ESOL Multicultural Children's Literature

Puerto Rico

Mexico

Mexico

Mexico

Mexico

Mexico

Mexico

Winner of the Pura Belpré Illustrator Award A Kirkus Reviews Best Picture Book In soaring words and stunning illustrations, Margarita Engle and Rafael López tell the story of Teresa Carreño, a child prodigy who played piano for Abraham Lincoln. As a little girl, Teresa Carreño loved to let her hands dance across the beautiful keys of the piano. If she felt sad, music cheered her up, and when she was happy, the piano helped her share that joy. Soon she was writing her own songs and performing in grand cathedrals. Then a revolution in Venezuela forced her family to flee to the United States. Teresa felt lonely in this unfamiliar place, where few of the people she met spoke Spanish. Worst of all, there was fighting in her new home, too--the Civil War. Still, Teresa kept playing, and soon she grew famous as the talented Piano Girl who could play anything from a folk song to a sonata. So famous, in fact, that President Abraham Lincoln wanted her to play at the White House! Yet with the country torn apart by war, could Teresa's music bring comfort to those who needed it most?

Pura Belpré Illustrator Award Honor - American Library Association (ALA) In a series of poetic sentences, a young boy (biracial Mexican/Caucasian) tells about some of the everyday things for which he is thankful. There are so many things to be thankful for. For one young boy, it's flying ladybugs, splashing ocean waves, a best friend, Dad's thick chocolate syrup, and much more. Straight from the heart of a child flows this lighthearted bilingual celebration of family, friendship, and fun. Come share the joy, and think about all the things for which you can say, "¡Gracias! Thanks!"

Children read aloud in various settings to celebrate of El Dia De Los Ninos, or Children's Day, in this bilingual story. Includes facts about Mexico's annual celebration of children and the book fiestas that are often included.

"What is the recipe?" I ask. Abuela laughs. "It is in my heart, Rosie. I use mis ojos, my eyes, to measure. Mis manos, my hands, to feel. Mi boca, my mouth, to taste. My abuela gave it to me, and I am giving it to you." Each year on Christmas Eve, Rosie's abuela, mamá, tía, sister, and cousins all gather together in Abuela's kitchen to make tamales-cleaning corn husks, chopping onions and garlic, roasting chilis, kneading cornmeal dough, seasoning the filling, and folding it all-and tell stories. Rosie learns from her abuela not only how to make a delicious tamale, but how to make a delicious life, one filled with love, plenty of spice, and family.

Pura Belpré Award, Illustrator Honor Latino Book Award, Winner Green is a chile pepper, spicy and hot. Green is cilantro inside our pot. In this lively picture book, children discover a world of colors all around them: red is spices and swirling skirts, yellow is masa, tortillas, and sweet corn cake. Many of the featured objects are Latino in origin, and all are universal in appeal. With rich, boisterous illustrations, a fun-to-read rhyming text, and an informative glossary, this playful concept book will reinforce the colors found in every child's day!

Pura Belpré Illustrator Award Honor - American Library Association (ALA) A fascinating bilingual picture book biography of Peruvian archaeologist and national icon Julio C. Tello, who unearthed Peru's ancient cultures and fostered pride in the country's Indigenous history. Growing up in the late 1800s, Julio Tello, an Indigenous boy, spent time exploring the caves and burial grounds in the foothills of the Peruvian Andes. Nothing scared Julio, not even the ancient human skulls he found. His bravery earned him the boyhood nickname Sharuko, which means "brave" in Quechua, the language of the Native people of Peru. At the age of twelve, Julio moved to Lima to continue his education. While in medical school, he discovered an article about the skulls he had found. The skulls had long ago been sent to Lima to be studied by scientists. The article renewed Julio's interest in his ancestry, and he decided to devote his medical skills to the study of Peru's Indigenous history. Over his lifetime, Julio Tello made many revolutionary discoveries at archaeological sites around Peru, and he worked to preserve the historical treasures he excavated. He showed that Peru's Indigenous cultures had been established thousands of years ago, disproving the popular belief that Peruvian culture had been introduced more recently from other countries. He fostered pride in his country's Indigenous ancestry, making him a hero to all Peruvians. Because of the brave man once known as Sharuko, people around the world today know of Peru's long history and its living cultural legacy.

