The award is named after Pura Belpré, the first Latina librarian at the New York Public Library. The Pura Belpré Award, established in 1996, is presented annually to a Latino/Latina writer and illustrator whose work best portrays, affirms, and celebrates the Latino cultural experience in an outstanding work of literature for children and youth. It is co-sponsored by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), and REFORMA, the National Association to Promote Library and Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish-Speaking, an ALA affiliate.
Return to Sender
Author: Alvarez, Julia
Illustrator: NA
Publisher: Yearling, 2010
Plot summary: After Tyler's father is injured in a tractor accident, his family is forced to hire migrant Mexican workers to help save their Vermont farm from foreclosure. Tyler isn’t sure what to make of these workers. Are they undocumented? And what about the three daughters, particularly Mari, the oldest, who is proud of her Mexican heritage but also increasingly connected her American life. Her family lives in constant fear of being discovered by the authorities and sent to the poverty they left behind in Mexico. Can Tyler and Mari find a way to be friends despite their differences? In a novel full of hope, but no easy answers, Julia Alvarez weaves a beautiful and timely story that will stay with readers long after they finish it.
Recommended audience: 4th grade and up
Illustrations: NA
Activities: One activity would be to have students imagine that they had to migrate to a different country and then write a bout some of these things that these immigrants go through.
Another activity could be to flip the situation and imagine that they were in Tyler's family's position of employing immigrants to work for them and create a story about the friendship that may foster between these two cultures.
Book Review can be viewed here: http://www.amazon.com/Return-Sender-Julia-Alvarez/product-reviews/0375851232/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1
Author's website: http://www.juliaalvarez.com/
Illustrator: NA
Publisher: Yearling, 2010
Plot summary: After Tyler's father is injured in a tractor accident, his family is forced to hire migrant Mexican workers to help save their Vermont farm from foreclosure. Tyler isn’t sure what to make of these workers. Are they undocumented? And what about the three daughters, particularly Mari, the oldest, who is proud of her Mexican heritage but also increasingly connected her American life. Her family lives in constant fear of being discovered by the authorities and sent to the poverty they left behind in Mexico. Can Tyler and Mari find a way to be friends despite their differences? In a novel full of hope, but no easy answers, Julia Alvarez weaves a beautiful and timely story that will stay with readers long after they finish it.
Recommended audience: 4th grade and up
Illustrations: NA
Activities: One activity would be to have students imagine that they had to migrate to a different country and then write a bout some of these things that these immigrants go through.
Another activity could be to flip the situation and imagine that they were in Tyler's family's position of employing immigrants to work for them and create a story about the friendship that may foster between these two cultures.
Book Review can be viewed here: http://www.amazon.com/Return-Sender-Julia-Alvarez/product-reviews/0375851232/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1
Author's website: http://www.juliaalvarez.com/
Under the Mesquite
Author: McCall, Guadalupe Garcia
Illustrator: NA
Publisher: Lee & Low Books, 2011
Plot summary: Told with honest emotion in evocative free verse, Lupita's journey toward hope is captured in moments that are alternately warm and poignant. Under the Mesquite is an empowering story about testing family bonds and the strength of a young woman navigating pain and hardship with surprising resilience.
Recommended audience: Middle School and up
Illustrations: NA
Activities: One activity that could be done is have students write as they were in the story but not as Lupita. This would allow students to experience what the character's experienced without them taking Lupita's words.
A second activity could be to investigate different pains and hardships that people Lupita's age goes through and make a short presentation about what they have found.
Book Review can be viewed here: http://www.amazon.com/Under-Mesquite-Guadalupe-Garcia-Mccall/product-reviews/1600604293/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1
Author's website: http://guadalupegarciamccall.com/
Illustrator: NA
Publisher: Lee & Low Books, 2011
Plot summary: Told with honest emotion in evocative free verse, Lupita's journey toward hope is captured in moments that are alternately warm and poignant. Under the Mesquite is an empowering story about testing family bonds and the strength of a young woman navigating pain and hardship with surprising resilience.
Recommended audience: Middle School and up
Illustrations: NA
Activities: One activity that could be done is have students write as they were in the story but not as Lupita. This would allow students to experience what the character's experienced without them taking Lupita's words.
A second activity could be to investigate different pains and hardships that people Lupita's age goes through and make a short presentation about what they have found.
Book Review can be viewed here: http://www.amazon.com/Under-Mesquite-Guadalupe-Garcia-Mccall/product-reviews/1600604293/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1
Author's website: http://guadalupegarciamccall.com/
The Dreamer
Author: Ryan, Pam Munoz
Illustrator: Sis, Peter
Publisher: Scholastic Paperbacks, 2012
Plot summary: From the time he is a young boy, Neftali hears the call of a mysterious voice. He knows he must allow it--even when the neighborhood children taunt him, and when his harsh, authoritarian father ridicules him, and when he doubts himself. It leads him under the canopy of the lush rain forest, into the fearsome sea, and through the persistent Chilean rain, until finally, he discovers its source.
Recommended audience: 5th grade and up
Illustrations: Pen-and-ink pointilist illustrations
Activities: One activity that students may really enjoy is creating illustrations for this book such as Peter Sis did. The students would be able to create these illistrations in various mediums.
A second activity would be for students to go over their illustrations and compare the difference in illustrations that they were able to come up with.
