While reviewing the illustrations and page layout for Bridges of Wonder – Part 2, I suddenly realized something I didn’t have enough experience to notice when I created Part 1.

When I published my first bilingual book, I had absolutely no experience. I carefully checked both the Vietnamese and English versions, but I still missed a “gap” in the writing, translation, and editing process with my team.

It wasn’t until my second book was almost ready that I finally noticed it.

As I read through the finished pages with the illustrations, my first thought was, “Wow, that’s a lot of words!” After all, every page has to include both Vietnamese and English.

What surprised me even more was that although I had already checked both versions very carefully, when I saw the short dialogue placed beside the illustrations, something didn’t feel quite right. Nothing was actually wrong, but there were small differences that became noticeable, sometimes only a few words.

So I went back and checked all 48 pages, sentence by sentence.

That’s when I realized something important.

I wasn’t simply writing the story in one language and translating it into the other.

I was writing the story in both Vietnamese and English.

Because of that, neither version of my bilingual children’s books is simply a direct translation of the other. For every sentence, I tried to understand the meaning in both languages and choose the words that best expressed the ideas and feelings I wanted to share.

For me, creating a bilingual book means writing in two different languages, not just writing in one language and translating it into another.

I hope you’ll continue to support me on this journey as I learn, improve, and create more fun and meaningful stories for children.