Currently reading: THE SWEETNESS OF SALT by Cecilia Galante

Writer Wednesday is back! I’m very excited this week to feature Nicole Weaver, whose TRIlingual (yes, 3 languages) picture book, Marie and Her Friend the Sea Turtle is out. This is totally my kind of book. I remember buying my friend’s son a Spanish version of Green Eggs and Ham in an attempt to give him a book that exposed him to another language. Nicole does that in her book, with the languages side by side for easier understanding.

About Nicole:

Nicole weaver was born in Port-au-Prince Haiti. She came to the United States when she was ten years old. She is fluent in Creole, French, Spanish and English. She is a veteran teacher of French and Spanish. She is the author of a children’s trilingual picture book titled  Marie and Her Friend the Sea Turtle. The story is about a Haitian little girl who resided by the beach in Haiti. Her second trilingual children’s picture book will be published by Guardian Angel Publishing. The book titled, My Sister is my Best Friend will be published in 2011.

About the book:

A delightful story about compassion and the richness of family love and devotion!

This story is about the love that developed between a little girl named Marie and a stranded sea turtle. The story tells the struggles Marie had as she helped the sea turtle back out to sea.

Esta historia es sobre el amor que se desarrolló entre una niña llamaba María y una tortuga que vino a tierra para poner sus huevos. La historia cuenta las dificultades que tenía María para regresar la tortuga de nuevo al océano.

Cette histoire est au sujet de l’amour qui s’est développé entre une petite fille qui s’appelait Marie et une tortue de mer qui est venue sur le sable pour pondre ses oeufs. L’histoire raconte les dificultés que Marie a rencontrées pour remettre la tortue dans l’océan.

(okay, who could translate those paragraphs without looking at the English?!)

On to the interview:

1) I love the idea of a trilingual book. This is something I would have bought for my kids in a heart beat. Where did the idea for this come from and how do you go about writing it? Did you write the story in one language and then translate or was it simultaneous?

I grew up speaking French and Creole, learned English as a third language and Spanish as a fourth. I know from firsthand experiences how important it is to be exposed to a language at an early age. I am a middle school and high school French, Spanish teacher; I wrote the book as a trilingual book so I can use it in my classroom. I see a huge need for books that will introduce children to different cultures and languages.

I wrote the story first in English, then translated into French and Spanish. I need to make sure the story is well written in English before I venture out to write the French and Spanish versions. It is more of a challenge for me to write in English than in French and Spanish.

2) What’s the nicest thing someone has said about the book?

I have received a lot of excellent feedback from people; most people are amazed that I wrote the book in three languages. Bilingual families have emailed me thanking me because they use my book to introduce their children to a third language. Kathy Davis from Homeschoolbuzz.com said: “This book has a cute story, wit