Books that feature pro-social themes, or that help with identifying and processing emotions, or which encourage healthy self talk and positive thinking are super topical in our house.
After all, having a speech delay means having to deal with frustrations in not being understood. Frustrations in being asked to do difficult things, like making the Spanish ‘rr’ sound when you have a tongue-tie, like my daughter does.
As an immigrant mom who is also the daughter of an immigrant mom, themes of accepting diversity and embracing what’s different about yourself or your family are important to me. Because what makes us different is part of what we can give back to society.
Or simply, what makes us fun to be around!
Olga de Dios teaches us..
An author whose books always have a positive and inclusive theme is Olga de Dios.
Born in the Basque Country, she has lived in Madrid for some time now, and her art has even been featured in many Madrid city council (Ayuntamiento de Madrid) works throughout the years.
Her distinctive art style is playful and eye catching, and is what made me bring home the book “The Pink Monster” home from the library last year.
So what do her books teach us?
1. The Value of Diversity
Pink monster is a beautiful story of learning to love yourself enough to seek our a supportive environment that accepts you for who you are, rather than shrinking yourself to fit it.
It’s also a story of how immigration and accepting differences makes our world brighter and more fulfilling.
The people in the place she winds up seem so much happier than those in the place she starts off, don’t they?
2. The Value of Listening and being open to feedback
In her book The Blue Monster, our titular character isn’t sure what his gift is. Each of his friends are “the best” at something. But with his long arms and caring nature, he gives hugs to those who are unhappy. He listens to how some things he and his friends do make them feel bad. Because of his caring and kind nature, he gently encourages his friends to listen to those around them too. Through listening and caring, they can continue to have fun, just a little differently than before. Together, they build an even better world than before.
3. The Value of Sharing Ideas Selflessly
In The Yellow Bird, we have another character who hasn’t quite found himself. A flightless yellow bird. But his gift is creativity and being generous in sharing his ideas without gatekeeping or ego. We follow the story of his ideas evolve as they pass from character to character and make a better world.
And to top it off? Her works are available under creative commons licenses. You can download many of her books as PDFs from her website.
You can hear bookreadings shared on spotify.
You can listen to a song based on the pink monster. Some of these works are linked to from her own website.
She really walks the walk of Yellow Bird, letting people develop on her ideas.
Not least, the accessibility of being able to highlight text and use Google Translate to hear it pronounced correctly is hard to describe.
Generally, I accept my slower reading in Spanish. When I struggle with new words, I consider it role modeling to my daughter that it’s okay to be imperfect while learning to speak. The key is to keep trying and keep practicing.
In our house, we always reward EFFORT, not perfection.
But I’m not immune to feeling awkward at times while reading aloud, especially when story time is over the phone some weekends.
Her Art Style
I’m a bit obsessed with her art style, but it’s not one media she uses.
Here she is painting a skateboard with just wax colors and an exacto knife for detailing.
Her first book, The Pink Monster, was done digitally with a tablet as part of her final year project.
For her book Leotolda – my favorite for it’s art style- She uses three pantone colors and offset printing to create an effect that is mid-century retro feeling, yet ultra modern and fresh at the same time.
The pink is HOT florescent PINK, the yellow feels as close to florescent yellow as possible. Nothing online can prepare you for just how BRIGHT this is in person.
If you have a kid who needs to have their attention really “grabbed” by the art style to be interested in a book (as my little one used to be when I started our storytime journey), this is a good one!
We got got our copy from the library, but on amazon, they even recommend you buy a black light, because the pink shines under it!
If any of the art or messaging in these books appeal to you, please ask about her in your library or bookshop.
If you can read Spanish, you can get the pdf’s free from her or make a donation in exchange for them.
If you have any recommendations of books or authors with similar messages, please share them in the comments.
Howlite & Coffee 
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