The Storyteller's Candle / La velita de los cuentos

If your kids have read some of the Pura Belpré Award winners, they may be wondering, "Who was Pura Belpré and why is there an award named after her?" Thanks to a new bilingual picture book The Storyteller's Candle / La velita de los cuentos, your kids can learn all about Pura Belpre, a Puerto Rican who was the first Latina librarian at the New York Public Library. The book is set in the early part of the Depression (1929-1935) when large numbers of Puerto Ricans immigrated to New York City. The Storyteller's Candle / La velita de los cuentos focuses on how Pura Belpré impacted one Puerto Rican immigrant family, and their community of friends and neighbors, by welcoming them to the library and providing them with experiences that both helped them adjust to their new country and kept their Puerto Rican cultural traditions alive. Pura Belpré was also well-known for her work in preserving and sharing Puerto Rican folklore. To learn more about the award named after her, see What is the Pura Belpre Award?

(Cover art courtesy of Children's Book Press)