The Américas Award was founded by CLASP in 1993 to encourage and commend authors, illustrators and publishers who produce quality children’s and young adult books that portray Latin America, the Caribbean, or Latinos in the United States, and to provide teachers with recommendations for classroom use. CLASP offers up to two annual book awards, together with a commended list of titles. This is a great award to find multicultural books for kids~
The Américas Award Winner
Parrots Over Puerto Rico by Susan Roth and Cindy Trumbore, illustrated by Susan Roth
This was my Picture Book of the Day selection and also the 2014 Seibert Winner about the amazing conservation recovery effort to save the parrots of Puerto Rico. [picture book, ages 5 and up]
The Américas Award Honorable Mentions
Diego Rivera: An Artist for the People by Susan Goldman Rubin
The book follows Rivera’s career, looking at his influences and tracing the evolution of his style. His work often called attention to the culture and struggles of the Mexican working class. The book contains a list of museums where you can see Rivera’s art, a historical note, a glossary, and a bibliography. [advanced picture book biography, ages 8 and up]
Pancho Rabbit and the Coyote: A Migrant’s Tale by Duncan Tonatiuh
It’s not easy to find a simple picture book to discuss undocumented workers and the issues that surround them with young kids but Pancho Rabbit and the Coyote: A Migrant’s Tale is perfect for that. I have it on my undocumented workers’ children’s book list compiled with author and librarian Natalie Dias Lorenzi. [picture book, ages 6 and up]
The Américas Award Commended Titles
María Tenía una Llamita/María Had a Little Llama by Angela Dominguez
A wonderful bi-lingual riff off Mary Had a Little Lamb! [picture book, ages 3 and up]
Round is a Tortilla: A Book of Shapes by Roseanne Thong, illustrated by John Parra
A wonderful way to learn shapes with a multicultural twist. [picture book, ages 3 and up]
Tito Puente: Mambo King/Rey del Mundo by Monica Brown, illustrated by Rafael López
In this vibrant bilingual picture book biography of musician Tito Puente, readers will dance along to the beat of this mambo king’s life. Monica Brown and Rafael López bring the remarkable story of this talented legend to life in this Pura Belpré Honor Book. [picture book biography, ages 4 and up]
Enrique’s Journey by Sonia Nazario
“Stunning . . . As an adventure narrative alone, Enrique’s Journey is a worthy read. . . . Nazario’s impressive piece of reporting [turns] the current immigration controversy from a political story into a personal one.”—Entertainment Weekly
[young adult, ages 14 and above]
Lightning Dreamer: Cuba’s Greatest Abolitionist by Margarita Engle
“I find it so easy to forget / that I’m just a girl who is expected / to live / without thoughts.”
Opposing slavery in Cuba in the nineteenth century was dangerous. The most daring abolitionists were poets who veiled their work in metaphor. Of these, the boldest was Gertrudis Gómez de Avellaneda, nicknamed Tula. In passionate, accessible verses of her own, Engle evokes the voice of this book-loving feminist and abolitionist who bravely resisted an arranged marriage at the age of fourteen, and was ultimately courageous enough to fight against injustice. Historical notes, excerpts, and source notes round out this exceptional tribute. [chapter book, ages 12 and up]
Read more about Margarita Engle in our Multicultural Children’s Book Day Spotlight series.
Serafina’s Promise by Ann E. Burg
A luminous novel in verse from the author of the Jefferson Cup award winner. [novel in verse, ages 10 and up]
Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass by Meg Medina
Winner of the 2014 Pura Belpré Author Award
In Meg Medina’s compelling new novel, a Latina teen is targeted by a bully at her new school — and must discover resources she never knew she had. [chapter book, ages 12 and up]
We were thrilled to interview Meg Medina for our Multicultural Children’s Book Day Spotlight series.
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Welcome to the 53rd Kid Lit Blog Hop where we continue to develop a dynamic and engaged community of children’s books bloggers, authors, publishers, and publicists. So, you are always more than welcome to join us by popping in a post and hopping around to meet some of your fellow Kid Lit bloggers and authors!
