Melendy Neuman launched the first publication of the series ‘Mundo di Neo’ (Neo’s World), titled ‘Neo ta sinti’ (Neo Feels). This took place at the National Library of Aruba. Surrounded by her family and acquaintances, Melendy introduced the goal of the book and read part of the story to the children present. ‘Neo ta sinti’ addresses the emotions of happiness, sadness, fear, anger, and love. The content of each part of the book provides an opportunity for the child to express themselves and for a parent or educator to explore each emotion more deeply.
The library will soon have the book available for loan, or you can contact Melendy Bisslik-Neuman via her Facebook page to obtain a copy.
Who is Melendy Neuman? Melendy Neuman is a research lecturer at the Instituto Pedagogico Arubano. Since returning to Aruba in 2012 after her studies in the Netherlands, her interest grew in taking courses to learn more about our language, Papiamento.
Additionally, Melendy began attending cultural activities, such as the Poeta di Patria competition. She also writes and recites poems for special occasions, including school graduations, funerals, and the celebration of 35 years of Status Aparte.
Melendy enjoys writing poems with short phrases that are easy to understand and rhyme. According to Melendy, the rhyme of a poem can be an element that maintains the attention of the audience or reader. Her passion for writing increased even more after the birth of her son. Her son, who likes to listen to stories and also create them, inspired Melendy to write her first book, ‘Mundo di Neo: Neo ta sinti’. Her son’s imagination is included in this story. She writes in Papiamento to contribute to a broader repertoire of books to read in our own language—a language that, according to Melendy, sounds so beautiful to our ears.
As an educator, Melendy could not help but incorporate the element of learning into the story, specifically to create moments of dialogue between the parent or educator and the child.
