Week 6: Hispanic/Latino Literature - Planting Stories: The Life of Librarian and Storyteller Pura Belpré

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In 1921 Pura Belpré leaves San Juan to travel to New York for her sister's wedding. She ends up making it her home. 



Pura works in a garment factory at first, but then sees that the library needs a bilingual assistant. She gets the job and notices that there are no folktales from Puerto Rico. She starts a story hour for the children and lights a candle before she begins. At the end of the story, the children blow out the candle. Pura learns to make puppets too. 


She ends up writing her stories down and mailing them to a publisher. Soon she is a published author and travels all over planting her story seeds in the hearts and minds of children new to the island of New York.


Planting Stories: The Life of Librarian and Storyteller Pura Belpré is a great children's book to read aloud as an introduction to the Pura Belpré Award. The Pura Belpré Award was established in 1996 and is a recognition presented to a Latino or Latina author and illustrator whose work best portrays the Latino cultural experience in a work of literature for children or youth. After sharing this book, the class could read books that are in the running for the award and hold a classroom vote.




This book spoke to me because of the lighting of the candle at storytime. It reminds me of the joyous feeling you get when you blow out the candles on a birthday cake. I love how that tradition is sort of melded with the end of a story. It is almost as if they are wishing for another amazing story.


 




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