The Forgotten Punchline

Did you ever have a captive audience and carefully set up a joke and then forget the punchline?
Well, this time it was not a joke—it was the backstory about why I decided to translate my Dachshund Tall Tales into other languages that I talked about at the EPIC Lightning Round Author Event hosted by the Edmonds Bookshop, November 16, 2023.I revealed how I met Professor Winston and his wife, Nix, in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico on November 2, 2013, at the local mall during the Day of the Dead Festivities. Among the costumes, music, altars, and strolling people, I noticed a table with books and children sitting around reading! It seemed like a disconnect to be amidst the ruckus and youth absorbed in reading. I was curious and approached the adults by the table.

I learned how books in Cabo were not readily available outside of school. Also, for children to participate in a reading event, it needed to be held where the children ordinarily frequented as transportation could be a challenge, hence the mall venue. Winston and Nix explained this was the first day of their new reading program.

I shared how I was a children’s picture book author and would be glad to gift a book to their cause.

That was the beginning of my involvement with Sala de Lectura, the Reading Room Literacy Program. Winston offered to translate my books into Spanish. Cabo schoolteachers expressed appreciation for the bilingual editions and warmly welcomed my visits to read and speak about writing.

Back home in Edmonds, I became aware of bilingual schools in Washington. There are German/English schools in Seattle and Tacoma. There is a French School in North Seattle. There are eighty-five schools with varied levels of Spanish immersion classes.

It became evident that the bilingual tête-bêche, (flip-over book) editions were a valuable resource right here at home! I published bilingual editions in Spanish, German and French for my first two books: How Dachshunds Came to Be and A Tall Tale About a Dachshund and a Pelican.  A Tall Tale About Dachshunds in Costumes is available in Spanish and English editions.

My closing remarks—the punchline that I forgot—was to encourage the audience to be mindful about gifting bilingual books this holiday season as schools and fund drives invite the community to donate books.
​
Edmonds Bookshop has acquired an impressive collection of children’s Spanish books to choose from, happily including my Dachshund Tall Tales!