PLANTING STORIES: The Life of Librarian and Storyteller Pura Belpré written by Anika Aldamuy Denise and illustrated by Paola Escobar is a bright energetic telling of the contributions made by this superb teller of folktales. She first visited New York in 1921 to attend her sister’s wedding. However, she decided to stay and took a job in a garment factory before being hired as a bilingual assistant at the 135th Street branch of the New York Public Library in Harlem. She spoke three languages.
Born in Puerto Rico she learned marvelous folktales from her abuela and brought her grandmother’s folk stories to the children and the families in Harlem. “In the children’s room, she lights the story hour candle… and begins: Her eyes dance! Her voice sings!”
Soon Pura made puppets to go along with her stories, published her folktales and became a national figure in the world of bilingual storytelling and reading. After her death in 1982, the American Library Association formed the Pura Belpré Award for outstanding books by Latino / Latina authors and illustrators.
The pictures in this book are gorgeous including the cover showing Pura reading stories to children on the steps of the Library as her planted story seeds sprout magically right off the open page. The end papers are colorful and packed with delightful details from the book ripe for visual recall. It is a gorgeous tribute to Pura and the joy of stories.
PLANTING STORIES: The Life of Librarian and Storyteller Pura Belpré written by Anika Aldamuy Denise and illustrated by Paola Escobar is colorful and engaging and designed to be shared with children 4-8 years of age (Harper Collins Children’s Books, 2019).
Questions for Planting Stories: The Life of Librarian and Storyteller Pura Belpré
After hearing or reading this picture book, turn to the colorful end papers and think about the answers to the following questions: What do the colorful flowers scattered across the end papers have to do with Pura’s desire to plant story seeds? How was the candle and candlestick shown on the end papers used during Pura’s storytelling sessions? Who is the little mouse and who is the little cockroach smiling forth from the end papers?
Does your library have bilingual storybooks? If so, with the help of the librarian, see if you can find the story entitled Pérez y Martina by Pura Belpré. If you are not bilingual and the version of this story has illustrations, use your visual literacy skills to read the pictures. Also, if you are not bilingual, ask the librarian or teacher to read it to you or help you find a copy of the story written in both English and Spanish.
A description of the other four folktales mentioned in Planting Stories: The Life of Librarian and Storyteller Pura Belpré can be found in the back materials. Read through the descriptions, select one of them, seek it out and read it or have it read to you. Then draw a picture for the cover of the folktale you selected. Have Fun!
