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“Brief anecdotes, presented like a slide show, take readers from Limón’s birth through a happy childhood, the Mexican civil war, immigration and adaptation to the United States, and his struggle to become a painter, and then a dancer, in New York City. Colón’s watercolor and colored-pencil illustrations on textured paper give a sense of movement and life.” — School Library Journal

José! Born to Dance: The Story of José Limón

Susanna Reich

Illustrator:

Raul Colón

Age Level:

6-9

Product Description: Eleven-year-old María Luz and her family live on a small farm in Honduras. When María’s father must leave home to find work, she is left in charge of their garden. When a new teacher introduces her to sustainable farming practices, the farms — and the hopes — of María and her neighbors begin to grow. The story is based on real farming movements taking place in Honduras and around the world.

The Good Garden: How One Family Went from Hunger to Having Enough

Katie Smith Milway

Illustrator:

Sylvie Daigneault

Age Level:

6-9

“Written by Caribbean naturalist Alfonso Silva Lee, My Island and I is a colorful children’s picturebook about the natural ecology of an island — from fallen trees becoming food for fungi and termites to the thoughts of lizards and the interaction of fish. The watercolor-style illustrations by Alexis Lago bring to life the festive, multifaceted wonder of natural life.” — Children’s Book Watch

My Island and I: The Nature of Puerto Rico

Alfonso Silva Lee

Illustrator:

Alexis Lago

Age Level:

6-9

Product Description: In this humorous Southwestern retelling of “The Little Red Hen,” Burro finds it difficult to get any help from his friends as he diligently works to turn corn into tortillas. In addition to its Southwestern flavor and clever puns, the delightful story imparts an accurate picture of the traditional way that tortillas are made. (Spanish version available through Kindle.)

Burro’s Tortillas

Terri Fields

Illustrator:

Jacqueline Rogers

Age Level:

3-6

“When Abuelita dies, Felipa misses her a great deal. When she is told that people’s souls live on forever, she asks the donkey, the pig, and the llamas where her grandmother is hiding. They do not tell her. She searches high in the Andes but can not find her there either. In November, the village prepares for a celebration in which special treats, flowers, and candles are taken to decorate the graves and the cemetery comes to life with laughter, music, and stories. The child then feels close to her grandmother through the memories that her parents share with her.” — School Library Journal

Felipa and the Day of the Dead

Birte Müller

Age Level:

6-9

“Growing up in El Salvador, Maria understands that her father can work for neither the government nor the guerrillas without reprisals from the other side. Now they must barter their handiwork and their furniture for food. Going to market with her father, she takes along her stuffed bear Paco. When Papa leaves Maria in charge, she finds the courage to make good trades, even letting her beloved Paco go in exchange for the food her family needs.” — Booklist

A Bear for Miguel

Elaine Marie Alphin

Illustrator:

Joan Sandin

Age Level:

6-9

“Lucia Zenteno is a mythic character, a woman of great beauty who is perfectly in tune with nature. She is indeed larger than life, and though beloved by the creatures of the countryside, she becomes the target of human hatred and fear and is driven out of her village because she is different. It is only as nature mourns and the river leaves with her that the people realize that they need her. This original (Zapotec) folktale is skillfully told, and is solid and colorfully steeped with imagery of the earth and sky.” — School Library Journal

The Woman Who Outshone the Sun

Alejandro Cruz Martinez

Illustrator:

Fernando Olivera

Age Level:

6-9

What Can You Do With a Paleta?

Carmen Tafolla

Illustrator:

Magaly Morales

Age Level:

3-6

Genre:

Fiction

What Can You Do With a Rebozo?

Carmen Tafolla

Illustrator:

Amy Cordova

Age Level:

3-6

“Abuelita’s hair is the color of salt. Her face is as crinkled as a dried chile. She booms out words as wild as blossoms blooming. She stuffs her carcacha — her jalopy — with all the things she needs: a plumed snake, a castle, a skeleton, and more. Her grandson knows he has the most amazing grandmother ever — with a very important job. What does Abuelita do? Readers will enjoying guessing in this story sprinkled with Spanish and infused with love.” — Amazon Review

My Abuelita

Tony Johnston

Illustrator:

Yuyi Morales

Age Level:

3-6

Genre:

Fiction

Abuelita Full of Life

Amy Costalas

Illustrator:

Martha Aviles

Age Level:

6-9

Playing Lotería

René Colato Laínez

Illustrator:

Jill Arena

Age Level:

6-9

René, a new student from El Salvador, doesn’t understand why his second last name is missing from his desk’s name label. Adding it results in a name so long that his classmates make fun of it by comparing it to that of a dinosaur…When his teacher assigns the students the project of creating a family tree, René is determined to show his classmates and teacher why he has two last names and the importance of his dos apellidos. — School Library Journal

René Has Two Last Names

René Colato Laínez

Illustrator:

Fabiola Graullera Ramirez

Age Level:

6-9

Product Description: Antonio loves words, because words have the power to express feelings like love, pride, or hurt. Mother’s Day is coming soon, and Antonio searches for the words to express his love for his mother and her partner, Leslie. But he’s not sure what to do when his classmates make fun of Leslie, an artist, who towers over everyone and wears paint-splattered overalls. As Mother’s Day approaches, Antonio must choose whether — or how — to express his connection to both of the special women in his life.

