Home > Readers > Reading Lists > CBC Showcase > Champions of Change (Spring 2020) > Planting Stories: The Life of…
Planting Stories: The Life of Librarian and Storyteller Pura Belpre

Planting Stories: The Life of Librarian and Storyteller Pura Belpre

by Anika Aldamuy Denise

RECIPIENT OF THE PURA BELPRÉ HONOR  * A Today Show’s Best Kids’ Books of 2019 * Indie Next List Pick * Junior Library Guild Selection *  “An appealing tribute and successful remedy to the lack of titles about the groundbreaking librarian…a must-have for all libraries.” —School Library Journal (starred review) An inspiring picture book biography of storyteller, puppeteer, and New York City’s first Puerto Rican librarian, who championed bilingual literature. When she came to America in 1921, Pura Belpré carried the cuentos folklóricos of her Puerto Rican homeland. Finding a new home at the New York Public Library as a bilingual assistant, she turned her popular retellings into libros and spread story seeds across the land. Today, these seeds have grown into a lush landscape as generations of children and storytellers continue to share her tales and celebrate Pura’s legacy. Brought to colorful life by Paola Escobar’s elegant and exuberant illustrations and Anika Aldamuy Denise’s lyrical text, this gorgeous book is perfect for the pioneers in your life. Informative backmatter and suggested further reading included. A Spanish-language edition, Sembrando historias: Pura Belpré: bibliotecaria y narradora de cuentos, is also available. “Anika Aldamuy Denise’s intimate telling captures the magical, folk-tale feeling of Belpré’s own stories. Her lyrical text, sprinkled like fairy dust with Spanish words, begs to be read aloud, while Paola Escobar’s stylishly detailed and warmly expressive illustrations capture the joy of sharing stories.” —New York Times Book Review


Ages: 4-6
Illustrated by: Paola Escobar
ISBN: 9780062748683
Price: $17.99
Published by: HarperCollins

More

  • Being Jack
  • The Cherry Pie Princess
  • Polly and Buster The Wayward Witch and the Feelings Monster
  • The Extraordinary Life of Malala Yousafzai
  • The Extraordinary Life of Rosa Parks
  • Making Their Voices Heard: The Inspiring Friendship of Ella Fitzgerald and Marilyn Monroe
  • Dreamers
  • Ellen DeGeneres (People of Pride Series)
  • Give Us the Vote!: Over Two Hundred Years of Fighting for the Ballot
  • I Voted: Making a Choice Makes a Difference
  • A New Green Day
  • Hey, Water!
  • Harvey Milk (People of Pride Series)
  • A Place to Land: Martin Luther King Jr. and the Speech That Inspired a Nation
  • Parrots, Pugs, and Pixie Dust: A Book About Fashion Designer Judith Leiber
  • Planting Stories: The Life of Librarian and Storyteller Pura Belpre
  • The Compton Cowboys: Young Readers’ Edition
  • The Secret Garden of George Washington Carver
  • Rice from Heaven: The Secret Mission to Feed North Koreans
  • IT BEGAN WITH A PAGE: HOW GYO FUJIKAWA DREW THE WAY
Back to Top