Last weekend was the virtual book launch for my new book Bilingual Success Stories Around the World: Parents Raising Multilingual Children Share Their Experiences and Encouragement. The idea was to bring together as many of the 26 families from the book as possible to celebrate its release and offer them a chance to connect “in person,” since most of them had never previously met.
It was challenging to organize, however, as these families are spread out across the world, with a range of time zones and schedules, so choosing a suitable day and time was difficult. (For me, in Japan, it had to start at 11 p.m. and I’m not normally a night person!)
But in the end, we were able to pull it off, with half of the families from the book represented, and it went very well. (With the exception of my glowing eyes—sorry, I didn’t realize the light was reflecting off my glasses so much!)
It was a remarkable gathering, really, of kindred spirits who, despite living such different lives out in the world, care very deeply about the same central thing: successfully nurturing the language ability of our kids. As I mention in the video (while flashing my shining eyes), this kinship, in fact, enables us to connect with one another in a way that feels closer, more meaningful, than many of the relationships in our day-to-day lives.
So, on the surface, it was a casual event, yet it stands out in such a memorable way since our purpose for coming together was so heartfelt. Along with the comments I sprinkle throughout the video, the participating parents, whose stories are detailed in the book, each share some of the highlights of their experiences to date. (And you can see a few cute bilingual kids, too!)
I hope you enjoy this virtual experience of our virtual book launch! 
Watch this video at my YouTube channel, Bilingual Monkeys TV.
