Ages 6-9; Gr.2-5; Caldecott honor book, 2024.
Jovita dreamed of wearing pants! She hated the big skirts Abuela made her wear. She wanted to scale the tallest mesquite tree on her rancho, ride her horse, and feel the wind curl her face into a smile When her father and brothers joined the Cristero War to fight for religious freedom, Jovita wanted to go, too. Forbidden, she defied her father's rules - and society's - and found a clever way to become a trailblazing revolutionary, wearing pants!

El Cipitío leaves El Salvador, his home country. El Cipitío is a mythical, ten-year old kid who is three feet tall. He wears a big hat and has a small belly. His feet are backwards, he can teleport, and he has eternal life. He sacrifices to do well in school and he eventually runs for mayor and president of the United States.

Ages 9-14; Grades 4-8.
Drawing on centuries of Mexican traditions, Fiesta Feminina celebrates brave young girls, clever mythological characters and ambitious historic women leaders.

Lexile 710L; Ages 8-12.
When Lizzie and Gael share an irresistible challenge, to find the peacock ring that once belonged to artist Frida Kahlo, Paloma decides it is the perfect way to honor her father.

Lexile measure 980; Ages 8-10; Gr.3-6; Américas Award winner, 2018.
Award-winning author and illustrator Duncan Tonatiuh tells the story of Amalia Hernández, dancer and founder of El Ballet Folklórico de México.

Lexile measure 910; Ages 6-9; Gr.2-6. Pura Belpre Illustrator Honor book, 2017.
Juan Garcia Esquivel was born in Mexico and grew up to the sounds of mariachi bands. He loved music and became a musical explorer. Defying convention, he created music that made people laugh and planted images in their minds.

Gr.2-4; Pura Belpre Author award, 2017.
Juana loves many things -- drawing, eating Brussels sprouts, living in Bogotá, Colombia, and especially her dog, Lucas, the best amigo ever. She does not love wearing her itchy school uniform, solving math problems, or going to dance class. And she especially does not love learning the English.

Ages 8-12; Gr.3-7; Pura Belpre Author honor book, 2017.
Twelve-year-old Jaime makes the treacherous and life-changing journey from his home in Guatemala to live with his older brother in the United States in this gripping and realistic middle grade novel.

Ages 7-12; Gr.3-7.
Why are young people leaving their country to walk to the United States to seek a new, safe home? Over 100,000 such children have left Central America. This book of poetry helps us to understand why and what it is like to be them.

Ages 7-13; Gr.2-5.
A Sibert Award Winner, Pura Belpré (Illustrator) Honor Book, New York Times Best Illustrated Children's Books of 2015 and International Latino Book Award Finalist! Funny Bones tells the story of how the amusing calaveras--skeletons performing various everyday or festive activities--came to be. They are the creation of Mexican artist José Guadalupe (Lupe) Posada (1852-1913).

Lexile measure 810; Ages 8-12; Gr.4-7; Pura Belpre Book Award honor, 2016.
Carol and Johnny Garza are 12-year-old twins whose lives in a small Texas town are forever changed by their mother's unexplained disappearance. Shipped off to relatives in Mexico by their grieving father, the twins soon learn that their mother is a nagual, a shapeshifter, and that they have inherited her powers.

Ages 4-8; gr.2-5; 2015 Caldecott Honor Book; 2015 Pura Belpré (Illustrator) Award.
Frida Kahlo, one of the world's most famous and unusual artists is revered around the world. Her life was filled with laughter, love, and tragedy, all of which influenced what she painted on her canvases.

Awards: Pura Belpré Illustrator Award, 2013.; Lexile measure 700, gr. 2-4.
As the illegitimate son of a Spanish nobleman and a former slave, Martin de Porres was born into extreme poverty. Even so, his mother begged the church fathers to allow him into the priesthood. Instead, Martin was accepted as a servant boy. But soon, the young man was performing miracles.

Ages 11-15: gr.4-7.
Fefa struggles with words. She has word blindness, or dyslexia, and the doctor says she will never read or write. Every time she tries, the letters jumble and spill off the page, leaping and hopping away like bullfrogs. How will she ever understand them? But her mother has an idea. She gives Fefa a blank book filled with clean white pages. "Think of it as a garden," she says.

Lexile measure 650; Ages 12-14; Book level 4.6, gr. 4-8; Pura Belpré Award Winner.
From the time he is a young boy, Neftalí hears the call of a mysterious voice. Even when the neighborhood children taunt him, and when his harsh, authoritarian father ridicules him, and when he doubts himself, Neftalí knows he cannot ignore the call.

Book level 4.9; Ages 7-12, gr. 3-6.
Presented in both English and Spanish, this lively poetry collection features the endangered flora and fauna of the Iguaz rain forest in Argentina, and addresses environmental issues in a fun, engaging way.

Ages 7-10; Gr.3-8.
Bilingual English/Spanish. Young Jorgito has come to live in the Mission District of San Francisco, but he hasn't forgotten the unique beauty of El Salvador.

Lexile measure 910; book level 5.1; biography, gr. 2-4.
Can you imagine a shipwrecked sailor living on air and seaweed for eight days? Can you imagine a trail of yellow butterflies fluttering their wings to songs of love? Once, there was a little boy named Gabito who could.

Gr.4-6; Americas Award for Children & Young Adult Literature, Honor book, 2008.
Wealthy landowner Don Rigol practically owns the town. To expand his coffee plantation, he will lay waste the mountain jungle and the secret valley where the ancient breed of Paso Fino horses roams wild. Can best friends Enriquito and Ernestina find a way to save the ponies, ensure justice at a trumped-up trial, and reclaim the mountain for their people?

Guided Reading Level: L; Lexile measure 850; ages 8-12; book level 4.1
This bilingual book allows young readers to enter Celia Cruz's life as she becomes a well-known singer in her homeland of Cuba, then moves to New York City and Miami where she and others create a new type of music called salsa.

Ages 9 and up; Gr.4-6.
Photojournalist Bernard Wolf traveled to Cuba to produce a book of photographs that give a rare picture of what life is like today on this economically strapped island so close to our shores. The striking, perceptive photographs are accompanied by sprightly text that explains the situation and gives some brief background on Castro's Cuba.

Ages 4-8; Gr.2-4; Americas Award for Children & Young Adult Literature, Honor book, 1991.
Rhymes, chants, and games of Afro-Caribbean origin.

Gr.4-7; Americas Award for Children & Young Adult Literature, Winner, 1994.
Tantie has chosen Amber to be the family's next storyteller, and Amber is waiting for a story to come to her. Meanwhile, she listens in a new way to the stories that others tell. Filled with the color and tradition of life in Trinidad and the sounds of island speech.