Top Ten Tuesday: Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month
We are smack dab in the middle of Hispanic Heritage Month. The celebration runs from September 15 – October 15. It can sneak up on you since it starts in the middle of the month. A great way to celebrate is to read books by Hispanic authors and illustrators. But, it’s not always easy to know where to start.
Even as a blogger, it can be difficult when trying to highlight BIPOC creators. Unless someone self-identifies as part of a specific culture or from a specific place, I’m hesitant to make a mistake by including them in a list if I’m not 100% sure. I don’t want to make assumptions about a creator based on their looks or on the content of their material. But, a great way to find authors and illustrators that identify as Latinx is to check out the Pura Belpré Awards.
This award is given “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) and the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), divisions 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.”
As a side note, Hispanic and Latinx can both be used as a descriptor for some people, but not all. Make sure you’re aware of the distinction, it specifically focuses on language versus geography.
Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links, meaning at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.
Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month
In any case, eight of the ten titles listed received the Pura Belpré Award in 2021. The other two titles are about Pura Belpré herself, a woman that changed the way children’s librarians work with kids. She was the first Latina children’s librarian in the New York Public Library and also worked tirelessly to preserve Puerto Rican folklore. These are both picture books biographies and are beautifully written and illustrated.
- Planting Stories: The Life of Librarian and Storyteller Pura Belpré by Anika Aldamuy Denise, illustrated by Paola Escobar
- Pura’s Cuentos: How Pura Belpré Reshaped Libraries with Her Stories by Annette Bay Pimentel, illustrated by Magaly Morales
- ¡Vamos! Let’s Go Eat by Raúl the Third
- Sharuko: El Arqueólogo Peruano Julio C. Tello / Peruvian Archaeologist Julio C. Tello by Monica Brown, illustrated by Elisa Chavarri
- Efrén Divided by Ernesto Cisneros
- Lupe Wong Won’t Dance by Donna Barba Higuera
- The Total Eclipse of Nestor Lopez by Adrianna Cuevas
- Furia by Yamile Saied Méndez
- Never Look Back by Lillima Rivera
- We Are Not From Here by Jenny Torres Sanchez
If you’re interested in purchasing any of the titles above, please use my affiliate links for Amazon. When you purchase from the links above, I will earn a commission as an affiliate.
The Artsy Reader Girl currently hosts Top Ten Tuesday, an original feature created by The Broke and the Bookish.
