Benito Juarez (Hispanic Heritage)

benitoRecounts the story of Benito Juárez, who overcame the horrors of poverty and racism to become Mexico’s first president and lead his country to democracy.

Henry Cisneros

A biography of the Mexican-American mayor of San Antonio, Texas, who became the first Hispanic mayor of a major United States city in 1981.

Quinceanera: A Latina’s journey to womanhood

Photographs and text follow a Mexican-American girl through a coming-of-age ritual that helps to preserve a rich heritage in today’s Latino community in the United States.

Let’s Eat

Little Antonio introduces his extended family and explains that Mama is the biggest because “she is going to have a baby any day now.” Everyday she sends the boy to gather the family for their midday meal. On Monday, Papa can’t leave his busy carpentry shop. On Tuesday, his sister Alicia is learning to dance the sevillanas for the summer fiesta. Day after day, when there is an empty seat at the table that Papa built and Mama has filled with inviting food, she sighs, “Ay, que pena! What a pity.” Eventually, it is Mama herself who is missing because it’s time for her to have baby Rosa.

Mice and Beans

In this tale Rosa Maria spends the week getting ready for her granddaughter’s birthday party and trying to avoid attracting mice–unaware that the mice in her walls are preparing for a party of their own.

My Mother and I Are Growing Strong

A five-year-old describes the way her mother is working and coping with problems while her father is in prison.

We Are One: The Story of Bayard Rustin

Bayard Rustin dedicated his life to helping others—fighting injustices and discriminations—so that people could live as one. Protesting segregation long before there was a civil rights movement, he often was arrested for his beliefs and actions. As a nonviolent activist, Bayard made his mark working alongside many African American leaders, notably A. Philip Randolph and Martin Luther King, Jr. As an organizer, Bayard was largely responsible for bringing people together to walk for freedom and jobs in Washington, D.C., on that memorable summer day, August 28, 1963. With style and careful attention to history, Larry Dane Brimner captures a story of passion, courage, and triumph through Bayard’s own words and archival photographs in this Jane Addams Children’s Book Award winner.