Picture Book Biography - Planting Stories: The Life of Librarian and Storyteller Pura Belpre by Anika Aldamuy Denise

Illustrated by Paola Escobar

2019, Harper Collins

HC $17.99

32pgs.

Goodreads rating:  4.42 - 790 ratings

My rating:  5
Endpapers:  These are the BEST - Candles, Daisies, Mouse groom and Cockroach bride from her stories, books, all on page sage green..
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1^st line/s:  "It is 1921.  Pura Teresa Belpre leaves her home in San Juan for a visit to Nueva York."

My comments: Pura Belpre, whose name I know because of the awards given yearly in her memory, moved from Puerto Rico to New York City when she was 22 years old. Speaking three languages - Spanish, English, and French - she was hired to work in the library. When she realized there were no book in Spanish, and no stories like the ones she'd always heard her grandmother tell, she began to share the stories during storytime, along with puppets she made. Wonderful story. I particularly like the folky illustrations, I'd love to have some fabric that looks like the endpapers!

Goodreads:  Follow la vida y legado of Pura Belpré, the first Puerto Rican librarian in New York City.
          When she came to America in 1921, Pura 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 stories into libros and spread story seeds across the land. Today, these seeds have grown into a lush landscape as generations of children and cuentistas continue to share her stories and celebrate Pura’s legacy.
          This portrait of the influential librarian, author, and puppeteer reminds us of the power of storytelling and the extraordinary woman who opened doors and championed bilingual literature.