The Scholar: Ava Howard
The Project: La Recéta del Corazón: A Bilingual Children’s Book Celebrating Multicultural Childhood and Family
The Essential Question: “For my project, I wrote and illustrated a bilingual children’s book, in English and Spanish, about my own multicultural childhood and family. In the story, a mother based on my own tells her daughter a bedtime story of the summer vacations she had in San Lorenzo, a real town in Puerto Rico that my mother’s side of the family originates from. I wrote La Recéta del Corazón to bring multicultural families together, inspire other multicultural children like me, and create a physical way of thanking the Latina half of me that makes me who I am. As well as appreciating those who grow up learning both English and Spanish at home, I made my book to introduce children and their families to the way my relatives in Puerto Rico celebrate with each other, and that’s with lots of food! The story’s themes of food and tradition are not just an interactive way for readers to discover new words in Spanish, they also signify my deep pride for my Puerto Rican roots, brought to life by my hand-drawn illustrations.“
Surprising Discovery: “My most surprising discovery while working on my project was all the childhood memories that came flooding back to my mother when we went to Barnes and Noble together to read bilingual children’s books for research. I watched these books, written in both English and Spanish, unlock something in her that she hadn’t remembered since before I asked for her help with my project, and it was a very emotional moment for the two of us. That moment led to my book’s creative pivot from a book trilogy with my abuela, mother, and myself as the main characters of their own books showcasing the slang of their era, to instead being one story of a mother telling her daughter a bedtime story of her Puerto Rican roots.“
Biggest Challenge: “The biggest challenge I faced was that I struggled early on to solidify the topic of my project and how I would showcase Spanish’s importance to me in a meaningful way. I started by researching slang, but I wasn’t putting much work into my project outside of school, and that attributed to some of my frustration with the project and the feeling of lost time.“
Tip for future scholars: “First, allow your project to evolve! The initial idea I pitched to my class was not my final product, and your project is likely to morph over the course of the trimester from the collaborative discussions you’ll have with your teacher and classmates. Keeping an open mind to constructive criticism is one of the most important tools for growing your idea into something memorable and meaningful.
Secondly, a trimester’s worth of time goes by quicker than you think. Although it can be difficult sometimes more than others, upholding strict deadlines for yourself really lightens the workload. Try to keep your future self in mind when you don’t want to work on your project ahead of schedule or outside of class, because you’ll be thanking yourself when you don’t have to make any edits the night before your presentation!“
