Fernanda Romero from actress to bilingual children’s book author with ‘Colores del Mundo’

Mexican actress Fernanda Romero is taking her storytelling talents from the screen to the page with her new bilingual children’s book, “Colores del Mundo.” In this first adventure, parents and young readers follow Sebastián and his curious raccoon friend, Pachi, as they travel the globe discovering the beauty of animals, friendship and cultural diversity. Along the way, Romero weaves in her passion for language, inviting children to learn English and Spanish in a fun, natural and engaging way.

Romero is not only a storyteller and actress, but also a proud mom of two. After a successful career in entertainment, she discovered a new passion, writing stories that celebrate bilingualism, inclusion and the joy of being different. She believes wild, creative hearts will shape a brighter future. 

Responses have been edited for clarity and brevity.

What inspired your shift from acting to writing children's books?

“My kids. My inspiration was my son. At that time he was only one and as a single mom, I had the need to create something that he can relate to, which was a character that spoke both languages.”

Were there any unexpected challenges from the entertainment industry to going into the publishing world?

“Everything, it's a whole new beast. I had no idea what I was doing, everything was challenging because I had to re-learn, but this is just a lesson that nothing is impossible and we can learn anything. Alegría Publishing, which is our publishing company, was so kind to be guiding me through the steps, but we were learning as we went so it was very different.”

“Did you find any similarities between performing a character in the entertainment industry to creating one for your book?

“Funny enough, I do voiceovers as well, so having to be a voice actress I started off with a puppet and then I was creating the puppet voice for my son with Pachi and then it became into music because I’m also a musician. So, we have the band The White Cherries and got my bandmate AD Touber to be involved with it, so I had to do a lot with it to be creating this whole thing. I think every little bit of me is here, in this book, from acting to voiceover. So it’s a huge character because I do the voice of Pachi.”

Why was it important for you to write bilingual stories specifically?

“Because being bilingual nowadays, I think it's very important. It's a skill that we should be very proud of and it will only serve my kids to learn a second language. So I thought it was non-negotiable for me from the beginning.”

What has been the most rewarding part of writing for children?

“To see their faces. My baby didn't know about Pachi because this has been an adventure for me between when I was a single mom with my first, and to share that with my new baby, Alessandro and him seeing the reaction and seeing him so attracted to it. That was incredible! It was priceless to see their faces and to also introduce them to new kids to these characters in the book. They're the best judges, you know, they have no filters, they will tell you if it's terrible or if it's a good thing, they don't care because they have no bad intent. So to see that, it just makes me very happy that it was well received.”

What do you hope children and their parents take away from “Colores del Mundo”?

“Well, one, I wanted to start with this book because I wanted to create a bonding moment between parents and kids. I think going into the basics is gonna be like the new thing because we noticed that phones and the screens are not so great for our kids. So I wanted to create that for the bonding again, because it's so great. Two, because it's bilingual, and it's approachable, you can take this book and you can give it to your kid.

“There's a new character right here, which is Pachi, that is gonna be growing up with your kid. It also teaches them that there's more out there and it starts creating that seed of adventure and creating that spark for them to go and explore the world and be the beginning of new things. Because one of the things, and the biggest gift I think in life that my parents could have given me, is traveling the world. I think for me if you give me the option to buy an expensive bag or go on a trip, I will go on a trip with my eyes closed, because I think that those are the memories that I always want to take with me, and those are the memories that will last forever. So hopefully this book is going to create more memories with your kids that will last forever, and hopefully they will be taking us parents on a trip when they grow up. This has been a very personal project that started from scratch and as a mom I just wanted to share this story with the world.

I am a huge believer in giving back to my community, so we're building this beautiful community of parents and sending good messages to the world and going back to basics of connecting with our kids.”

Romero shared that the book is currently available on Amazon and all over the world. Readers can also follow Pachitv.com and subscribe to their newsletter to be part of their giveaways.