Spanish version

Teresa Mlawer was born in Havana, Cuba, and came to the United States in 1962. Teresa was a pioneer in the field of children's and youth literature. She began translating children's books from English to Spanish at a time when versions of children's stories in English were sparse in Spanish. Since 1980 she had translated more than 500 books from English to Spanish. In her translations, Teresa strove to respect the author's voice, and at the same time used neutral language to give children of different Latin American nationalities the opportunity to understand the reading. She also emphasized the need to include diverse Latin American authors in American children's literature. In one of her interviews, she shared fond memories of her childhood and thanked her parents for giving her not only toys but books on Three Kings Day. She also confided that her mother used to work in a bookstore and always instilled in her and her sister the love of reading and books. When she was a child, the two books that impacted her most were: The Hundred Dresses  by Eleanor Estes and Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes by Eleanor Coerr.

Teresa stressed the importance of parental involvement for children’s educational success, and considered parents to be their children's first teachers. She also considered teachers and librarians to be the best advocates for children's literature and for encouraging children to read. Teresa believed that although learning English is their primary need, it is also important that children keep knowledge of their Spanish language, as well as pride in their roots.

Teresa held several executive positions with various major publishers, such as Macmillan, Simon & Schuster, and Scholastic. In 1976, she was named president of Lectorum Publications, the oldest and largest distributor of Spanish language books in the United States. In 2012, she and her beloved husband, William (Bill) Mlawer retired from Lectorum, and later founded Teresa Mlwaer Publishing Solutions, dedicated to providing personal and corporate consultation services on the Hispanic publishing market.

The community mourns her recent passing . Teresa was indeed not only a Hispanic pride, but she was also greatly admired and respected among a large community of librarians, educators, publishers, authors and parents who knew her exemplary literary work. In fact, many renowned authors trusted her great literary capacity to translate their outstanding children's books. Here is a brief selection of her translated works [in electronic format]:

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? = Oso Pardo, Oso Pardo, ¿Qué Ves Ahí?  by Bill Martin 

A big happy frog, a plump purple cat, a handsome blue horse, and a soft yellow duck--all parade across the pages of this delightful bilingual edition of Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you See? (Oso pardo, oso parado, que ves ¿qué ves ahí?). Children will immediately respond to Eric Carle's flat, boldly colored collages. Combined with Bill Martin's singsong text, they create unforgettable images of these endearing animals.

Irene, la Aaliente = Brave Irene  by William Steig

Despite a raging snowstorm, Irene, a dressmaker's daughter, offers to deliver the duchess's newly finished ball gown...With sure writing and well-composed, riveting art, Steig keeps readers with Irene every step of the long way. —Booklist

Lily y su Bolso de Plástico Morado = Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse  by Kevin Henkes

Lilly loves everything about school, especially her teacher, but when he asks her to wait a while before showing her new purse, she does something for which she is very sorry later.

Please visit this link to discover more bilingual books in different formats translated or written by Teresa Mlawer.

Special thanks to Candice Walcott , Supervising Librarian, for her kind collaboration.

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Summaries provided via NYPL’s catalog, which draws from multiple sources. Click through to each book’s title for more.