A Simple Request: Spanish-Language Children’s Books
During a mission trip to San Andrés Itzapa, Guatemala, a group from All Saints Episcopal Church in Fort Lauderdale spent time with the students and staff of Niños Creadores de Historia.
As the visit came to an end, the group asked Deacon Phyllis Manoogian, the school’s founder and director, a simple question: What does the school really need?
Her answer was equally simple: children’s books in Spanish.
At the time, the school had very few books appropriate for young readers. Textbooks could provide classroom instruction, but Phyllis wanted something different. She wanted books that children would enjoy reading, books with stories and illustrations that could capture their attention and help them discover that reading could be enjoyable.
That simple request became the beginning of the Book Box Project.
From a Few Books to Thousands
Back in the United States, supporters began collecting new and gently used Spanish-language children’s books.
As donations grew, the project developed into an organized effort. Books are collected and sorted, with some selected for individual children and others intended for teachers, classrooms, and school libraries. They are then packed into large boxes and shipped from South Florida to Guatemala.
Each shipment takes approximately a month to reach San Andrés Itzapa.
What began as an effort to provide books for one small school eventually grew beyond its walls. Books are now shared with children, teachers, and schools in the surrounding community.
More than 5,000 books have been distributed to date.
Giving Children Books of Their Own
One of the most important parts of the project is putting books directly into children’s hands.
Many books are given to students to take home and keep. A book that belongs to a child can be read repeatedly, shared with brothers and sisters, and become the beginning of a small collection at home.
For young readers, access to appealing books also provides something that textbooks alone cannot: an opportunity to read simply because they enjoy it.
That matters because reading improves through practice. The more opportunities children have to read, the more opportunities they have to strengthen vocabulary, comprehension, concentration, and confidence.
One Request That Keeps Growing
The Book Box Project did not begin with a strategic plan or an ambitious fundraising campaign. It began because someone asked what was needed and listened to the answer.
Spanish-language children’s books.
Since then, volunteers, donors, churches, and supporters have turned that simple request into thousands of books reaching young readers in Guatemala.
There are still more children to reach and more books to send.
One box at a time, the project is helping put the joy of reading into the hands of another child.
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