Read Out Loud 🗣️ LA INTÉRPRETE
Join us for a Special SPANISH STORY TIME!
Laura Zadoff, Co-Director of Online Teaching and Learning, Bank Street Graduate School of Education, celebrates LA INTÉRPRETE/THE INTERPRETER, winner of the Best Spanish Language Picture Book Award!
LA INTÉRPRETE / THE INTERPRETER
Un conmovedor y sincero libro ilustrado sobre una joven que tiene dos trabajos, uno como chica aficionada del futbol y otro como intérprete para sus padres hispanohablantes.
Cuando Cecilia no está en el campo de futbol marcando goles, acompaña a sus padres a todo tipo de lugares para adultos, como la oficina de licencias de conducir, el despacho del contador y el taller de automóviles. Les ayuda traduciendo del español al inglés y viceversa. Es un trabajo importante e incluso puede ser divertido. También es muy agotador.
A veces, equilibrar sus dos trabajos (disfrutar su niñez y ser intérprete) implica tanta responsabilidad que ¡Cecilia siente que se divide en dos! ¿Es hora de que Cecilia sople su silbato y pida un tiempo muerto?
El ingenioso texto de Olivia Abtahi y las encantadoras ilustraciones de Monica Arnaldo capturan un aspecto común de la vida de las familias inmigrantes y bilingües y, al mismo tiempo, ofrecen un modelo de trabajo en equipo que ayuda a que todos se sientan comprendidos.
A sharp and heartfelt picture book debut about a young girl who has two jobs, one as a soccer-loving kid and another as a translator for her Spanish-speaking parents
Some kids have one job: to be a kid! Cecilia has two. When she isn't on the soccer field scoring goals, Cecilia accompanies her parents to all kinds of grown-up places that her teammates don't go to, like the DMV, the accountant's office, and the auto shop. She helps them translate from Spanish to English and from English to Spanish. It can be fun, but often it's really hard work.
Sometimes Cecilia's second job is so much responsibility, it feels like she'll split in two! That is, until she calls a time out.
Olivia Abtahi’s clever text and Monica Arnaldo’s charming illustrations capture a common aspect of life for immigrant and bilingual families while offering a model for teamwork that helps everyone feel understood.
ABOUT Bank Street's BEST SPANISH LANGUAGE PICTURE BOOK AWARD
Earlier this year, the Spanish Language Affiliate of the Children’s Book Committee announced the winners of the 2026 Best Spanish Language Picture Book Award, a biennial prize presented to outstanding children’s books published or translated into Spanish in 2024 and 2025.
The winning titles, selected for their cultural authenticity in both narrative and illustration, offer readers greater insights into Latin America, the Caribbean, Spain, and Latinx experiences within the United States.
The 2026 honorees include gold medalist La Intéprete/The Interpreter by Olivia Abtahi, illustrated by Monica Arnaldo, and translated by David Bowles, and silver medalists Alberto Salas Juega a la paka paka con la papa: Únete a la búsqueda con el célebre científico y experto en papas peruano/Alberto Salas Plays Paka Paka con la Papa: Join the Quest with Peru’s Famed Scientist and Potato Expert by Sara Andrea Fajardo, illustrated by Juana Martinez-Neal, and translated by Mariana Llanos; Prohibido llorar/Absolutely No Crying by Gama Valle, illustrated by Lorenzo Sangió; and Wanda oye las estrellas: Una astrónoma ciega escucha al universo/Wanda Hears the Stars: A Blind Astronomer Listens to the Universe by Amy S. Hansen and Wanda Díaz Merced, illustrated by Rocío Arreola Mendoza, and translated by Gabriela Carrión.
📝 ABOUT Olivia Abtahi
Olivia Abtahi a proud Iranian-Argentinian American. Her debut novel, Perfectly Parvin, was published in 2021, receiving the SCBWI Golden Kite Honor, YALSA Odyssey Honor, and numerous starred reviews. Her sophomore novel, Azar on Fire, was published in August 2022 and is a SLJ pick. Olivia's third novel, Twin Flames, is a New Visions Award winner and published in August 2024. The Interpreter is her first picture book, receiving four starred reviews. She currently lives in Denver, Colorado, with her husband and daughters.
🎨 ABOUT Monica Arnaldo
Monica Arnaldo grew up in Ottawa, Ontario, in the strangest house on the block by far, where her bedtime was eight o’clock sharp. Of course, she could often be found awake well past that time, reading and drawing in some poorly hidden corner of her bedroom. When she grew up, she studied illustration at Sheridan College where she became passionate about visual storytelling and fell in love with picture books all over again. She works both traditionally and digitally when she’s illustrating, combining watercolor, pencil crayons and Photoshop to create images full of character.
🗣️ ABOUT Laura Zadoff
Laura is the Co-Director of Online Teaching and Learning at Bank Street Graduate School of Education.
🗣️ ABOUT Davis Bowles
David Bowles is a queer Mexican American author and translator from south Texas, where he works as an associate professor at the University of Texas Río Grande Valley. Among his more than forty books are the multiple-award-winning They Call Me Güero and its companion They Call Her Fregona (Kokila), as well as My Two Border Towns (Kokila), Ancient Night (Levine Querido), Secret of the Moon Conch (Bloomsbury) and The Prince & the Coyote (Levine Querido). In 2017, David was inducted into the Texas Institute of Letters and presently serves as its president.
Leave Your Comment