Planting Stories

The Life of Librarian and Storyteller Pura Belpré

Illustrated by Paola Escobar

HarperCollins, 2019

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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.

  • A Pura Belpré Author Honor Book
  • An NCTE Orbis Pictus Honor Book for Outstanding Nonfiction
  • A TODAY Show Best Children’s Book of 2019
  • A Smithsonian Magazine Ten Best Children’s Books of 2019
  • A Junior Library Guild Gold Selection
  • An Indie Next List Pick
  • A Bank Street College Best Spanish Language Picture Book Award Silver Medalist

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Praise

★ “An appealing tribute and successful remedy to the lack of titles about the groundbreaking librarian…a must-have for all libraries.” —starred review, School Library Journal

“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

“Denise and Escobar pay tribute to the legacy of librarian Pura Belpré in this vibrant picture-book biography…Planting Stories is a glossy immigration tale of dreams coming true, and the lyrical language lends itself to being read aloud.” —ALA Booklist

“The story is beautiful to look at and to read, and it showcases one of the first people to recognize the need for young readers to have books that reflected who they are.” —NBCNews.com