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Hush Little Baby Quedito Bebito reworks the classic lullaby for a new generation. This modern nursery rhyme skips the focus of possessions and tragedy. Celebrate love in the little moments with a bicultural latinx family.
This adaptation replaces the materialistic account of one disaster after another with a story centered around the daily loving actions of a mother. Illustrated to reflect my own family dynamic, the mother is Hispanic with a bicultural child. The loosely rhyming text is available in both English and Spanish for bilingual households. As a little girl, I had a love/hate relationship with the Mockingbird Song. As a staple lullaby in my home, all my parents had to do was start humming it and my eyes would grow heavy. Fast forward all these years later and I found myself humming it to my 4 children. Yet as a conscientious mother, I'd wince at 2 key elements of the song. I didn't care for the message of buying more and more to please a child. The faultiness in each "gift" also felt a bit fatalistic and wasteful. I wanted words that convey my love in action and deed and not with possessions and things. I want to raise children to know that the little moments in life are enough. Coming from a mixed household, I want children to see themselves on the page. I am delighted when I can find bilingual books to read to my kids and wanted this story to be no different. |