Hoffman Estates Artist Publishes Bilingual Baby Books for Korean-Speaking Families
As a biracial child growing up in the Midwest, CJ Rooney scanned the shelves of her local bookstore and library looking for a book to read in her mother's native language, Korean. But she never found any.
By the time she had her own children, Korean learning books for the youngest readers were still far and few-between.
"With over 1.2 million Americans speaking Korean, I feel there ought to be easier access to quality bilingual books that teach the language," said Rooney.
As an artist, Rooney decided to take the matter into her own hands. She dedicated her days to researching, writing, illustrating and designing something that would be educational, engaging and accessible to her own children, ages 10, 5 and 3.
"When I was ready, I introduced it to my kids and they loved it!" Rooney said.
Thus was born "Bilingual Learning: Colors" and the beginning of a mission to share the Korean language with the littlest English-speaking learners through her independent publishing company, Aerilyn Books.
Colors introduces each new vocabulary word in large letters so toddlers and early elementary school learners can easily point to and recognize each character in both English and Hangul, the Korean writing system.
Syllable-by-syllable pronunciations and example sentences are paired with hand-painted illustrations by Rooney to prepare children to begin identifying, in both languages, the colors in the world around them.
The sturdy, paperboard pages are made for tiny hands to turn, and designed to withstand the enthusiasm of children who love to learn.
"I love that it's a durable board book that will survive my two kids and still be around for when baby number three arrives later this year," says Joi P., who bought the book for her 5-year-old and 3-year-old.
Colors can be purchased at www.aerilynbooks.com, and free Korean-learning resources for children are also provided on the Aerilyn Books Facebook and Instagram pages. Aerilyn Books can be reached at comments@aerilynbooks.com.
Learning a second language at a young age gifts children with many benefits including enhanced cognitive and social development, appreciation for different cultures and improved ability to learn additional languages. Rooney's mission to make the Korean language an accessible learning option is not over. The second installment in the Bilingual Learning series, "Numbers" will be available in July 2019.
About Aerilyn Books:
Aerilyn Books is an independent publishing company that provides Korean-English bilingual resources for children. The first baby book in their Bilingual Learning series was released August 2018.
For more information on this topic, please visit www.aerilynbooks.com