Valeria, seven years old and endlessly curious, didn’t see a ghost. She saw magic. With a tap of her finger, the Lengua Castellana appeared on the screen—but it was alive. The illustrations of a camel and a squirrel (to teach the hard and soft ‘c’) actually moved. The squirrel chased its tail. The camel winked. When Valeria clicked on a difficult word, a soft, kind voice read it aloud. There were interactive maps where rivers flowed when you traced them with your stylus.

“Abuela! Look! I’m inside a volcano!”

The next morning, Ana didn’t make fun of the libros online . She asked Valeria to show her how to use the highlighting tool. She learned that you could change the font size for tired eyes. She discovered the “Teacher’s Guide” section, where she found modern lesson plans that built on the same classic Santillana methodologies she had used in 1987.

So when the pandemic swept through Madrid in 2020, closing schools and turning life upside down, Ana watched in horror as her son, Carlos, a young father, tried to help his daughter, little Valeria, with her homework.