Cover from Planting Stories: The Life of Librarian and Storyteller Pura Belpré. Illustration © 2019 Paola Escobar. Used by permission from HarperCollins Publishers.

Features

What the Pura Belpré Award Means to Me by Meg Medina
Thoughts from a Belpré winner and Newbery medalist.

Titi Pura by Anika Aldamuy Denise
A conversation with Pura Belpré’s great-nieces Cristina Maduro and Lisa Fenstermacher.

Pura Belpré Award by the Numbers by Alicia K. Long and Sujei Lugo
Facts and figures about the award.

Un Poquito Complicated by David Bowles
Spanish and the Pura Belpré Award.

Simple and Unassuming by Celia C. Pérez
How one Belpré-honored author saw herself in the story of a bossy rooster.

On the Futurity of the Pura Belpré Award by Lettycia Terrones
“A reflection on the future…must begin with a meditation on the past.”

AfroLatin@ Children’s Literature, Education, and the Black Diaspora by William García-Medina
AfroLatin@ books as a watershed for Black liberation and communalism.

The Latinx KidLit Book Festival by Ismée Williams
A virtual gathering organized by Las Musas Books.

Notes from Our Backyard by Bobby and Lee Byrd
How Cinco Puntos Press grew up alongside the award.

Columns

Editorial

(Re)Claiming Our Literature by Sujei Lugo, Consulting Editor
A call for celebration and reexamination.

A Letter to Readers

¡Celebremos! by Lucía M. González
Welcome from the incoming president-elect of ALSC, a REFORMA past president and Belpré honoree.

Lighting the Candle
We asked twenty-three children’s book creators to reflect on an inspirational childhood experience.

El Paso to Pura Belpré by Raúl the Third

Inherited Exile by Margarita Engle

Unearthing a Writer by Donna Barba Higuera

¡Bórralo! by Yuyi Morales

Pages of Pleasure by Pat Mora

Boom Box by Juana Medina

Thinking in Pictures by Adrianna Cuevas

Bagazo and El Josco by Raúl Colón

One Story, One Day by Jenny Torres Sanchez

The Year I Turned Ten by Lulu Delacre

Labyrinth by Duncan Tonatiuh

A Wild Ride by Carmen Agra Deedy

The Sun Always Came Out Tomorrow by Isabel Quintero

Blank Page Spark by Zeke Peña

The Kindness of Time by Marjorie Agosín

Tato’s Tales by Elisa Chavarri

Thinking About the Verb by Joe Cepeda

Mrs. Miller’s Magic by Susan Guevara

Untitled by Sara Palacios

The Moments That Inspired the Journey by Alma Flor Ada

Dance with Me by Lilliam Rivera

Thank You, Mr. Baumgartner by Pam Muñoz Ryan

What Words and Art Can Do by Monica Brown

Field Notes

Pandemic Diary by Nicholas A. Brown
Bilingual virtual library programming.

Reviews

Book Reviews

Departments

May/June Starred Books

Impromptu

“Lighting the Candle” Contributor Notes

Index to Advertisers

Index to Books Reviewed

Single copies of this special issue are available for $15.00 including postage and may be ordered from:

Kristy South
Administrative Coordinator, The Horn Book
Phone 888-282-5852 | Fax 614-733-7269
ksouth@juniorlibraryguild.com