Un Ha'åni yan si Ena follows Ena, a young CHamorrita, as she enjoys a day on Guam with her family. The book uses common and simple CHamoru phrases and vocabulary ideal for helping adults and children incorporate the language in their everyday lives

• Author(s): Simone Efigenia Perez Bollinger
• Illustrator: Jack Lujan Bevacqua
• Publisher: University of Guam Press (2018)
• Imprint: Taiguini Books
• ISBN-13: 978-1-935198-23-9
• Hardcover: 21 pages 
• Price: $15

As an English instructor at Guam Community College, Simone Efigenia Perez Bollinger uses a lot of local literature to encourage aspiring local artists.

She hopes to contribute to a growing pool of local literature, especially children’s books, and the preservation and promotion of the CHamoru language.

As a member of Ta Tuge’ Mo’na, a local nonprofit committed to supporting the creation of literature from the region, Bollinger wants Guam's youth to read and write stories they can relate to.

“The best compliment that I continue to get from my friends is that their kids say (a character in the book) is them, or their cousin or friend. They’re able to recognize themselves in books,” she said.

Although Bollinger is not fluent in the CHamoru language, she said it’s receiving tidbits of CHamoru culture and simple language phrasing that will allow children to learn more about the island’s native language, especially in households without native speakers.

“With children’s books, if you read the same book to your kids over and over again, it’s easy to learn simple things at least,” she said.

"Un Ha’åni yan Si Ena" is published by Taiguini Books, a division of the University of Guam Press that publishes cultural literature for children and adults.

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