Latinx in US

Benito’s Sopaipillas/Las sopaipillas de Benito

As they prepare to make the traditional, pillowy bread called sopaipilla, Christina’s grandmother tells about the time her great-grandfather, aided by a scarecrow, brought an end to a drought and, in the process, helped make the first sopaipilla.

Braids/Trencitas

This bilingual story shows the importance of family and of reading, while also emphasizing the rewards of passing along cultural traditions. Beautiful illustrations portray the moving story of Bela and her grandma, who love to tell stories, braid hair, and play lotería with the family: “Our stories, like our braids, bind us forever.”

My Tata’s Guitar/La guitarra de mi tata

While sharing stories of their Mexican-American family’s past, a father gives his young son the guitar he received from his own father.

Carmen Learns English

The first day of school can be scary, especially when no one else speaks your language. Carmen, who speaks only Spanish, knows she must be brave. Her teacher’s Spanish is muy terrible; but with a little encouragement from la Senora, Carmen teaches the class Spanish words and numbers, and she in turn learns English from her new friends.

This book has been included in WOW’s Language and Learning: Children’s and Young Adult Fiction Booklist. For our current list, visit our Booklist page under Resources in the green navigation bar.

    We Were Here

    After “it” happens, Miguel is sent to juvenile hall for a year. The judge had no idea he was doing Miguel a favor. Ever since “it” happened, his mother can’t even look at him. “Any” home besides his would be a better place to live.

    Muchacho: A Novel

    Living in a neighborhood of drug dealers and gangs in New Mexico, high school junior Eddie Corazon, a juvenile delinquent-in-training, falls in love with a girl who inspires him to rethink his life and his choices.

    Juanito Counts to Ten

    Juanito loves to count, and what could be more fun than giving and counting kisses! Children’s book author Lee Merrill Byrd was inspired to write Juanito Counts to Ten when she watched her four-year-old grandson Johnny. He was so happy and full of life that he was dishing out kisses to everybody. He kissed his mother, his father, Stray Gray the Cat, and, of course, his grandmother! He was so happy he even kissed his bossy big sister.

    Once Around The Block / Una Vuelta A La Manzana (English And Spanish Edition)

    There’s always a lot of action in the Mexican American neighborhood where Mr. Lozano lives. Amelia argues with Anita; Benito loves bean burritos but not bumblebees; Hortencia and Herminia hover around like hummingbirds; and Zacarias is catching some Zs on Zachary Street. Jose Lozano’s wacky little stories and illustrations combine Mexican culture with “Sesame Street” smarts to make for a wonderful read-aloud ABC book in Spanish and English. Jose Lozano, who lives in Anaheim, California, makes his living as an elementary school teacher, but his passion is art. He is a rising star in the thriving Latino art scene in Los Angeles. “With this amusing trip through the streets of a Mexican-American neighborhood, readers will discover the lives, adventures, secrets, hobbies and special skills of a most varied gallery of personages. “With the skills of a master storyteller, Lozano creates in each page, in alphabetical order, a lively, one-paragraph portrait using words that start with the same initial letter of his characters’ names: “B is for Benito who loves baseball, bumblebees, and big bean burritos”; “I is for Isabel who likes to stay indoors, cruise the Internet and write interesting stories”; “P is for Pablo who has won many prizes for playing the piano perfectly.” (Los Otros, hermanos Tonio, Lluvia and Chuy, new to the neighborhood, haven’t yet learned English.) “The author’s detailed and vibrant gouache paintings are framed as pictures in an album, reflecting the festive spirit of a real Hispanic community. Crosthwaite’s excellent Spanish rendition maintains the savor and rhyme of the original text and its clever wordplay, making the story enjoyable in both languages. Drawings of alphabet cubes serve as dividers between the texts.”–“Kirkus Reviews”