June 2023
Rodrigo Morlesin is a book designer, author, translator, and all-around children’s literature expert from Mexico City. Rodrigo came to visit with our Spanish 2nd and 3rd Grade students and share his new children’s book, Luna Ranchera. He began his conversation with our Lower Schoolers by sharing that their encounter was meant to be because here he was at our multicultural school reading a book that is also multicultural, with characters from all over the Spanish-speaking world!
Written in a combination of Spanish and English, Luna Ranchera takes place in the “Nuevo Wild West” and tells the story of the unlikely rise to stardom of a doggy mother-daughter singing duo. Our students loved the book and its themes of family, kindness, and generosity. After the reading, Rodrigo told the story of how he never saw himself as a writer and that when friends told him he should write his first book, he resisted for a long time. In the end, though, Rodrigo realized that it was just fear holding him back from taking pen to paper, and he wrote his début young adult novel, Elvis nunca se equivoca. He encouraged our students to face their fears so that they can discover new worlds and new things about themselves. He said, “Imagine, if I never wrote my book, I wouldn’t have come all the way from Mexico City to spend this wonderful time with you!”
