Bilingual Storytime w/ Michael Genhart

In celebration of Latinx Heritage Month, we are happy to host Michael Genhart, author of SPANISH IS THE LANGUAGE OF MY FAMILY/EL ESPAÑOL ES LA LENGUA DE MI FAMILIA, for a bilingual storytime event. In this story, Manolo is the first to sign up for the Spanish Spelling Bee at school. He turns to his loving abuela for help and together they study the words. While they practice, Abuela shares stories of when she was a little girl. Back then, students were not permitted to speak Spanish in public schools and were harshly treated for doing so. This inspires Manolo to study harder. He realizes this is not just a spelling bee. He is studying to honor his abuela, his culture, his language. In the end, this is a story of family ties, cultural pride, healing and a celebration of Spanish. 

Michael Genhart, PhD is a clinical psychologist in private practice in San Francisco. He is also the author of several picture books for children including SPANISH IS THE LANGUAGE OF MY FAMILY (illustrated by John Parra, published by Neal Porter Books/Holiday House), MAY YOUR LIFE BE DELICIOSA (illustrated by Pura Belpré Honor winning Loris Lora, published by Cameron Kids/Abrams) and THEY'RE SO FLAMBOYANT (illustrated by Tony Neal, published by Magination Press). He lives in Marin with his husband. They are the proud parents of a recently minted elementary school teacher.