Coquito Clasico (2014 Edition)

Elementary School teacher Everardo Zapata-Santillana, author of the learning how-to-read in Spanish book named Coquito, was born in the beautiful Tambo Valley in the city of Arequipa, Peru in 1926. At a very early age, he felt the need to study and research a career in teaching, later immersing himself entirely as a teacher and putting to good practice his wide knowledge.He studied in La Escuela Normal de Varones San Juan Bautista de La Salle, Arequipa, where he graduated as an Elementary School Teacher. He was sent to Punta de Bombom, Arequipa, a small town where he founded a First Grade School in 1952, which now bears his name and in which he researched and found, during a 7 year period, an appropriate and effective method to teach children to read, write and think. Coquito was first published and sold in the city of Arequipa in 1955. Today there are 12 countries of which some are in South America, Central America and the Caribbean as well as Spain, counting more than 35 million children learned how to read using the Coquito method. Everardo Zapata-Santillana is also the author of more than 60 published teaching materials, for children in preschool and first grade years, all of which are distributed under the corporate brand name Ediciones Coquito. All of his hard work and dedication have been recognized by the Department of Education in Peru and Everardo Zapata-Santillana has been honored with the highest level of recognition given to a teacher known as Las Palmas Magisteriales en su maximo grado de Amauta. As well, The Mayor of Arequipa awarded him with the City's Cultural Gold Medal and he has been named Honorary Professor by La Universidad de Santa Maria, a Catholic University in Arequipa. He has also received a Gold Medal by the Arequipa Regional Government. Everardo Zapata at his 87 years of age lives in Arequipa, Peru, and while his method is well proven, he is still seeking improved ways to help children and teachers ease the learning process.