Union-Bulletin article
Walla Walla, Washington
Tuesday, February 2, 2005

Libraries tap into magazine created for Latino families
By Sheila Hagar of the Union-Bulletin

By April, when young readers visit Vista Hermosa Public Library near Broetje Orchards - or other Walla Walla County Rural Library District branches - they will be able to sit down and pick up a copy of Iguana.

Patterned after long-running and successful 'Highlights for Children' magazine, Iguana is the only publication of a similar sort targeted for Latino children ages 7 to 12.

"There is nothing like this on the market," said Iguana editor Christianne Meneses Jacobs. The Arizona-based magazine is completely Spanish language, and includes short stories, poetry, and history and geography features. Science, puzzles, arts and crafts, comics and kid-friendly recipes will also fill the 32-page issues.

Jacobs and husband Marc discovered a dearth of quality reading material after searching for books for daughter Isabelle, 3.

Raising Isabelle to be bilingual was important, the Jacobs had decided. Support for that goal was minimal in the publishing world.

'A lot of what we found were translations (of works in English), and those don't work very well,' she said.

Christianne, an elementary teacher, and Marc, a graphics artist, decided to do something about the situation, she explained in a phone interview from Scottsdale. After researching for a year, visiting book fairs and talking to authors and parents, the couple put together a 10-page sample copy of 'Iguana.' In August, a marketing campaign was launched.

The response has been tremendous, especially from public libraries, Jacobs said. So far, about 40 subscriptions have been purchased. Subscribers in Miami, Los Angeles, Phoenix and Utah have shown faith by pre-ordering the magazine, which will be published six times a year at first.

"And Walla Walla. My goodness, I had no idea there was such a large population of Latinos in Walla Walla," she said. Walla Walla Rural Library District has ordered four subscriptions to date.

"The magazine uses standard Spanish with no cultural idioms," Jacobs said. "Everybody can understand it." The mission of the publication is to be a tool in preserving Spanish language and Latino culture.

"The Latino population is growing rapidly in this country, and Spanish is positioning as the second-strongest language in this country," Jacobs said.

"Being bilingual is an asset, and children need to continue to speak their native language."

The young company recently received a call from a national publishing company, which Jacobs declined to name. "It came as a pleasant shock," she said.

"Once we've established that relationship, we're going after Barnes & Noble and Borders."

"Punkey Adams, director of the rural library system, was happy to hear about Iguana," she said.

"It's the only Spanish-language children's magazine that we subscribe to. It's my hope that parents and children will read it together." Interactive ideas come with the recipes and puzzles, as well, she said.

Reforma, the national association to promote library and information services to Latinos and Spanish-speakers, has chosen to advance Iguana for "very specific reasons," said Jose Garcia, president of the Inland Northwest Chapter.

Younger generation Latinos are losing their language, believes Garcia, a librarian in Pasco. The fastest-growing Latino demographic group is under the age of 9 years old, and "unfortunately standardized test scores in this state show that although reading levels are steadily improving, the rift between bilingual children and their monolingual Spanish-speaking parent is becoming greater," Garcia said.

"I personally see it every day at the library."

The majority of Latino kids ages 7-12 he sees at the Pasco library speak only English, while most of the parents are Spanish-speaking only, he said. This magazine can help close the gap, he added.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

A subscription for Iguana is $29.95 per year. More information about the magazine can be found at www.IGUANAmagazine.com, in English and Spanish versions. By mail, write to Iguana, c/o NicaGal, LLC., P.O. Box 26432, Scottsdale, AZ 85255.

© 2005 Walla Walla Union-Bulletin. Reprinted with permission.

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