Biographies

Pura’s Cuentos: How Pura Belpré Reshaped Libraries With Her Stories

Pura’s abuela always has a cuento to share. She crows ¡Qui-qui-ri-quí! for Señor Gallo, booms Borom, Borom for Señor Zapo, and tells of a beautiful cockroach who loves a mouse. Pura clings to these stories like coquíes cling to green leaves.
When Pura grows up and moves from Puerto Rico to Harlem, she gets a job at the library, where she is surrounded by stories—but they’re only in English. Where is Señor Gallo? Where is Pérez the mouse? Where is Puerto Rico on these shelves? She decides to tell children the tales of her homeland in English and in Spanish.

Child Of The Flower-Song People: Luz Jiménez, Daughter Of The Nahua

As a young Nahua girl in Mexico during the early 1900s, Luz learned how to grind corn in a metate, to twist yarn with her toes, and to weave on a loom. By the fire at night, she listened to stories of her community’s joys, suffering, and survival, and wove them into her heart. But when the Mexican Revolution came to her village, Luz and her family were forced to flee and start a new life. In Mexico City, Luz became a model for painters, sculptors, and photographers such as Diego Rivera, Jean Charlot, and Tina Modotti. These artists were interested in showing the true face of Mexico and not a European version. Through her work, Luz found a way to preserve her people’s culture by sharing her native language, stories, and traditions. Soon, scholars came to learn from her

Child of the Flower-Song People is a WOW Recommends: Book of the Month for May 2022.

My Name Is Bana

When seven-year-old Bana Alabed took to Twitter to describe the horrors she and her family were experiencing in war-torn Syria, her heartrending messages touched the world and gave a voice to millions of innocent children.
Written in Bana’s own words, this picture book offers a uniquely intimate child’s perspective on one of the biggest humanitarian crises in history. Bana has lost her best friend, her school, her home, and her homeland. But she has not lost her hope—for herself and for other children around the world who are victims and refugees of war and deserve better lives.

Niki Nakayama: A Chef’s Tale In 13 Bites

As a child and adult, Niki faced many naysayers in her pursuit of haute cuisine. To anyone who tells her a woman can’t be a master chef, Niki lets her food do the talking. And oh, does it talk. Niki was featured on the first season of Netflix’s culinary documentary series Chef’s Table. And Chrissy Teigen proclaimed that Niki’s restaurant was one of her absolute favorites. She’s currently a featured teacher on MasterClass.

Get Up, Elizabeth!- Even a Qeen Must Get Out of Bed

Even The Queen Of England Has To Get Up And Groomed To Greet The Day Get Up, Elizabeth! It’s Time For The Future Queen To Get Out Of Bed, Scrub Her Face With Almond Paste, Brush Her Teeth With Soot, Comb The Tangles Out Of Her Unruly Red Hair, Get Dressed, And Sit Still While Her Ruff Is Sewn On And Her Sleeves Are Pinned. It’s Rough Rising And Shining Every Day–for Queens And Kids Alike.

Looks Like Daylight

A compelling collection of interviews with children aged nine to eighteen. They come from all over the continent, from Iqaluit to Texas, Haida Gwaai to North Carolina, and their stories run the gamut — some heartbreaking; many others full of pride and hope.

The Nobel Prize

“I would like . . . to help dreamers, they find it hard to get on in life.” — Alfred Nobel. Alfred Nobel, born in Sweden in 1833, was a brilliant inventor and businessman. Although he held more than 300 patents when he died in 1896, he earned his extensive fortune and worldwide fame through his invention of dynamite and his work on armaments. He never married and was constantly on the move around Europe, visiting his manufacturing plants.His handwritten one-page last will and testament directed that the majority of his vast fortune be invested and the interest distributed to the most deserving individuals in the fields of medicine, chemistry, physics, literature and peace. Between 1901 and 2009, the five Nobel Prizes and the Prize in Economic Science were awarded 537 times.This book tells the fascinating story of how a few simple instructions in Nobel’s will were transformed into a huge philanthropic organization that holds a unique position in the modern world.The Nobel Prize covers: The life and accomplishments of Alfred Nobel His will and the establishment of the Nobel Prize Committee How the Nobel laureates are selected The establishment of the new award in Economics in 1968 Profiles of U.S. presidents and world leaders who have won the prize Lists of families and individuals who have won the prize Profiles on the lives and accomplishments of the most famous laureates The backgrounds of each of the six prizes: chemistry, physics, medicine, peace, literature and economicsThe Nobel Prize brings to life the story of the world’s most famous prize.

I.D.

Some things can change you forever.This is a book about identity. Everyone remembers the life events that shaped their identity. That first love. The first all-out fight with a parent or sibling. The feeling of being let down by someone you love. Losing something or someone that matters to you. Struggling to fit in. I.D. collects 12 first-person accounts about life’s pivotal moments and offers each as an incisive graphic narrative.Illuminated by Peter Mitchell’s bold, gritty illustrations, these true stories tackle the universal experiences from childhood and adolescence that stay with us forever. Each anecdote and accompanying reflection reveals how individual identity can be shaped by common themes.By turns thoughtful, painful, funny and fierce, I.D. powerfully demonstrates that what defines us in youth doesn’t have to confine us forever.