Pages in the Park: My Dog Just Speaks Spanish/Hello, Tobi! with Andrea Cáceres

Join us for our free story time programming at Travers Park with Andrea Cáceres!

The families—and dogs—Tobi meets at the park come in all sorts of shapes and colors and sizes, but this affable pup likes them all.

Every day, Tobi goes for walks with his family. At the park, he likes to say hello to everyone—small families with big dogs, big families with small dogs, tall families with tall dogs, short families with short dogs. There are families who look alike and families where everyone is different; families who are quiet, some who yell or sing loudly, and some who like to play together or create. Even when there are so many people and dogs at the park that Tobi can’t tell which dog belongs to which family, he still loves them all! But there’s always one family he loves the best . . . With welcoming, childlike illustrations and a breezy text, Andrea Cáceres invites us on a walk through the park that celebrates all kinds of families, with an endearing pup whose world is a friendly place indeed. Hello, Tobi!

A young bilingual immigrant meanders through her city park, translating for her beloved dog, in a heartwarming picture book debut.

When Aurora came to the United States, she learned to speak English. But her spaniel, Nena, did not. Sweet Nena loves to give besos, and she knows only Spanish. She doesn’t know SIT, but she does know SIÉNTATE. She doesn’t know WAIT, but she does know ESPERA. And while TREAT doesn’t mean anything to Nena, she can certainly sniff out a POSTRE! At the park, Nena may not know what the other dog owners are saying, but she and Aurora will always understand each other just fine. Borrowing from her lived experience, Venezuelan-American author-illustrator Andrea Cáceres offers a gentle, charmingly illustrated ode to love that extends a hand—or a paw—to readers who may feel displaced or are learning a new language themselves.