Description

In this charming and delightful picture book, Sami shares the joys of Spanglish with his skeptical abuela and diverse community.

Sami loves to speak both English and Spanish. But he doesn't just speak them one at a time. He speaks in Spanglish! Sometimes, he makes brand-new words—like "lonche"—and sometimes, he puts the languages together in one sentence, like when he's hungry for jamberguers con papas fritas. 

But not everyone likes Spanglish. Abuela thinks that Spanish should be spoken at home and English at school. And to make matters more complicated, Sami's not allowed to write his homework in Spanglish. 

At first, Sami feels confused and frustrated. But with the support of his family, friends, and neighbors, Sami soon realizes that his unique identity should be celebrated. Hooray, muy bien, Sami!

About the Author

Alliah L. Agostini has marketed everything from tampons to scrappy start-ups, but motherhood helped her return to her first love: children's literature. She is the author of The Juneteenth Story and Big Tune, which was a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection. Alliah has an A.B. and an M.B.A. from Harvard, and is a member of KidLit in Color, Black Creators HQ, the Picture Book Sunrays, and SCBWI. Find her online at www.alliahagostini.com and @alliago

Olivia de Castro is an illustrator who grew up in a Colombian-Dominican family in Verona, New Jersey. She graduated from Pratt Institute, and is the illustrator of How to Speak in Spanglish, by Mónica Mancillas, and Cute Toot, by Breanna J. McDaniel. When she isn't drawing, she can be found binging true crime documentaries and cooking spicy food in her kitchen in Brooklyn. Find her online @oliviadecastroart

• Fans of mother-daughter books like Oge Mora’s Saturday and problem-solving stories like Ashley Spires’s The Most Magnificent Thing
• Kids who love to “help” their busy parents, and the parents who don’t need their “help”
• Black families who want fun, relatable picture books with Black representation
• Teachers with “helpful” kids in their classrooms