In my first episode of the Bilingual Book Buddies podcast & webcast, I, Claudia Sloan, and my co-hosts Alicia Salazar and Sylvia Lopez had a wonderful conversation with our guest, award-winning Colombian American author Alexandra Alessandri.
Alessandri shared her journey to becoming a children's author, highlighting how her childhood as a storyteller and her later experiences as a mother influenced her path [04:39]. She discussed her creative process, explaining how she shifts between writing for different age groups by immersing herself in mentor texts and focusing on universal emotions [07:05]. She also talked about how her Colombian American identity and childhood experiences deeply influence her characters and themes, aiming to celebrate her culture and help children connect with their own identities [09:01].
This episode touched on the challenges librarians and teachers face in promoting bilingual books, especially with book bans, and the benefits of bilingual books for parents in maintaining language and cultural identity [22:22]. Our amazing guest left us with advice for aspiring authors to not be afraid to share their stories! … "your story matters," she said towards the end.
We also celebrated in advance Alessandra’s upcoming book, Fly, Pájaro, Fly.
I'm deeply grateful to both, Alicia and Silvia for having me in the team, and to Alexandra for sharing with us like an open book. Her energy is amazing and contagious - you don't want to miss this episode!
View the full podcast: https://youtu.be/iMpTTB824ug?si=H2jiI61j14FUMD7- or listen to it at Spotify, iHeartRadio, Amazon and Apple Podcasts by searching for @BilingualBookBuddies, Episode 1.