This week, we are excited to be including a Pinterest Linky Party to be held in conjunction with the Kid Lit Blog Hop. These linky parties are designed to give you the opportunity to connect with and grow your network of fellow kid lit bloggers, authors, and parents through your various social media platforms. This week… the Pinterest Linky Party.
We are pleased to be welcome a new permanent KLBH host with us (you’ll remember she co-hosted with us last week!): Katie from The Logonauts, a blog focused on sharing and discussing great books for elementary and middle grade readers. Big welcome Katie!
Hostesses:
Mother Daughter Book Reviews
Julie Grasso, Author/ Blogger
Cheryl Carpinello, Author / Blogger
Stacking Books
BeachBoundBooks
Pragmatic Mom
Music, Teaching and Parenting
Reading Authors
The Logonauts
Happy Hopping everyone and enjoy the Hop!
Kid Lit Blog Hop & Linky Party Rules *Please Read*
1. LINKY PARTY: Add the link to your Pinterest page in the Pinterest Linky Party list below. Be sure to visit at least the two links directly before yours as well as your hosts’ Pinterest pages. Be sure to follow some boards that interest you and re-pin what catches your eye.
2. KID LIT BLOG HOP: Link up any Kid Lit related post in the Kid Lit Blog Hop. This can be a link to a children’s book review, a discussion about children’s literature/literacy, or a post on a recently-read children’s book or one that you love from your childhood.
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* For Authors, we prefer you to link to your blog if you have one. Please link unique posts each time ~ no repeats please. *
* Make sure you include an image relevant to the POST (e.g., book cover), not your blog button or photo of yourself.*
* Feel free to link more than one post.*
3. KID LIT BLOG HOP: Please visit AT LEAST the TWO LINKS from the Kid Lit Blog Hop directly ahead of your own and leave them some love in the form of a comment. We are trying to build a community of bloggers, readers, parents, authors, and others who are as passionate about children’s literature as we are so please CONNECT and follow any or all of the blogs that interest you!
4. If you like, grab the button above and put it somewhere on your blog, preferably the post you’re linking up. If you’d prefer, you can just add a text link back to this Hop so that others can find it and check out all these great book links!
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Interested in co-hosting the Kid Lit Blog Hop/Linky Party? If you’ve joined us before, you are welcome to join us again! Please email renee @ motherdaughterbookreviews (dot) com and put Co-Hosting Blog Hop in the subject line.
Happy Hopping!
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My books:
Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me
Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me
Food for the Future: Sustainable Farms Around the World
- Junior Library Guild Gold selection
- Massachusetts Book Award Long List
- Selected as one of 100 Outstanding Picture Books of 2023 by dPICTUS and featured at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair
- Starred review from School Library Journal
- Chicago Library’s Best of the Best
- 2023 INDIES Book of the Year Awards Finalist
- Green Earth Book Award Long List
- Imagination Soup’s 35 Best Nonfiction Books of 2023 for Kids
Amazon / Barefoot Books / Signed or Inscribed by Me
Amazon / Scholastic / Signed or Inscribed by Me
I wonder if my link can be deleted? I entered the wrong URL. Lesson learned – Never do something when someone is asking you a question.
Thanks
Hi Alex,
Which link is that? You can hover over your link in our Linky and delete it. There should be a delete button that will appear.
I am excited to see Latin American literature getting some attention!
Hi MaryAnne,
Me too! Some great books to be discovered from this list for me!
Thanks, Mia! I haven’t read most of these books, so I’ll put them on my ever-growing to read list!
I loved Parrots over Puerto Rico too–it’s so cool that you read it vertically.
Duncan Tonatiuh’s Pancho is very moving; I also liked his book on Sylvia Mendez: Separate is Never Equal. His codex style is very distinctive.
Hi Maria,
I did love the artwork for Parrots over Puerto Rico as well as the inspiring ecological message! So glad that this picture book is getting the attention it deserves and that endangered species can make a comeback with concentrated efforts from humans!