Sandra’s daughter, Julia, loved reading Fancy Nancy books by Jane O’Connor because of the fancy vocabulary words that the series introduced to her as a little girl. These books were one source of inspiration for Sandra when she realized that there was a need for bilingual children’s books that introduced multi-syllable, complex vocabulary to young readers, especially readers in communities of color.
That was the beginning of how this amazingly talented Latina book author created a company with her family that publishes books that result in children being exposed to a robust vocabulary and gaining an understanding of new and fascinating words. Their mission is to publish meaningful books that inspire families to live courageously, learn endlessly, and love passionately so our world is better. Their values are love, friendship, culture, education, justice, equality, and the environment.
The author of two books, one co-authored with her daughter, and illustrated by her husband, Rey Mora, Sandra is on a mission to encourage parents to use fancy words when talking and reading to their children. “We want to increase our children’s vocabulary before they start Kindergarten. Using big words with them, fancy words will help develop a richer vocabulary.”
I invite you to watch our IGTV!
Sandra is passionate about promoting language and culture through her books. Skillful & Soulful Press’ roster of bilingual books thus far includes: Mommy, Tell me Why I Am Radiant/Mami, dime por qué soy radiante?; I Want to Dance like a Koala Bear/Quiero bailar como un Koala for ages 4-8; and their latest book, Hummingbird-Colibrí-Uitsitsilij is a trilingual counting board book for ages birth-3.
Sandra’s top 3 tips for raising a reader:
- Be the example- Let kids see you reading a book, a magazine, the newspaper.
- Fall in love with language, all languages!
- Be excited about words. Fancy words equal a high level of vocabulary.
Learn more about Skillful & Soulful Press and Sandra by visiting their Instagram and Facebook.
Thank you, Sandra!
