Ages 4-8; K-Gr.3; Pura Belpre Youth Honor Book,  Illustration   2023.
Award-winning author-illustrator Duncan Tonatiuh sheds light on the significance of Aztec manuscripts and culture. Our world, little brother, is an amoxtlalpan, a land of books. In the jungles where the jaguar dwells, the Mayas make books.In the mountains the cloud people, the Mixtecs, make them as well. So do others in the coast and in the forests. And we the Mexica of the mighty Aztec empire, who dwell in the valley of the volcanoes, make them too.

Ages 4-8; K-Gr.3; Pura Belpre Youth Honor Book, Illustration 2023.
In her acclaimed debut as author and illustrator, Mirelle Ortega shares her own story of growing up near her family's pineapple farm in Mexico, where she learned the true meaning of magic .

Ages 5-9; K-Gr.4; Toma s Rivera Mexican American Children's Book Award, 2021.
In the spirit of Tonatiuh's celebrated book The Princess and the Warrior, this pre-Columbian creation myth tells the story of Quetzalcoatl, or the Feathered Serpent, one of the most important deities in ancient Mesoamerica. When the other gods grow tired in their attempt to create humankind, only one does not give up: the Feathered Serpent. He embarks on a dangerous journey full of fearsome foes and harsh elements, facing each trial with wisdom, bravery, and resourcefulness before confronting his final challenge at Mictlan, the underworld.

Lexile measure AD730L; Ages 4-8; K-gr.1.
A gorgeous and inspiring picture book based on the life of Jose Alberto Gutierrez, a garbage collector in Bogota, Colombia who started a library with a single discarded book found on his route.

Lexile 550L; Ages 3-7.
Gustavo is good at doing all sorts of ghostly things: walking through walls, making objects fly, and glowing in the dark. And he loves almost nothing more than playing beautiful music on his violin. But Gustavo is shy, and some things are harder for him to do, like getting in a line to buy eye scream or making friends with other monsters. Whenever he tries getting close to them, he realizes they just can't see him. Now that the Day of the Dead is fast approaching, what can he do to make them notice him and to share with them something he loves?

Ages 4-8; K-Gr.3
Cauã and Inaê are a brother and sister who live in a small community along the Tapajós River in Brazil. Here, the homes are on stilts and everyone travels around by boat--even to school! When the rainy season comes, they must leave their village and relocate to higher ground for a while. But after moving this year, Cauã and Inaê realize they've left behind something important: their pet tortoise, Titi!

Ages 5-9; K-Gr.2
Join the celebration in the kitchen as a family makes their traditional New Year's soup -- and shares the story of how Haitian independence came to be. This year, Ti Gran is teaching Belle how to make the soup -- Freedom Soup -- just like she was taught when she was a little girl.

Ages 4-8; K-Gr.2.
Using the building verse of "The House that Jack Built," a farm girl creates a piñata of papier mâché with the help of a boy and the animals on the farm. Includes a glossary of Spanish words, and a step-by-step guide to building your own piñata.

Ages 4-7.
Little Lobo, a Mexican American, and Bernabe, his dog, deliver supplies to vendors at the Mercado, a busy border town market.

Lexile measure AD530L; Ages 5-7; K-Gr.3.
Farmer Hector and his daughter Carla seek help from the monstrous chupacabra when their goats become giants and threaten the town.

Lexile measure 230; Ages 3-6; Prk-Gr.3; Contains Creole words and phrases.
"Vini! Come! The field calls!" cries a girl as she and her younger brother rouse their community--family, friends, and the local fruit vendor--for a pickup soccer (futbol) game.

Lexile measure AD540L; Ages 4-7; PrK-Gr.1.
The first time Abuela holds Nina, her heart overflows with tenderness. And as Nina grows up, she and Abuela spend plenty of time together. Abuela can't help thinking how much she'd like to give Nina a very special treat, so she saves a little bit of her money every week - a few pesos here, a few pesos there. When the world turns upside down, Abuela's dream of a surprise for Nina seems impossible.

Lexile measure AD890L: PrK-Gr.2; Americas Award honorable mention, 2018.
Together, a boy and his parents drive to the city of Havana, Cuba, in their old family car. Along the way, they experience the sights and sounds of the streets--neighbors talking, musicians performing, and beautiful, colorful cars putt-putting and bumpety-bumping along.

Gr.1-4; Pura Belpré Illustrator Honor 2018.
Frida Kahlo and Her Animalitos, written by Monica Brown and illustrated by John Parra, is based on the life of one of the world's most influential painters, Frida Kahlo, and the animals that inspired her art and life.

PrK-gr.3; Ages 4-8.
La Paz is a happy, but noisy village. A little peace and quiet would make it just right. So the villagers elect the bossy Don Pepe as their mayor. Before long, singing of any kind is outlawed. Even the teakettle is afraid to whistle! But there is one noisy rooster who doesn't give two mangos about this mayor's silly rules.

