Amid the shelves stocked with cubes of Brazilian coffee and cans of refried beans, and behind a cooler filled with frozen chicken empanadas, barbacoa meat, chorizo, and plantain leaves, a brother and sister sat with rapt attention before Candy Weisner, who held a book in her hands.
The book Weisner held was her own–- a children's book called Isabelle Visits Peru–- and it is one in a series of books Weisner has written in collaboration with illustrator Jessica Ingard that focuses on educational aspects of the immigrant experience.
Published in August last year, a reading was held at Sabores del Sur, a grocery store that specializes in Latin American food in downtown Cochrane, and the reading on July 26 was meant to commemorate the Peruvian Independence Day on July 28.
The book features Isabelle, Weisner's real life granddaughter, as she adventures through a Peru illustrated by Ingard, who was born and spent the first part of her life in that country. The book belongs to a series called “Kids Visit the World” and its two sequels focus on the Philippines and Canada.
Weisner has worked with the Cochrane Immigrant Services Committee and has been pursuing a master’s degree in cultural and community studies. The intersection of those two experiences, coupled together with her passion of writing and interest in the stories of newcomers, inspired Weisner to write the book series.
“Bringing in that knowledge and the focus on my final [master’s] project, we want people to be caring about others–how we all have wonderful pasts and histories and cultures–we can all learn from each other and make our community a more inclusive place,” Weisner said.
Cochrane is home to a growing Latino community, Weisner said, and everything she wrote in the book was confirmed and validated by people who were from the places she wrote about. Ignorance, she says, comes from people not knowing about other countries, and she’s hopeful that readers and kids are able to learn about the places she has written about.
“The book is an education for all,” she said. “If people read this book for their kids, I want it to ring for them, ‘oh I remember this from when I was a child, I went here and did this.’”
Each book begins with a recognition of the culture and history of the country that the book details, sort of like a land acknowledgement, and learning about a country was a process that both Weisner and Ingard went through as they worked on the project.
“It was a great experience," said Ingard. “I just like the idea of sharing more about the culture and educating people about it. I think I learned from the book [too], things I didn’t know before.”
The biggest challenge for Weisner, who has not been to Peru yet, and relied on Ingard and her own research to write the book, was finding a way to write the book from the perspective of a child.
“How would they love a country? What would they like about it?” Weisner said. “That was the biggest challenge for me.”
