Dr. Billington and his wife, Marjorie, welcomed to the Library Ana Botella de Aznar (center), wife of the Prime Minister of Spain, José María Aznar. Georgette Dorn, chief of the Hispanic Division (right), accepted Ms. Aznar's collection of international classics for children into the Library's collections. - Christina Tyler Wenks
Dr. and Mrs. Billington and Hispanic Division Chief Georgette Dorn welcomed Ana Botella de Aznar to the Library on Nov. 28. Ms. Aznar is the wife of Spanish Prime Minister José Maria Aznar.
Ms. Dorn noted the title and description of a book Ms. Aznar gave to the Library, her recently published collection of international classics for children, Erase una vez … los mejores cuentos infantiles comentados [Once Upon a Time … the Best Children's Stories with Commentaries] containing her analyses and commentaries. Ms. Aznar said her book is intended for teachers and parents.
Accompanied by Rakela de Ruperez, whose husband is the ambassador from Spain to the United States, and other state officials, Ms. Aznar visited the Hispanic Reading Room, where Everette Larson, head of the reading room, demonstrated several Hispanic Web projects (www.loc.gov/rr/hispanic), such as the "United States, Spain and the American Frontier," "Portals to the World," "The World of 1898" and other offerings. Ms. Aznar was surprised at the range of the Hispanic collections and the reference services available at the Library. She said she especially enjoyed hearing about Archer Huntington's role in establishing the Hispanic Room in the 1930s and his generous support of the collections, because "Huntington is still much remembered in Spain."
Ms. Aznar also toured the "American Treasures" and "World Treasures" exhibitions, where she marveled at the first book published in the Americas, the 1543 Mexican imprint Doctrina breve by Juan de Zumarraga, the first bishop of Mexico.
A recent addition to the Library of Congress collection of children's books in Spanish is Ms. Aznar's, Erase una vez … los mejores cuentos infantiles comentados (Barcelona: Ediciones Martínez Roca, 2001). Ms. Aznar published this selection of what she deemed the 100 best children's stories; all are suitable for reading aloud, and many of them are beloved classics.
Aiming at audiences of parents and teachers, the author adds commentaries to each story and suggests the age level appropriate for each. She chose stories by Aesop, Oscar Wilde, the brothers Grimm, Juan Valera, Félix María de Samaniego and Hans Christian Andersen, among others. She chose the most authoritative translations into Spanish. This book will be very useful for librarians who recommend Spanish-language children's books.
