Heidy Espinosa-Flores’ The Coco-Nuts stories are bilingual and help children learn and grow with simple Spanish mixed into every adventure.
Heidy Espinosa-Flores was always writing stories.
Growing up in the Dominican Republic, there were no story books. Espinosa-Flores remembers writing about television shows she watched. When she came to the U.S. at the age of 14, she didn’t speak English, except to say hello.
“I learned, ‘Hi,’ here,’” Espinosa-Flores recalled, adding that she became an A-plus and honor student “literally through stories.”
“I would make stories in my head and would write it until I remembered it,” said the 30-year-old. “I literally passed school by memorizing.”
After high school, Espinosa-Flores further honed her English as a hostess. She spent 11 years in hospitality, from the front desk to management, then left the business after her first son was born, when she started a baking business from her Medford home.
Now her first-born is 3 years old and her second son is five months, so finding time to bake got harder with the demands of two young children. At the same time Espinosa-Flores is raising her children in a bilingual household of English and Spanish. Her husband, Cody Pierson, doesn’t speak his wife’s native language.
Espinosa-Flores found a book that was Spanish on one side and English on the other, but with just words and illustrations. She wanted to find a title that had stories behind the books so her son could learn the values of kindness and empathy.
Espinosa-Flores made her own story for her son that enabled him to easily learn Spanish – and important values. The wheels churned for her next entrepreneurship, which has been two years in the making: her own self-publishing children’s book business called Falohop Library Publishing.
Up first and on the market is “The Coco-Nuts’ Holiday Story Collection,” which Espinosa-Flores first premiered in October at the Chatsworth cranberry festival. The Coco-Nuts bilingual stories help children learn and grow with simple Spanish mixed into every adventure.
Espinosa-Flores sold more than 80 copies and started conversations with schools, libraries and local organizations about book donations. She noted that writing the story didn’t take long, but finding the right illustrator and learning the nuances of publishing was an arduous task.
After seven interviews, Espinosa-Flores finally found that illustrator: Fatima Asif, a Pakistani native.
“The Coco-Nuts’ Holiday Story Collection” is a collection with three tales that revolve around a coconut family.
“When you think about the Dominican Republic, you think about palm trees and coconuts,” Espinosa-Flores explained. “Our country, our island, is surround by beach. That’s what people immediately think about.
“The coconut (characters) is basically our family.”
Now she wants to make an impact in the Dominican Republic and beyond. For every title Espinosa-Flores sells, she plans to give away other books
“You know the power of books,” she related, adding she doesn’t want kids to wait until they’re 14 like she did to find out the impact of a title. “The idea is to sell a million copies and give away a million of copies.”
For more information, visit falohoplibrary.com.
