Aside from having beautiful bilingual picture books including one that totally reminded me about my own childhood growing up in the US-Mexico border, author Nicholas Solis, has a heart of gold. This was my impression from our hour-and-a-half-plus time while we were recording our latest @BilingualBookBuddies podcast/webcast interview. I was scribbling notes quickly while trying to maintain eye contact, ask questions, and manage some of the production flow, LOL, and well, here are my favorite "golden nuggets" just for you:
1) Nicholas was very vocal about the importance of FINDING YOUR VOICE. Why? Because it can be your superpower! It can be a tool to help someone in need. Or it can simply be an important part of your identity. Either way, it's important to invest the time exploring this part of ourselves, you will not regret it.
2) For those who are writers, your voice can be part of your unique style. It will be your voice that can expose the stories that only you can tell in the way you lived them. Be proud of your experiences!
3) If you are bi- or multi-cultural, embrace that. They all make you who you are. This is probably my favorite! 🤩
4) Focus more on finding similarities. People from different backgrounds and walks of life have so much in common. I've heard this so often from our very diverse guests, I love it!
5) You, your actions, your words, can make a HUGE difference! From the littlest gesture to the biggest of actions, your choice. But you can simply start by making someone's day better though a simple gesture of kindness - it may just change their life.
A couple of Nicholas' children's books touch on these points above i.e. #1 The Littlest Grito and #5 The Color Collector.
If you'd like to view the entire webcast episode, you can find it at: https://www.youtube.com/@BilingualBookBuddies
or you can listen to the podcast in your favorite podcasting app!
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