PrK-K.
Little Skeletons/Esqueletitos: Countdown to Midnight is the 5th book from the Canticos collection. 2018 International Latino Book Awards winner for Best Latino Picture Book. This book is based on the song "Los Esqueletos Salen de la Tumba" (The Skeletons Come Out of the Tomb) .

PrK-Gr.2.
Lucia zips through the playground in her cape just like the boys, but when they tell her 'girls can't be superheroes', suddenly she doesn't feel so mighty. That's when her beloved abuela reveals a dazzling secret: Lucia comes from a family of luchadoras, the bold and valiant women of the Mexican lucha libre tradition.

Lexile measure 820; Ages 5-8; Gr.2-5
From award-winning author Susan Hood and illustrator Sally Wern Comport comes the extraordinary true tale of the Recycled Orchestra of Paraguay, an orchestra made up of children playing instruments built from recycled trash.

Lexile measure AD610L; Ages 4-8; PrK-Gr.2; Americas Award honorable mention, 2017.
It's Carnival time. The first Carnival since Malaika's mother moved to Canada to find a good job and provide for Malaika and her grandmother. Her mother promised she would send money for a costume, but when the money doesn't arrive, will Malaika still be able to dance in the parade? Disappointed and upset at her grandmother's hand-me-down costume, Malaika leaves the house, running into Ms. Chin, the tailor, who offers Malaika a bag of scrap fabric.

Gr.1-4; NCTE Orbis Pictus Honor Book, 2017.
With lyrical text in both Spanish and English, we travel to the magical world of a cloud forest in the Andes of Ecuador. We discover the bounty of plants, animals, and other organisms that live there as we help a zoologist look for the elusive olinguito, the first new mammal species identified in the Americas since 1978.

Lexile measure 770; Ages 6-9; Prk-gr.2; Pura Belpre Illustrator Honor, 2017.
Award-winning author Duncan Tonatiuh reimagines one of Mexico's cherished legends. Princess Izta had many wealthy suitors but dismissed them all. When a mere warrior, Popoca, offered to love her and stay always by her side, Izta fell in love. Also available electronically at https://searchworks.stanford.edu/view/13701909.

Ages 3-8; K-Gr.4.
Young Rosita competes in Oaxaca, Mexico's radish carving contest which is held every December 23rd. She hopes to win first prize and use the money to help her family's failing farm.

Ages 6-10.
Follows a young Cuban girl in the 1930s as she strives to become a drummer, despite being continually reminded that only boys play the drums, and that there's never been a female drummer in Cuba.

Lexile measure AD1010L; Ages 4-8; Gr.K-2.
Bilingual English/Spanish. Based on a Yiddish folk song, a young girl's cherished baby blanket becomes old and worn over time and she finds new ways to use it as she grows up.

Ages 5-8.
Long ago in what would come to be called Mexico, as Mama Alma and her granddaughter, Bella, recall happy times while walking in the garden they have tended together since Bella was a baby, Mama Alma asks that after she is gone her family remember her on one special day each year.

Lexile measure AD560L; Ages 5-7; PrK-Gr.2.
Brazilian boy Felipe wants to play soccer, but he doesn't have a soccer ball. So, when it's his turn to take one to school, he uses a little bit of creativity... and a few socks. Felipe is the sock thief, but finding socks is not that easy and the neighborhood pets make it even harder.

Lexile measure AD370L; Ages 4-7.
In this moving and timely story, a young child describes what it is like to be a migrant as she and her father travel north toward the US border. They travel mostly on the roof of a train known as The Beast, but the little girl doesn't know where they are going. She counts the animals by the road, the clouds in the sky, the stars.

Ages 4-8; PrK-Gr.3.
Together, a young boy and his abuelo (grandfather) go camping, ride horses, and even confront a mountain lion. Soon, the boy's family moves to the city from the country, away from Abuelo, and it is the boy's memories that help him adjust to his new life.

Ages 3-6; Gr.K-2.
One night, while Dalia slept safely wrapped in her mother's cool silken sheets, her hair grew and grew. By the time the rooster crowed, her hair had "grown straight up to the sky, tall and thick as a Cuban royal palm tree."

Ages 5-8; Gr. PrK-3.
Roberto and his mother made thirty dozen confetti-filled eggs, or cascarones, for his birthday party. Roberto can't wait to crack the hollowed, painted and confetti-stuffed eggs over his friends' heads. But, when he goes to the kitchen to get the cascarones, they're gone!

Book level 3.5; Ages 7-10; K-gr.4.
Bilingual English/Spanish. From the Bellybutton of the Moon is renowned poet Francisco X. Alarcón's collection of 22 poems inspired by his touching recollections of childhood summers in Mexico.