Puerto Rico

Cuba

Cuba

Cuba

Dominican Republic

A smart, snappy, retelling of Little Red Riding Hood, with Spanish sprinkled throughout Winner of a Pura Belpre Honor for Illustration While Roja picks flowers on the wayto hergrandma's, a mean wolf sneaks away with her cape to surprise Abuelita. But Grandma's no fool and Roja's no ordinary chica. They send that hungry lobo packing with a caliente surprise! Thisspirited retelling of Little Red Riding Hood has accessible Spanish rhymes and fresh illustrations, with hip cultural details throughout.

Like a tiny bird in a big city, Frida Kahlo feels lost and lonely when she arrives in San Francisco with her husband, the famous artist Diego Rivera. It is the first time she has left her home in Mexico. And Frida wants to be a painter too. But as Frida begins to explore San Francisco on her own, she discovers more than the beauty, diversity, and exuberance of America. She finds the inspiration she needs to become one of the most celebrated artists of all time. Me, Frida is an exhilarating true story that encourages children to believe in themselves so they can make their own dreams soar. Praise for Me, Frida "The writing is lucid, the emotions are universal, and the illustrations soar. Glowing with warm, vibrant colors, the charcoal and acrylic paintings create distinctive, statuesque people within imaginatively conceived landscapes, cityscapes, and interiors." - Booklist

The Princess and the Pea gets a fresh twist in this charming retelling with Spanish sprinkled throughout, winner of the PuraBelpreMedal for Illustration. El principe knows this girl is the one for him, but, as usual, his mother doesn't agree. The queen has a secret test in mind to see if this girl is really a princesa, but the prince might just have a sneaky plan, too . . . Readers will be enchanted by this Latino twist on the classic story, and captivated by the vibrant art inspired by the culture of Peru.

FLAMENCO-it's dancing, it's singing, it's guitar playing! It's a way of expressing oneself that has evolved from many influences over hundreds of years. Today flamenco is practiced throughout the world and all across the United States. In Santa Fe, New Mexico, we meet Janira Cordova, the youngest member of a company studying to perform flamenco. Here the students learn the tools of their art-how to move their hands, arms, bodies, and feet to the traditional rhythms of the music and songs. Each aspect of flamenco is explored in detail. The origins of the art form are also explained, which draw upon the musical traditions of Indian, Arab, and North African cultures, among others. Janira's flamenco has progressed well, and at Santa Fe's annual Spanish Market in July, she finally has a chance to join the older dancers and perform in the town plaza. With colorful, action-packed photographs and accessible text, readers are sure to feel Janira's excitement and catch flamenco fever. �Ol�!

Through the magic windows of her cut-paper art, Carmen shows us her family, her life as an artist, and the legends of her Aztec past. An accompanying workbook is described below.

Doña Flor is a giant woman who lives in a puebla with lots of families. She loves her neighbors-she lets the children use her flowers for trumpets, and the families use her leftover tortillas for rafts. So when a huge puma is terrifying the village, of course Flor is the one to investigate. Featuring Spanish words and phrases throughout, as well as a glossary, Pat Mora's story, along with Raúl Colón's glorious artwork, makes this a treat for any reader, tall or small. Award-winning author Pat Mora's previous book with Raúl Colón, Tomás and the Library Lady, received the Tomás Rivera Mexican American Children's Book Award, an IRA Teacher's Choice Award, a Skipping Stones Award, and was also named a Texas Bluebonnet Award Master List title and an Americas Award for Children's and Young Adult Literature commended title. She lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Pura Belpré Illustrator Award Honor - American Library Association (ALA) Mismatched and fabulous Marisol McDonald celebrates her Peruvian and Scottish heritage. Bilingual English/Spanish. Marisol McDonald has flaming red hair and nut-brown skin. Polka dots and stripes are her favorite combination. She prefers peanut butter and jelly burritos in her lunch box. To Marisol, these seemingly mismatched things make perfect sense together. Other people wrinkle their nose in confusion at Marisol-can't she just choose one or the other? Try as she might, in a world where everyone tries to put this biracial, Peruvian-Scottish-American girl into a box, Marisol McDonald doesn't match. And that's just fine with her. A mestiza Peruvian American of European, Jewish, and Amerindian heritage, renowned author Monica Brown wrote this lively story to bring her own experience of being mismatched to life. Her buoyant prose is perfectly matched by Sara Palacios' mixed media illustrations.

