Planting Stories: The Life of Librarian and Storyteller Pura Belpré

By Anika Aldamuy Denise and Paola Escobar

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

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Jun 5, 2020
• ISBN: 9780063056640

Anika Aldamuy Denise

Anika Aldamuy Denise is the Pura Belpré Honor–winning author of Planting Stories: The Life of Librarian and Storyteller Pura Belpré; A Girl Named Rosita: The Story of Rita Moreno: Actor, Singer, Dancer, Trailblazer!; and The Love Letter. A proud Puerto Rican daughter from Queens, she now lives in Rhode Island with her family. Visit Anika online at anikadenise.com.

Book preview

Reviews for Planting Stories

[stoehrkr · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book is just wonderful! As a librarian I might have a special place in my heart for books that talk about how wonderful libraries are but this one has so much more to offer. This picture book biography tells about one of the library greats, Pura Belpré, how she came to NY from Puerto Rico, and how she became a beloved storyteller both at a library and as an author. The biography is peppered with Spanish phrases, and there is a full Spanish language version--a wonderful addition to bilingual story times! I also love that this book backs up what I have told to library patrons, if you can't find a book with the story you want, perhaps it's because you need to write it! There is also a great end note with more information.

[lisa2013_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

5 stars for the book’s subject about a remarkable and inspiring woman and her story. 5 stars for the illustrations. 4-1/2 stars for the story = 5 stars from me.I adore the illustrations. They’re wonderful. Gorgeous with a wonderful use of color and so many fun details to pore over. I loved all of them, including the end papers.The story is good, very good. I particularly like how many Spanish words and phrases are included and in such a way that their English translations are clear or clear enough even if the reader/listener doesn’t know any Spanish.The four pages at the end of the book, an author’s note of two pages and two pages of additional resources (selected bibliography, archival collections, articles and films, further reading, stories by Pura Belpré mentioned in this book) are welcome additions though not a comprehensive list.

[abigailadams26 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Author Anika Aldamuy Denise and illustrator Paola Escobar explore the life of celebrated storyteller, librarian and author Pura Belpré in this lovely new picture-book biography. The first Puerto Rican to work at the New York Public Library, Belpré hosted storytelling sessions in which she shared the folklore of her native island with young children, eventually going on to publish many of those tales. The Pura Belpré Award, which is given by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), and which recognizes outstanding children's books depicting the Latino cultural experience in the United States, is named in her honor...As a long time admirer of Pura Belpré, one who has read almost all of her work, I was delighted when Planting Stories: The Life of Librarian and Storyteller Pura Belpré came in to work. I recognized the author as the creator of Starring Carmen and its sequels, which I have enjoyed, and I found the cover-art appealing. The narrative here was engaging and informative - I particularly liked the mention of Perez and Martina! - and the illustrations simply gorgeous. Paola Escobar utilizes a lovely color palette, and has a charming style. There is an author's note, and a list of