Gr.K-3.
Lupita is excited about dancing la raspa, a Mexican folk dance, with her first-grade class at a celebration of Children's Day. But she's devastated when she learns right before the show that her partner Ernesto sprained his right ankle. She had been practicing for weeks. And now her family won't get to see her, swishing and swaying in her beautiful dress full of colorful ribbons. Lupita sadly watches the other dancers from backstage behind the blue velvet curtain. But suddenly, she finds herself on stage, in the spot where she and Ernesto should have been.

Ages 4-8; Gr. K-2.
In his fourth cooking poem for young children, Jorge Argueta encourages more creativity and fun in the kitchen as he describes how to make tamalitos from corn masa and cheese, wrapped in cornhusks.

Awards: Pura Belpré Illustrator award, 2012.; Lexile measure 1040; Book level 4.9; Ages 5-10, gr. K-3.
This charming book introduces one of the most popular artists of the twentieth century, Diego Rivera, to young readers. It tells the story of Diego as a young, mischievous boy who demonstrated a clear passion for art and then went on to become one of the most famous painters in the world.

Book level 3.1; Ages 5-7, gr. 1-3.
Guided by proverbs from his father and other relatives, Francisco makes several attempts to bring ripe mangoes home for dessert on his saint day, and in the process learns lessons in love and generosity. In English with some Spanish.

Book level 2.8: Ages 4-8; Prk-Gr.3.
Kirkus 2010 Best Children's Books selection The cuisines of many different cultures all over the world include rice and rice pudding. In this title in the Cooking Poems series, Jorge Argueta gives us a bilingual recipe for the classic Latin American version.

Lexile measure AD530;L PrK-2; Guided reading M
Follow two children as they celebrate their ancestors in this bilingual introduction to el Día de los Muertos-- the Day of the Dead!

Ages 2-7; bedtime stories, gr. PreK-2.
This Pura Belpré Award-winning picture book is a bilingual ride through the joyous history of Children's Day/El día de los niños. Children's Day/Book Day; El día de los niños/El día de los libros has been observed on April 30th for over twelve years.

Gr. 3-5.
Renowned Latina author Julia Alvarez recreates the legend of Dominican folk character La Vieja Belen in this delightful bilingual rhyming story, beautifully illustrated by Dominican artist Ruddy Nuñez.

Lexile measure 720; ages 4-8; book level 3.1; gr. K-2.
Martina the beautiful cockroach doesn't know coffee beans about love and marriage. That's where her Cuban family comes in. While some of the Cucarachas offer her gifts to make her more attractive, only Abuela, her grandmother, gives her something really useful: un consejo increíble, some shocking advice.

Book level 6; Ages 6-10.
Presents the authors' retellings of twelve traditional tales accompanied by information on origins and different versions.

Guided Reading Level O; Lexile measure 830; ages 5-8; book level 4.2
Doña Flor is a giant woman who lives in a puebla with lots of families. She loves her neighbors-she lets the children use her flowers for trumpets, and the families use her leftover tortillas for rafts. So when a huge puma is terrifying the village, of course Flor is the one to investigate.

Lexile measure 760; K-Gr.4; Guided reading Q; Americas Award for Children & Young Adult Literature, Honor book, 2005.
Sareen is attending her first sit-up, a Jamaican tradition that celebrates the life of a loved one who has died.The whole village has come to share memories of Sareen's Nana. Sareen wants to tell her stories of Nana's last mango season and their search for the perfect mango, but she's afraid the words won't come or that she'll begin to cry.

AD520L; K-Gr.3.
When her mother was worn out from caring for her five sisters, her father gave her lessons in brushwork and color. When polio kept her bedridden for nine months, drawing saved her from boredom. When a bus accident left her in unimaginable agony, her paintings expressed her pain and depression - and eventually, her joys and her loves.

Ages 5-10; Book level 3.7; Historical fiction, gr. 1-3.
An amazing, true story about the quest for knowledge that inspired one of Mexico's most famous and beloved poets, Sor Juana Inés.

Lexile measure AD510L; Book level 3.8; Ages 4-8; gr.K-2; Guided reading L
Of all the animals in the rain forest, Jabutí was the favorite. His shell was smooth and shiny, and the songs he played on his flute were sweet. But his music was a reminder, too, of the mischievous pranks Jabutí sometimes played.

Lexile measure 810; Ages 4-8; K-Gr.3; Americas Award for Children's and Young Adult Literature winner , 1998; Pura Belpre Illustrator Honor, 2000.
A little girl describes what a day is like in her Chinese parents' dry-goods store in Guatemala City.

Ages 6-9; Americas Award for Children's and Young Adult Literature Winner, 1997.
Dora learns to overcome her fears of a mentally ill woman who lives in her community in this gentle and compassionate story set in contemporary Jamaica, West Indies.