Antonio’s Card

Rigoberto González

Illustrator:

Cecilia Concepción Álvarez

Age Level:

6-9

“In this bilingual picture book, Daniel Gonzalez goes to a family reunion in San Antonio, TX, expecting it to be dull. Instead, he finds himself enjoying a Tex-Mex feast, making a new friend in a cousin his age, and learning the importance of family. Spanish words and phrases are scattered throughout the English text, and vice versa.” — School Library Journal

Family, Familia

Diane Gonzales Bertrand

Illustrator:

Pauline Rodriguez Howard

Age Level:

6-9

“In this collection of Mexican dichos (proverbs), artists Ralfka Gonzalez and Ana Ruiz bring to life their favorite sayings from Mexico and the United States. These dichos celebrate life and culture, reminding young readers that Donde hay gana, hay mana/Where there’s a will, there’s a way. With vibrant color and folk art flavor, the festive paintings draw readers into a whimsical world where bumblebees play bongo drums and roosters sing all day.” — Children’s Book Review

My First Book of Proverbs

Ralfka Gonzalez , Ana Ruíz

Age Level:

3-6

“This literary offering stands out for its beauty and depth of expression. Argueta, a Pipil Nahua Indian, reaches deep into his childhood in rural El Salvador for memories and for his connection to Mother Earth. The poems alternate between bitterness and joy. Nahuatl words are peppered throughout, almost defiantlyPoems about fire, wind, and water speak to those life-giving forces as friends and protectors.” — School Library Journal

Talking with Mother Earth

Jorge Argueta

Age Level:

6-9

Liliana’s grandmother Mima lives up the street, does yoga exercises, and likes crossword puzzles. Liliana’s other grandmother, Mama Gabina, lives in South America, enjoys gardening, and likes to dance around the house. The meals they cook are very different, the stories they tell are different, but one thing about them is the same: they both love their granddaughter. And Liliana adores them. Leyla Torres’s watercolors show all the warmth and homeyness that are intrinsic in special family relationships.

Liliana’s Grandmothers

Leyla Torres

Age Level:

3-6

Amelia Lau Carling’s children loved her childhood stories about Guatemala so much that she wrote them down for others. In this story, a young girl goes through the day at her family’s store in Guatemala City. While the girl’s parents and their friends talk about their hometown in China from where they emigrated many years ago, she and her siblings play games on the rooftop terrace, float paper boats, and make shadow puppets under the glow of flashlights.

Mama and Papa Have a Store

Amelia Lau Carling

Age Level:

6-9

Product Description: The Lau family travels to Antigua, Guatemala to visit their cousins. Although the Laus are Chinese and Buddhist, they adore the pageantry of Easter, and Easter in Antigua is exciting. The best part is seeing the elaborate carpets made of colored sawdust, which the processions walk over and destroy. On the morning of the most important procession, the heroine is invited to make her very own sawdust carpet. But why, she wonders, make something so beautiful, only to have it be ruined?

Sawdust Carpets

Amelia Lau Carling

Age Level:

6-9

Product description: The Southwestern desert is the setting for this humorous variation on the classic fairy tale “Jack and the Beanstalk.” This bilingual book is presented as embedded text with the story told mostly in English and a sprinkling of Spanish throughout. The dusty desert feel is captured in deep pastel colored illustrations.

Paco and the Giant Chile Plant

Keith Polette

Illustrator:

Elizabeth O. Dulemba

Age Level:

3-6

Product Description: In the classic tradition of “The Gingerbread Man,” James Luna’s piggy cookie leaps off the baking tray and takes the reader on a mad dash through the barrio. The cochinito fugitivo avoids being eaten by the long line of people chasing him through the neighborhood streetsuntil he meets a crafty little girl named Rosa! Children — and adults too — will delight in the clever piggy’s escape from Martha’s Panaderia in this entertaining re-telling of a familiar story set in a colorful Latino neighborhood.

The Runaway Piggy

James Luna

Illustrator:

Laura Lacamara

Age Level:

3-6

Mama and Me

Arthur Dorros

Illustrator:

Rudy Gutiérrez

Age Level:

3-6

Genre:

Fiction

“Cuy, a clever, fast-talking guinea pig, outsmarts TÃo Antonio, a hungry fox, in this lively picture book. The eye-catching colored woodcuts, which so vividly depicted the fauna and flora of the Andes Mountains in the original version, decorate this edition, which remains a delightful tale for both young Spanish speakers and learners.” — Booklist

Love and Roast Chicken: A Trickster Tale from the Andes Mountains

Barbara Knutson

Age Level:

6-9

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Book Finder

José! Born to Dance: The Story of José Limón

The Good Garden: How One Family Went from Hunger to Having Enough

My Island and I: The Nature of Puerto Rico

Burro’s Tortillas

Felipa and the Day of the Dead

A Bear for Miguel

The Woman Who Outshone the Sun

What Can You Do With a Paleta?

What Can You Do With a Rebozo?

My Abuelita

Abuelita Full of Life

Playing Lotería

René Has Two Last Names

Antonio’s Card

Family, Familia

My First Book of Proverbs

Talking with Mother Earth

Liliana’s Grandmothers

Mama and Papa Have a Store

Sawdust Carpets

Paco and the Giant Chile Plant

The Runaway Piggy

Mama and Me

Love and Roast Chicken: A Trickster Tale from the Andes Mountains

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