GOOOAAAL!!! New Latino Health Program Scores Big with First Book

Houston, TX (September 24, 2010) — Local author, Gwendolyn Zepeda, kicked off Arte Público Press’s innovative wellness education program, ¡Salud, familia!, by reading from her latest bilingual children’s book, I Kick the Ball / Pateo el balón, to a group of students at Sylvan Rodriguez Elementary.

The selected third and fourth graders gathered around to listen to Zepeda read aloud about a boy named Toñito, who uses his imagination and healthy lifestyle sensibilities to be a skillful soccer player. The book’s message encourages children to exercise and eat the right foods. "In my book,” Zepeda told the kids, “Toñito shows us many ways of how to be healthy--by exercising and playing soccer, by doing his homework, getting lots of sleep, and by eating a healthy dinner.”

The event was made possible with support from the Houston-based Recipe for Success Foundation, which is working in close collaboration with First Lady Michelle Obama’s Presidential Task Force to combat childhood obesity, and administrators from the school.

¡Salud, familia! is Arte Público Press’s publishing and outreach program that encompasses health and nutrition education. Its mission is to expand access to important health and nutrition information through lively and engaging bilingual children’s books.

The books will be distributed free-of-charge to low-income Hispanic families with school-aged children residing in urban and rural areas by our partnering organizations. It is also available for download in a black and white version on www.saludfamilia.com so that kids can use it as a coloring book. The program is funded by the City of Houston through the Houston Arts Alliance, Marguerite Casey Foundation, The California Endowment, The Simmons Foundation, and W.K. Kellogg Foundation.