Front Cover for My Little Bilingual Books!
Thank you to Andy Isaac for a fantastic opportunity to feature in the Support Local Magazine for Brighton & Hove with such a special surprise to be on the front cover! Also a big thank you to Andy Baker for a lovely interview that shares the story behind the brand!
Meeting Sophie – the children’s author with a vision - by Andy baker
This month I had the pleasure of meeting Sophie Fergany, the Hove based children’s author and creator of the ‘My Little Bilingual Books’ series for children. She is a writer on a mission and she has an infectious passion to make her dreams a reality - listen to what she had to say…
Sophie, I’ve heard that you’ve got a great personal story that led you to start your bilingual books series. What can you tell us about it?
My love for languages really started when I went to Hove Park Secondary School. I didn’t connect so well with French at first but when we started to learn Spanish I just developed a love for it and I wanted to learn more. Our teacher was fantastic and she inspired me to the point that I decided that I really wanted to learn how to speak it properly. A few years later when I went to university, I heard about the chance to join the Erasmus programme which I jumped at and I ended up spending five months living and studying in Madrid. During the weekends I travelled all over the country and just fell in love with the place and the culture.
After that, while I was working at the Underground gym in Hove, I met a Spanish guy from Madrid and we ended up moving to Spain together and then we lived all over the country – Madrid, Toledo and finally Majorca. That was where we had our son together, my little Leo!
So is it because of your son that you decided to write bilingual children’s books?
Yes, absolutely! Leo is totally my inspiration for everything. He is bilingual but it was when I was looking for bilingual books that I realised that there aren’t many out there and I thought that I could create them myself. I’ve always loved language and books are so powerful, especially sharing story time together, so I just wanted to do something that was special and that really meant something to me. Learning another language is also incredible for your brain and there are many neurological benefits associated with being bilingual. There are so many advantages, it can help you to be more flexible as a person and cognitively it can help your understanding. It has certainly helped my decision making and it definitely gives you a greater understanding of other cultures, I find this especially important for everyone to help to bring people together.
I know that you’ve not just written one book, what can you tell us about what you’re doing?
The books are planned to all be part of a series and the first one is called ‘My Little Superstar’ which is definitely inspired by Leo, there’s even a picture of him at the start of the story. The book is designed so that each double page has English on one side with the Spanish translation on the other so when someone is reading the story they can read it in both languages. I’ve also had the book illustrated by an incredible Ukrainian artist called Katerina who has really brought it all to life. ‘My Little Superstar’ is the first book in the ‘My Little Bilingual Books’ series, each has ‘My Little…’ at the start of the title. The next book is inspired by my wonderful niece and is called ‘My Little Flower’. Once I’ve finished that one I’m planning to build the series up with other titles.
Is the ‘My Little…’ series going to just be English and Spanish or are you planning other languages as well?
I’m blessed to have close friends and family that have corrected translations to make the poems sound more natural in the native target language. So far, I have had the first book translated into Spanish, French, Portuguese and Arabic with more to come! I want to ensure that the level of language in every book is of the highest quality and that it feels natural to a native speaker. Sometimes bilingual books get criticised that the standard of language could be better and so I am very aware not to make that mistake myself. In addition to that I also think it’s incredibly important to hear the stories read by someone who speaks that language as a first language. I don’t want anyone reading my books to struggle to pronounce them so for each story I’m going to include a QR code that can be scanned to access the audiobook version.
You’re doing so much! Is there anything else that you’ve got planned for the series?
I just love writing and I’m really into journals so each ‘My Little…’ book has its own journal in a hardback copy so that every child’s caregiver can write things down - experiences, thoughts, memories, whatever they choose - and use those books as a diary. I really like writing these about my time with my son and I hope that one day he might be interested to read through these together with me or maybe even by himself. I’ve also created different types of ‘My Little…’ books to come but not using characters, instead using topics and affirmations that belong to the babies and children to encourage them to be well balanced individuals from a young age.
What does your son think of all of this?
Leo is only two and a half so there are things that he doesn’t understand just yet but he knows that ‘My Little Superstar’ is mummy’s book for him and he really likes seeing himself as an illustration in the book and having me read his story to him.
You clearly love books and reading. What are some of your personal favourites?
I have to say that my absolute favourite is ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar’ by Eric Carle. The story is just so perfect and the illustrations are beautiful. When the caterpillar turns into a butterfly at the end is just such a magical moment to see and to share with a child. I’ve also always loved the Elmer books by David McKee for the same reason, really sweet and meaningful stories with fantastic illustrations.
My two favourite adult books are probably ‘The Power of Now’ by Eckhart Tolle and the Bible. My faith is incredibly important to me and recently my vicar gave me my own copy of the Bible as a complete surprise. I was very touched and I’m now really enjoying reading it for the first time.
That sounds great – my daughter also loves ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar’ and the Elmer books! Is there anything that you want to add?
Just that reading with a child is a very special moment together that you share. This can be at any time of day obviously but generally it’s the bedtime stories that feel the most special when you’re really snuggling up together. I truly want the ‘My Little…’ books to be a type of love ode to the child that you’re sharing the story with. I also tried to ensure that the stories reflect the balance of life, happy and sad, sun and rain. I want children to know that life is beautiful and magical but also to understand that negative things can happen. This is not to make the child sad or scared at all but just to know that those things are all part of the journey that we are on and they have to be embraced as much as the positives. I think this way we can really empower children and help them to be ready to face the world. By surrounding them with rich languages, beautiful words, pictures and ideas we can help our children to grow up into secure adults who are confident in themselves, resilient and who are curious and accepting about the world around them.
If you’d like to find out more about Sophie’s wonderful books then please visit ‘mylittlebilingualbooks.com’. At the time of writing, the website is not quite live but Sophie plans for it to be ready by July 31st, a date which is special to her as it marks a year since she moved back from Madrid to Hove.
I’m astounded by what she has achieved in that time so I’m certain that the ‘My Little…’ series will be one that we will all hear much more about and enjoy in the future.