When Pura Belpré left her home in Puerto Rico to attend her sister’s wedding in New York in 1921, she thought she was coming for a short visit. But no! An opportunity opened for her when she became an assistant at the public library, bringing her three languages to the job. Discovering there were no folktales from her native land on the library shelves, Pura remembered her abuela’s wonderful stories and told them aloud to appreciative young audiences, enhancing them with hand-made puppets. Author Anika Aldamuy Denise weaves an entrancing story herself in the biographical picture book Planting Stories: The Life of Librarian and Storyteller Pura Belpré. English and Spanish phrases combine seamlessly as readers learn how Pura spread her tales at story hours and in a published book Pérez y Martina—the favorite Puerto Rican tale of an elegant cockroach and handsome mouse. She brought the language and colors of Puerto Rico to countless libraries, classrooms, churches and community centers in New York, and even further afield as she traveled with her new husband. Returning to New York, she could see how thoroughly the seeds she had planted had taken root in communities she had served, firmly and invaluably establishing Spanish language literature in library collections. Paola Escobar’s exuberant illustrations draw readers into scenes of Belpré’s life with rich immediacy. An author’s note and list of sources provide further information about Pura Belpré’s fine legacy. Ages 4-8. HarperCollins Children’s Books, 2019.
A Spanish language edition is available: Sembrando historias: Pura Belpré: bibliotecaria y narradora de cuentos. HarperCollins Espanol, 2019.
For information about the Pura Belpré Award “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” visit:
