September 15 to October 15 is National Hispanic Heritage Month! We’ve loved reading books from Hispanic writers and illustrators and learning more about their rich culture. Here are some picture books for Hispanic Heritage month your kids will love.
- Digging for Words: José Alberto Gutiérrez and the Library He Built by Angela Burke Kunkel and Paola Escobar. I included this in my list of the 10 best books of 2020 for good reason. It’s the amazing story of a garbage collector in Colombia who picked up discarded books along his route and started a library. I seriously got chills even thinking about this book and bought it for our own home right after we read it.
- Dancing Hands: How Teresa Carreño Played the Piano for President Lincoln by Margarita Engle and Rafael Lopez. The illustrations in this book are so vibrant and beautifully complement the text. I had never heard the story of Teresa Carreño, a girl from Venezuela who fled with her family to the United States and later played the piano at the White House. It’s so inspiring.
- Across the Bay by Carlos Aponte. This wonderful author and illustrator paints a gorgeous story of a boy who travels across San Juan, Puerto Rico, in search of his father. I love books that mix Spanish and English words to help you learn Spanish, and this one is really sweet.
- Dreamers by Yuyi Morales. Every time I see this book on a shelf or on a site, I remember the stunning illustrations and the lyrical way it was written. Dreamers is the true story of Yuyi Morales, who came to the United States in 1994 when her son was a baby. It reminds you that dreamers are important and that they bring wonderful gifts with them when they enter the United States.
- Planting Stories: The Life of Librarian and Storyteller Pura Belpré by Anika Aldamuy Denise and Paola Escobar. Well, if it’s not obvious already, I LOVE everything Paola Escobar illustrates. I also loved this story about New York’s first Puerto Rican librarian and the way she encouraged others to tell stories and stocked shelves with bilingual books. This one will touch your heart.
- My Papi Has a Motorcycle by Isabel Quintero and Zeke Peña. On the surface, this looks like a simple story about a girl who’s enjoying a motorcycle ride with her dad through a small town in California. It’s also about how a city is changing and how some favorite shops have closed as a result of gentrification. This is a great way to engage kids in discussions about what they like about their hometowns and about building roots.
- Miguel and the Grand Harmony by Matt de la Peña and Ana Ramírez. I am the LAST person to ever recommend a book that’s based on a movie, but this one is wonderful. If you and your kids like Coco, you’ll love this beautiful story that complements the film and focuses on Miguel’s love of music. The illustrations are gorgeous, too.
- Tito Puente, Mambo King by Monica Brown and Rafael Lopez. This is another book that brilliantly mixes Spanish and English words while telling the story of the musician Tito Puente. I absolutely love the pictures and the way Lopez brings the characters to life. You’ll want to listen to Puente’s music after reading this.
- Little Red Fort by Brenda Maier and Sonia Sánchez. We are big fans of retold fairy tales at my house, and my kids often pull this book off the shelf because they love the twist on The Little Red Hen. When Ruby asks her brothers for help building a fort, they refuse. She ends up building a space all her own (with help cutting and hammering from adults, of course). This is a more gentle version of the fable, though, as Ruby does end up sharing with her brothers at the end when they decide to construct a mailbox and help her paint.
- Where Are You From? by Yamile Saied Méndez and Jaime Kim. I don’t think I can even describe how much I love this book. A little girl is asked “Where are you from?” at school and is discouraged when the classmate isn’t satisfied by her response. Her grandfather tells her about the land where she is from, which includes pampas and mountains. I am so impressed with books that help kids understand microaggressions and racism in a positive way. This would be a great addition to any library, and I need to order a copy for our own home. I always end up buying more books when I put these lists together!
- Between Us and Abuela: A Family Story from the Border by Mitali Perkins and Sara Palacios. Oh, man. This book had me in tears. I’m not sure why it isn’t as well-known as some of the other titles on this list. It’s the story of two kids who visit their grandmother along the border of California and Mexico for Christmas because she can’t enter the U.S. The little boy wants to give his grandmother a gift but isn’t allowed to pass it through the border. Then he figures out a creative way to get it to her. We had a great talk about immigration laws, and this book helped my kids understand them a little better.
- Frida Kahlo and her Animalitos by Monica Brown and John Parra. I will admit that I did not know a lot about Frida Kahlo before reading this. I definitely did not know she had so many pets, including a fawn, an eagle, and two turkeys! This is a fun way to introduce kids to an important figure in Mexican culture and talk about her influence on art.
- Federico and the Wolf by Rebecca J. Gomez and Elisa Chavarri. Yes, it’s another fairy tale, but this time it’s the story of Red Riding Hood. Federico gets the ingredients to make pico de gallo and encounters the wolf dressed as his abuelo. Fortunately, he can use the spicy ingredients to defeat him. This is told in rhyming text and has a bunch of Spanish words throughout. It’s so fun to read aloud!
- Alma and How She Got Her Name by Juana Martinez-Neal. I bought this book for my kids because I love the message about the importance of names and of heritage. The illustrations are SO sweet (look for Swashby and the Sea by the same illustrator), and it’s a great conversation starter about your own name or your children’s names.
- Jovita Wore Pants by Aida Salazar and Molly Mendoza. I had never heard of Jovita Valdovinos, a Mexican revolutionary who fought for religious freedom during the early 20th century, before reading this book. She also defied cultural norms by wearing pants (which my daughter found fascinating) and cutting her hair short to lead the Cristero Revolution. This was an incredible story about an important woman from history.
- Plátanos are Love by Alyssa Reynoso-Morris and Mariyah Rahman. Plantains are a big part of Latin culture, and this book about a grandmother and her granddaughter highlights how important they are to cuisine but also to their ancestors’ history. The illustrations and Spanish words throughout make this book sparkle.
- La Mala Suerte is Following Me by Ana Siqueira and Carlos Vélez Aguilera. We all really enjoyed this story about Miguel, who believes he brought La Mala Suerte (Mrs. Bad Luck) upon himself because everything keeps going wrong in his life. How can he get rid of the bad luck for good?
- A Flicker of Hope: A Story of Migration by Cynthia Harmony and Devon Holzwarth. I adored this story about a family whose papá travels north from Mexico to find work, just as monarch butterflies also migrate each year. Our family learned so much about butterflies from this book, and we also had a great conversation about migration and the people who work so hard in the United States. This is a gorgeous book that I bought for our library.
- The Ofrenda That We Built by Jolene Gutiérrez, Shaian Gutiérrez, and Gabby Zapata. Technically this is a story about Day of the Dead, or Día de los Muertos, so you could probably include it in your Halloween books as well. But I loved this homage to The House That Jack Built so much and loved all the information about this beautiful tradition. I’m also getting a copy of this story for our home.
- A Crown for Corina by Laekan Zea Kemp and Elisa Chavarri. Corina is celebrating her birthday, and her abuela allows her to choose flowers from the garden for a special crown to wear. She adds flowers that remind her of her family and also symbolize the person she wants to be. The illustrations are so pretty, and I love the message of family and self-actualization.
- Three Pockets Full: A story of love, family, and tradition by Cindy L. Rodriguez and Begoña Fernández Corbalán. On the surface, this is a story about a little boy who is refusing to wear a traditional Mexican shirt to a wedding. I sometimes have this battle with my son about collared shirts for church, so I can empathize. What the story is really about, though, is a boy grieving the loss of his father. I adored this book.
- A Girl Named Rosita: The Story of Rita Moreno: Actor, Singer, Dancer, Trailblazer! by Anika Aldamuy Denise and Leo Espinosa. You will admire the incomparable Rita Moreno even more after reading this fantastic picture book biography. I didn’t know much about her outside of her starring role in West Side Story, and this book does a great job of highlighting this remarkable woman’s life.
Now it’s your turn! What are your favorite books for Hispanic Heritage month?
