetts, with her spouse, Mary Grace Vazquez.