Every Peruvian, man and woman, who is between 25 and 85 years old knows exactly what the name “Libro Coquito” means. . Teachers and students, parents and children have been in contact at some point in their lives with this line of texts to learn to read and write. Many generations have used it in its various versions and it is, to this day, a basic tool in initial and primary education. Even this method has transcended the borders of Peru and is a classic in educational systems such as the Colombian, Ecuadorian, Mexican, among others. Its creator is a professor from Arequipa who is currently 87 years old. His name is used in the White City to identify streets and schools, he is considered an illustrious son of the land of the Misti and has received multiple tributes and recognitions both in his hometown and in Lima. And who was Everardo Zapata Santillana ?
Everardo Zapata Santillana is a Peruvian primary school teacher, author of Coquito , the best book to teach Spanish-speaking children how to read and write.
Zapata was born, in the Tambo Valley, Islay Province in the department of Arequipa, in 1926. His mother died when he was young, and he grew up in isolation with a priest. Later, he felt the need to study and pursue a career as a teacher.
he studied the teaching profession at the San Juan Bautista de La Salle Normal School for Men in Arequipa , where he graduated as a primary school teacher. He was sent to school in a small town called Punta de Bombón, Arequipa.
There, Zapata founded the first Elementary School in 1952, which now bears his name. After 7 years of research, he developed the Coquito Book -a method for teaching children to read, write and think. At first he thought of baptizing his method with some generic name like Sunset or Afternoon, but finally he decided to give it its own personality and thought of a better idea:that the book be named after a child. This is how Coquito was born .
Since 1955 Coquito it was published and sold only in the city of Arequipa. Almost sixty years later, more than 35 million children in 12 countries - in South America, Central America, the Caribbean and Spain - have learned to read and write using the Coquito method. .
Zapata is also the author of more than 60 teaching materials for initial and primary education, all distributed under Ediciones Coquito, a family business that now holds the rank of corporation.
Zapata affirms that he is still looking for better and better ways to help children and teachers to ease the educational process.
The Ministry of Education of Peru has honored Zapata with the Palmas Magisteriales in the Degree of Amauta. In addition, the mayor of Arequipa he rewarded him with the city's gold medal. He has been appointed Honorary Professor of the Universidad Católica de Santa María , one of the main ones in Arequipa. Magisterial Spill awarded Mr. Everardo the Encinas Medal in 2008, in recognition of his career as an educator and the importance that his creation has had on millions of children in Latin America.