As senior developmental editor for DC Heath’s K-6 Bibliotecas en Español (Libraries in Spanish), I:
- managed all aspects of content, design and production for Bibliotecas and three teachers’ guides.
- developed prototype, writers’ guidelines, and edited content.
- researched and selected 144 titles for Bibliotecas from 40 international publishers, fomenting relationships with leading publishing houses throughout Latin America, Spain, and the US.
The Bibliotecas are a rich collection of 144 of the best children’s books in Spanish from Latin America, Spain and the United States. Each grade level library of 24 books connects thematically to Heath Literacy, providing Spanish-speaking students access to the themes in Heath Literacy. Students continue to develop their literacy skills in Spanish while they acquire English. Students see themselves in these collections that reflect the diversity of Hispanic cultures. Three comprehensive teacher’s guides provide solid instructional strategies with a proven record of success in bilingual classrooms.
Paula’s Reflections: At the NABE conference where we launched the Bibliotecas, teachers came up and hugged me as they loved the streamlined guides with proven instructional strategies, and were impressed with the diversity of the collections. One of my goals was to present a more culturally and linguistically-inclusive, literature-based reading program than had any other US educational publisher. The freedom I had to create these collections was really quite phenomenal (thanks to Tina Miller, the Director of the Reading Department, who had complete faith in me). The Bibliotecas reached beyond presenting only Mexican or chicano culture, perspectives, and voices, and introduced teachers and students to the richness of hispanic cultures throughout the Caribbean, Latin America, Spain, and the United States.