Book Review can be viewed here: http://www.amazon.com/The-Dreamer-Pam-Munoz-Ryan/product-reviews/0439269989/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1
Illustrator: Sis, Peter
Publisher: Scholastic Paperbacks, 2012
Plot summary: From the time he is a young boy, Neftali hears the call of a mysterious voice. He knows he must allow it--even when the neighborhood children taunt him, and when his harsh, authoritarian father ridicules him, and when he doubts himself. It leads him under the canopy of the lush rain forest, into the fearsome sea, and through the persistent Chilean rain, until finally, he discovers its source.
Recommended audience: 5th grade and up
Illustrations: Pen-and-ink pointilist illustrations
Activities: One activity that students may really enjoy is creating illustrations for this book such as Peter Sis did. The students would be able to create these illistrations in various mediums.
A second activity would be for students to go over their illustrations and compare the difference in illustrations that they were able to come up with.
Book Review can be viewed here: http://www.amazon.com/The-Dreamer-Pam-Munoz-Ryan/product-reviews/0439269989/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1
Diego Rivera: His World and Ours
Author: Tonatiuh, Duncan
Illustrator: Tonatiuh, Duncan
Publisher: Abrams Books for Young Readers (2011)
Plot summary: This charming book introduces one of the most popular artists of the twentieth century, Diego Rivera, to young readers. It tells the story of Diego as a young, mischievous boy who demonstrated a clear passion for art and then went on to become one of the most famous painters in the world. Duncan Tonatiuh also prompts readers to think about what Diego would paint today. Just as Diego's murals depicted great historical events in Mexican culture or celebrated native peoples, if Diego were painting today, what would his artwork depict? How would his paintings reflect today's culture?
Recommended audience: Kindergarten and up
Illustrations: Watercolor
Activities: One activity would be for students to create individual works of art and then to have someone write about their piece. Another way would be to have the student write about how they see the world. This could be done through the use of a journal.
Another activity would be for students to use different mediums to create paintings such as Diego Rivera did when he was younger and even into his older age.
Book Review can be viewed here: http://www.amazon.com/Diego-Rivera-His-World-Ours/product-reviews/0810997312/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1
Author's website: http://www.duncantonatiuh.com/
Illustrator: Tonatiuh, Duncan
Publisher: Abrams Books for Young Readers (2011)
Plot summary: This charming book introduces one of the most popular artists of the twentieth century, Diego Rivera, to young readers. It tells the story of Diego as a young, mischievous boy who demonstrated a clear passion for art and then went on to become one of the most famous painters in the world. Duncan Tonatiuh also prompts readers to think about what Diego would paint today. Just as Diego's murals depicted great historical events in Mexican culture or celebrated native peoples, if Diego were painting today, what would his artwork depict? How would his paintings reflect today's culture?
Recommended audience: Kindergarten and up
Illustrations: Watercolor
Activities: One activity would be for students to create individual works of art and then to have someone write about their piece. Another way would be to have the student write about how they see the world. This could be done through the use of a journal.
Another activity would be for students to use different mediums to create paintings such as Diego Rivera did when he was younger and even into his older age.
Book Review can be viewed here: http://www.amazon.com/Diego-Rivera-His-World-Ours/product-reviews/0810997312/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1
Author's website: http://www.duncantonatiuh.com/
Grandma's Gift
Author: Velasquez, Eric
Illustrator: Velasquez, Eric
Publisher: Walker Publishing Company, Inc. (Bloomsbury Publishing Inc.), 2010
Plot summary: This prequel to Eric Velasquez's biographical picture book Grandma's Records is the story of a Christmas holiday that young Eric spends with his grandmother. After they prepare their traditional Puerto Rican celebration, Eric and Grandma visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art for a school project, where he sees a painting by Diego Velasquez and realizes for the first time that he could be an artist when he grows up. Grandma witnesses his fascination, and presents Eric with the perfect Christmas gift—a sketchbook and colored pencils—to use in his first steps toward becoming an artist. A heartwarming story of self-discovery, Grandma's Gift is a celebration of the special bond between a grandparent and grandchild. Recommended audience: Kindergarten and up
Illustrations: Watercolor
Activities: One activity would be for students to talk about or present a special gift that they recieved and tell the class why it was so important to them or what made this gift so special.
Another activity would be for students to use different mediums to create paintings such as Eric Velasquez created in his books.
Book Review can be viewed here: http://www.amazon.com/Grandmas-Gift-Eric-Velasquez/product-reviews/B0064XUDIG/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1
Author's website: http://www.ericvelasquez.com/
Illustrator: Velasquez, Eric
Publisher: Walker Publishing Company, Inc. (Bloomsbury Publishing Inc.), 2010
Plot summary: This prequel to Eric Velasquez's biographical picture book Grandma's Records is the story of a Christmas holiday that young Eric spends with his grandmother. After they prepare their traditional Puerto Rican celebration, Eric and Grandma visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art for a school project, where he sees a painting by Diego Velasquez and realizes for the first time that he could be an artist when he grows up. Grandma witnesses his fascination, and presents Eric with the perfect Christmas gift—a sketchbook and colored pencils—to use in his first steps toward becoming an artist. A heartwarming story of self-discovery, Grandma's Gift is a celebration of the special bond between a grandparent and grandchild. Recommended audience: Kindergarten and up
Illustrations: Watercolor
Activities: One activity would be for students to talk about or present a special gift that they recieved and tell the class why it was so important to them or what made this gift so special.
Another activity would be for students to use different mediums to create paintings such as Eric Velasquez created in his books.
Book Review can be viewed here: http://www.amazon.com/Grandmas-Gift-Eric-Velasquez/product-reviews/B0064XUDIG/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1
Author's website: http://www.ericvelasquez.com/