Winner of the Pura Belpré Medal! Little Lobo returns to share his love of food and wrestling in ¡Vamos! Let's Go Eat, a paper-over-board picture book follow-up to ¡Vamos! Let's Go to the Market from New York Times bestselling, three-time Pura Belpré Award-winning author-illustrator Raúl the Third. Little Lobo is excited to take in a show with wrestling star El Toro in his bustling border town! After getting lunch orders from the luchador and his friends to help prepare for the event, Little Lobo takes readers on a tour of food trucks that sell his favorite foods, like quesadillas with red peppers and Mexican-Korean tacos. Peppered with easy-to-remember Spanish vocabulary and packed with fun details and things to see, this glorious celebration of food is sure to leave every reader hungry for lunch!

So we purr, cara cara, and we glide, taka taka, and we zoom, zoom, ZOOM! Together, a boy and his parents drive to the city of Havana, Cuba, in their old family car. Along the way, they experience the sights and sounds of the streets--neighbors talking, musicians performing, and beautiful, colorful cars putt-putting and bumpety-bumping along. In the end, though, it's their old car, Cara Cara, that the boy loves best. A joyful celebration of the Cuban people and their resourceful innovation. ALSC Notable Book

Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Award - American Library Association (ALA) A nonfiction picture book about the history of Puerto Rico and the Puerto Rican parrot, which was brought back from the brink of extinction. Also available in Spanish. Above the treetops of Puerto Rico flies a flock of parrots as green as their island home... These are Puerto Rican parrots. They lived on this island for millions of years, and then they nearly vanished from the earth forever. Puerto Rican parrots, once abundant, came perilously close to extinction in the 1960s due to centuries of foreign exploration and occupation, development, and habitat destruction. In this compelling book, Roth and Trumbore recount the efforts of the scientists of the Puerto Rican Parrot Recovery Program to save the parrots and ensure their future. Woven into the parrots' story is a brief history of Puerto Rico itself, from before the first human settlers to the present day. With striking collage illustrations, a unique format, and engaging storytelling, Parrots Over Puerto Rico invites readers to witness the amazing recovery efforts that have enabled Puerto Rican parrots to fly over their island once again.

From three-time Pura Belpré Winner Yuyi Morales, a delightful alphabet picture book about a Día de los Muertos skeleton who must find the perfect birthday gift (or gifts!) A 2009 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year Winner of the 2009 Pura Belpré Medal for Illustration A Pura Belpré Honor Book for Narrative Yuyi Morales takes us on a new journey with Señor Calvera, the skeleton from Day of the Dead celebrations. Señor Calvera is worried. He can't figure out what to give Grandma Beetle for her birthday. Misunderstanding the advice of Zelmiro the Ghost, Señor Calvera decides not to get her one gift, but instead one gift for every letter of the alphabet, just in case. Una Acordéon: An accordion for her to dance to. Bigotes: A mustache because she has none. Cosquillas: Tickles to make her laugh . . . . . . only to find out at the end of the alphabet that the best gift of all is seeing her friends. Morales's art glows in this heart-warming original tale with folklore themes, a companion book to her Pura Belpré-winning Just a Minute. In English with Spanish vocabulary words

This bilingual book allows young readers to enter Celia Cruz's life as she becomes a well-known singer in her homeland of Cuba, then moves to New York City and Miami where she and others create a new type of music called salsa. School Library Journal has named My Name is Celia "[a]n exuberant picture-book biography . . . a brilliant introduction to a significant woman and her music."

In this Pura Belpre award-winning picture book, illustrated by Caldecott Honree Yuyi Morales, acclaimed author Kathleen Krull celebrates Latinx civil rights leader Cesar Chavez. An inspirational book about resistance and hope. When Cesar Chavez led a 340-mile peaceful protest march through California, he ignited a cause and improved the lives of thousands of migrant farmworkers. But Cesar wasn't always a leader. As a boy, he was shy and teased at school. His family slaved in the fields for barely enough money to survive. Cesar knew things had to change, and he thought that--maybe--he could help change them. So he took charge. He spoke up. And an entire country listened.

It is the winter of 1929, and cousins Hildamar and Santiago have just moved to enormous, chilly New York from their native Puerto Rico. As Three Kings' Day approaches, Hildamar and Santiago mourn the loss of their sunny home and wonder about their future in their adopted city. But when a storyteller and librarian named Pura Belpre arrives in their classroom, the children begin to understand just what a library can mean to a community. In this fitting tribute to a remarkable woman, Lucia Gonzalez and Lulu Delacre have captured the truly astounding effect that Belpre had on the city of New York."