A Personal Note from the Author

​

​

Language provides insights into the way people connect with one another, how they raise their children, how they understand the world around them, what is important to them, their values, and so much more. The life stories I have come across, and the brave people who have shared these stories with the world, have deeply touched me.

The process of creating and writing this curriculum deeply moved me. It grew from a desire to teach both myself and my children the Spanish language into a life-changing, transformative project. The more I learned, researched and explored, the more passionate I became about filling the gaps in my knowledge. Every book, every person, every poem, each seemed to reveal something new to me. Language itself is incredibly complex and perceptive. It communicates so many things beyond the literal and obvious. Simply by searching on Google in another language I came across things I am nearly certain I never would have otherwise.  

One story in particular stood out in my heart and I would like to share a part of it with you. As I researched a children's book by Monica Brown titled, Esperando el Biblioburro: Waiting for the Biblioburro, I learned she had based her book on the life story of a man named Luis Soriano Bohórquez. She posed the question, "How far would a librarian travel to bring a book to you?" Luis' story answers this question beautifully. Traveling by donkey, he delivers books to remote villages and brings stories to children who otherwise wouldn't have had access to them. By encouraging them to share their experiences and write their own stories, no matter how painful they are, he is working to heal families and change the future of Colombia. Around the world, many librarians work to bring books to children in similarly creative ways. A man, like Luis, who has dedicated his life to this cause is a true inspiration.

​

It is my hope that as Beautiful Mundo grows we will be able to do even more to help Spanish-speaking communities in countries that have struggled in the face of internal conflict and poverty.

Un abrazo,

Emma Butterfield Corbet