Meet Maya Lê Espiritu | Creator of MaiStoryBook

We had the good fortune of connecting with Maya Lê Espiritu and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Maya, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
My passion for early education and reading development was inspired by my time working for Jumpstart when I was an undergrad at Scripps College in Claremont. Jumpstart is an Americorp program that collaborates with local preschools to implement literacy-based lesson plans. I was able to witness the excitement, learning, and joy that is shared through a story, and wanted to continue sharing this wonder of reading with a broader audience of children. The number one way to support reading development in children is by reading aloud. But especially for younger children, it’s not the straight-through reading of the book and hearing the words that is most beneficial, but rather the conversation and opportunity to actively engage in the reading and talk about the book that supports reading development the most. Reading needs to be interactive. I know that many families are busy and may not be able to read a story to their child every day, or they don’t know about incorporating an interactive element to read alouds. Teachers are also be looking for read alouds for students to listen to, or samples of interactive and shared reading. From what I had seen on YouTube, there are many read aloud channels, but all of them were straight-through, impersonalized readings of the book. There was the book taking up the whole screen, with no human interaction. Thus, I wanted to create read aloud videos that actively engaged learners and incorporated the element of human connection and interaction. Stories and books are meant to be shared together, especially at young ages.

I started MaiStoryBook, the children’s book blog, YouTube channel, and social media platform, the summer before starting my Masters of Education at UCSD. On YouTube, I share interactive read aloud videos where I ask questions throughout the story and pause for answers, point out new vocabulary, and share main themes and ideas in order to engage children in conversation throughout the book. It’s also important to show how reading and a story can extend beyond the book, therefore I often include a book-inspired craft to pair with the story that helps readers connect with the theme of the text and share their own experiences and connections to the story and their own lives. On the blog, for each read aloud book I provide downloadable templates for the crafts, a list of vocabulary words to highlight from the story, and themes and ideas for readers to point out and discuss. I also wanted to create a resource for parents to discover quality and diverse books for their children, so on Instagram (@maistorybooklibrary) I collaborate with publishers, authors, and illustrators to share book reviews and recommended reads to teachers and parents. My ultimate goal is to help inspire a new generation of readers through interactive and engaging read alouds, stories, and crafts.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I create interactive read aloud videos, book-inspired crafts, and reading resources for children, teachers, and families with the goal to help inspire and raise a new generation of readers. My video resources focus on engaging children in conversation throughout the story, giving them an active role in the read aloud experience, and framing reading as a social activity that is enjoyed and shared with others. I started MaistoryBook YouTube Channel, Blog, and social media platform the summer before I started my Masters program. Initially, I shared my own childhood books and library books. However, after consistent posting and quality content, I publishers began to reach out to share review copies of books. As I gained more traction, I also started reaching out to publishers and authors and illustrators to collaborate to share review of their books or to create read aloud videos of their stories. Today, I collaborate with a variety of major publishing firms, such as HarperKids, Simon Kids, Penguin, Candlewick Press, MacMillan Kids, Scholastic, and others, as well as with independent publishers such as Compendium and Lantana publishing and smaller publishing firms. I’ve presented at professional development conferences to share read aloud strategies to engage and boost reading development for young children, have hosted book festivals, and have collaborated with authors and publishers to host author Q&A sessions and virtual book launch events. It has been amazing connecting with the children’s book community and being able to share so many incredible stories and resources with families, teachers, and children. I also am a huge proponent of increasing accessibility to diverse reads. My goal is to also help families and teachers curate libraries where all children are represented and can see themselves mirrored in the stories they read. This past month, in honor of API Heritage Month, I created the API Read Aloud Initiative and collaborated with publishers and authors to host an event where I shared a new Interactive read aloud video featuring a book with Asian or Pacific Islander characters or was created by an API author, every weekday of the month. I was able to share over 20 stories on YouTube, giving classrooms and families access to a vast online library of API reads. As an Asian American, Vietnamese- Filipina woman, it was a project close to my heart and I am honored to have been able to share these stories.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Thank you to Jumpstart Claremont and Jenessa Flores Parker for inspiring my passion for early childhood education and reading development. Also, thank you to my mother, Yen Le Espiritu, for supporting my dreams, and for being the most excellent photographer!

Website: http://maistorybook.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/maistorybooklibrary/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/maistorybook/?ref=pages_you_manage

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/maistorybook

Other: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@maistorybook?lang=en TeachersPayTeachers: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Maistorybook

Image Credits
Yen Le Espiritu