In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, a collaboration of local northern New York libraries will host a virtual author visit Wednesday, May 27 at 2:00 p.m. with Kathryn Leslie, author of
Gracie: A Bilingual Adventure In The Blue Ridge Mountains, a fun,
colorful children’s book written in both Spanish and English.
Libraries participating in the event are the Morton Memorial Libraries in Pine Hill and
Rhinecliff, the Mountain Top Library in Tannersville, the LaGrange Association Library in
Poughkeepsie, the Clinton Community Library in Rhinebeck, the Brewster Public Library in
Brewster, and the Rosendale Library in Rosendale.
This Zoom virtual visit will include an interactive presentation for children of all
ages and activity sheets featuring characters from this award-winning Spanish/English version
of “Gracie”. “Our library team is excited to bring Gracie’s Blue Ridge Mountain escapades to
children who right now may need a four-legged friend,” says Danielle Argentieri Program
Coordinator of the Brewster Public Library. “We urge families to Zoom-in with us for what we
hope is the first of many video author visits.”
Patrons who would like to purchase an autographed book can do so at the Aunt Katie’s Place virtual book shop. www.auntkatiesplace.com/shop. For shoppers who use the promo
code: PINEHILL10, Aunt Katie’s Place will donate 10% of each purchase to a local New York food bank!
Leslie’s new book “Gracie (Spanish/English): A Bilingual Adventure In The Blue Ridge
Mountains”, has received a Story Monsters Approved! Excellence In Literature Award as well as
a NABE Pinnacle Award for Best Bilingual Children’s Book.
To attend this free program, families may reserve their spot by contacting Danielle Argentieri
Program Coordinator for the Brewster Public Library at Programs@brewsterlibrary.org.
Kathryn Leslie is a resident of Lansing, North Carolina. She is a hobby farmer, budding
gardener, amateur seamstress, full-time auntie, and part-time whatever pays the bills. She is
currently obtaining her Master’s of Library and Informational Sciences from the University of
North Carolina at Greensboro with aspirations of becoming a children’s librarian. She has always
loved children’s picture books, and dogs, and has a small collection of her own- both dogs and
books!
About the book:
The sweet story follows a lonely dog, Gracie, on her search for fun and companionship. Children
will enjoy Gracie's adventure through the colorful countryside, her passion for dancing and her
encounters with some familiar farm animals. “Gracie” showcases 24 watercolor illustrations and
includes a look-and-find of the Appalachian Mountain foliage.
Each page features English and a foreign language. The story is currently translated into three
versions: Spanish/English, French/English, and German/English with free bilingual and
immersive audio downloads available. Leslie says she intentionally chronicled Gracie’s journey
using repetition and simple sentence structure to allow children and adults to match the
languages together easily. The book was written to assist monolingual adults in helping children
become bilingual.
Leslie wrote the book about her charming dog and the true story behind how they met. “Gracie
was the sweetest dog on the planet, and I wanted to share that with the world,” said Leslie, “but I
also wanted the book to be educational and fun with plenty of color and familiar scenes.”
The bilingual aspect stems from Leslie’s struggle to learn a second language through middle
school, high school, and college. After her failures, she hoped to expose her nieces to foreign
language at a younger age to increase their chances of fluency, but Leslie struggled to find good-
quality bilingual books that she could also easily understand. She hopes to inspire a new
generation of children to take an earlier interest in learning a new language.
Published by Aunt Katie’s Place LLC, “Gracie: A Bilingual Adventure in the Blue Ridge
Mountains” is available for sale on the Aunt Katie’s Place website,
https://www.auntkatiesplace.com, the Barnes and Noble website, and Amazon. You can find
Aunt Katie’s Place on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter: @auntkatiesplace