¿De Dónde Eres?

¿De Dónde Eres?

Recently I had the chance to sit with the preschool class at La Casa de Amistad, called “Yo Puedo Leer”, and read De dónde eres by Yamile Méndez.

I read it in Spanish.

That matters more than I expected. I used it to relate to them, I don't read Spanish well, I told them I moved here when I was close to their age, and then never really to read and write in Spanish. I reminded them, and not all of them were native spanish speakers, the value of speaking two languages. 

The book itself is simple on the surface, a child is asked on the playground by friends, "de donde eres", or "Where are you from?" She says from HERE, and they ask joking, no where are you really from. Something most immigrants hear often, a questions that a biracial, Latino-identifying but white looking kid like me hating answering. 

So the lead character asks the smartest person they know, their abuelo, "where am I really from?" The answer that goes beyond geography. It’s about roots, memory, culture, and all the invisible things we carry with us. It’s about the stories that shape us long before we know how to explain them.

Sitting there, reading those words out loud, I wasn’t just reading a children’s book. I was stepping into something familiar. Something personal.

Spanish wasn’t just the language of the book, it was the language of home, of stories, of identity. Especially because the author is South American, so the terms and vocabulary where more similar to my roots. 

And it brought me back to my mom.

She’s always loved storytelling. Not just reading stories, but sharing them, passing them down, making sure they live on. When La Casa opened that new preschool classroom, she donated books for that class. She made sure stories would be there, waiting.

So sitting in that classroom, reading one of those stories in Spanish, felt like a full-circle moment. It wasn’t just me showing up to read. It was everything behind that moment; family, language, culture, and a community I call home. 

And then there were the kids.

Listening. Watching. Engaging in a way only preschoolers can; completely present and completely absent (there is always that kid), completely curious. You could see it clicking. Not just the words, but the feeling behind them. Or the pictures in the book that showed kids of all colors, that reflected the look of that classroom. 

Kids understand more than we think. They understand belonging. They understand being left out. They understand when something feels like them.

That’s what De dónde eres? does. It gives language to something deeper than a place on a map. It reminds us that where we’re from isn’t just about location, it’s about people, history, and the stories we carry forward. Also that everyone is loved, the stories ends with abuelo telling her, that she came from his heart. 

That’s why programs like “Yo Puedo Leer” matter, why the La Casa space matters. 

Because when kids see themselves in stories; when they hear their language, their culture, their experiences reflected back to them, it tells them something powerful:

You belong here.

And maybe that’s the real answer to the question, “¿De dónde eres?”

Not just where you’re from.

But who you carry with you, and that you came from love. 

The book is available on Amazon in both Spanish and English: https://www.amazon.com/%C2%BF-d%C3%B3nde-eres-Where-Spanish/dp/0062915258'