Pura's Cuentos
How Pura Belpré Reshaped Libraries with Her Stories
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
A lyrical, vibrant picture book tribute to the amazing life and legacy of Pura Belpré, a lauded storyteller, librarian, and pioneer of bilingual storytimes
Pura’s abuela always has a cuento to share. She crows ¡Qui-qui-ri-quí! for Señor Gallo, booms Borom, Borom for Señor Zapo, and tells of a beautiful cockroach who loves a mouse. Pura clings to these stories like coquíes cling to green leaves.
When Pura grows up and moves from Puerto Rico to Harlem, she gets a job at the library, where she is surrounded by stories—but they’re only in English. Where is Señor Gallo? Where is Pérez the mouse? Where is Puerto Rico on these shelves? She decides to tell children the tales of her homeland in English and in Spanish.
Lyrically written by Annette Bay Pimentel with lively illustrations from award-winning artist Magaly Morales, Pura’s Cuentos captures the exuberant spirit and passion of Pura Belpré: celebrated storyteller, author, folklorist, and the first Latina librarian in New York City. A pioneer of bilingual storytimes, she welcomed countless new families to the library, formed cultural bridges in her community, and broke the rules by telling stories that weren’t printed in books—at least, not yet.
“Morales’ vivid artwork in warm, saturated colors wittily captures the movement, rhythm, and energy of Belpré’s legacy, which is echoed in the lyrical text. Emphasizing the importance of books as mirrors, as well as inclusion, diversity, proactiveness, talent, and social impact, this is a treasure of a picture-book biography.” —Booklist (starred review)
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this moving profile of Pura Belpré (1899–1982), the first Puerto Rican librarian in New York City and the first New York librarian to offer bilingual story times, Pimentel offers a rhythmic, well-paced narrative drawing from Belpré's own writing. Spanish intertwines a narrative studded with parallelism and repetition, as Belpré arrives in New York City, inspired by her Abuela's cuentos and intent on making the library more accessible to Latinx children: "Oh, Pura can tell a story! She hisses... murmurs... roars./ Children lean forward. They giggle... shiver... sigh./ She is allowed to tell only stories that have been printed in a/ book. That's the rule.... But Pura knows that not all the stories worth telling are in/ books." Morales's digital art shifts in dynamic, near-kaleidoscopic formations, defying perspective in absorbing spreads throughout this glowing, elegantly constructed celebration of a literary luminary. Back matter includes an author's note, a selected bibliography, and other sources. Ages 4–8.
