This book came out the same day in English and Spanish. And Penguin, which is I have an incredible relationship with Penguin Books For Young Readers, and they’ve made a conscious effort to have all of my picture books released in Spanish and English on the same day. And I think that there’s a power in that.
It’s a very powerful symbol, saying that this book in Spanish is just as valuable and important as this book in English. And you know some people ask me, “Do I translate the story?” and I don’t. I can’t. I could not. But what I love is that they allow me to look at it and I get to look at the musicality of the language and you know, I can move through some of it.
But I actually get to bring in my dad to help me make sense of it. He actually titled one of my books for me. Because he was like, “I don’t know about this title, Matt.” And I was like, “Well, what do you think it should be?” And then he had this other idea of what the title in Spanish should be, and it worked.
So in a strange way I’m honoring my dad by trying to get the books to come out in Spanish and English the same day. And it also reflects the changing America. Right? I think we’re valuing bilingualism in a way that we didn’t in the past. Now we know it’s an incredible – it’s a gift if kids can speak more than one language.
In addition to Spanish, my books have been published in multiple languages. Dozens of languages, and that’s incredible. Sometimes I’ll get emails from people in other countries and they’ll send a picture of the translation in whatever language that is.
And those are some of my most valued photos because it’s like, “Oh my gosh, I can’t believe this tiny little story that I wrote in this tiny little Brooklyn apartment, is now in different parts of the world that I’ll maybe never get to visit.” So, that’s amazing. And you think of all the kids that might be exposed to Carmela’s, for instance, her story.
