Linda Letra Bilingual Books, a children's bookstore focusing on titles in Spanish and English, opened in Portland, Ore., on August 26, Montavilla News reported.
Located in a 1,000-square-foot space at 7101 NE Glisan St., the shop carries books for children up to the age of 12 that are written either entirely in Spanish or feature both Spanish and English. There are books from large publishers as well as independents, and the store carries a small selection of books in French.
Owner Rachel Kimbrow, who has more than 20 years of experience as an educator, started Linda Letra as an online store primarily catering to the education market. There were many publishers, she noted, that had at least a few Spanish or bilingual titles, but they were never all in one place. She started putting together curated collections of those titles and selling them either to schools or through book fairs. Kimbrow will continue that business while also running the bricks-and-mortar Linda Letra store.
"My focus and passion has always been towards language learning and promoting bilingualism for kids and families," Kimbrow told Montavilla News.
At present, the bookstore is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday. On September 16, Kimbrow will host a grand opening celebration featuring local authors Gerardo Calderon and Cathy Camper.