Book Nook: Get to Know Bernardo De Gálvez

A new children's book by Spanish radio/TV journalist Guillermo Fesser, Get to Know Bernardo de Gálvez, tells the little known true story of a woman activist who gets Congress to keep a promise made over 200 years ago and hang a portrait of a Hispanic hero of the American Revolution in the Capitol. It's fun to review books where I learn something too. In this book, I learned about a person I never knew existed, but had a significant impact on history. 

This book ties together so many elements - Hispanic and U.S. history, our multicultural background as a country, advocacy, and following through on promises. It's not preachy, but lays out clearly the contributions that Bernardo de Gálvez made to help defeat the British during the American Revolution. It's very educational - clearly fact-based, but engaging enough to keep the interest of elementary school readers. There's lots of trivia in the book - Spanish cowboy words that have become mainstays in the English language, Louisiana's original cultural heritage, the support George Washington received from Hispanic citizens, and more. Published in both English and Spanish, the author is also working on digital resources to help teachers incorporate the book into classrooms.

Guillermo Fesser is a Spanish journalist from Madrid known throughout Spain for his innovative morning radio talk show, Gomaespuma, which ran 25 years and had over 1 million listeners. He is the author of several titles: RUEDAS Y EL ENIGMA DEL CAMPAMENTO MT, GET TO KNOW BERNARDO DE GÁLVEZ (available in English and Spanish), and ONE HUNDRED MILES FROM MANHATTAN (available in English and Spanish). He has also written and directed films; edited and hosted television news programs; and published articles in the major Spanish newspapers El Pais and El Mundo. Fesser lives with his family in Rhinebeck, New York, where he is a TV correspondent for El Intermedio in Spain, broadcasts weekly stories on life in small-town America to Onda Cero Radio in Spain and blogs for The Huffington Post.