Esteban de Luna, Baby Rescuer! / Esteban de Luna, ¡rescatador de bebés!

By Larissa M. Mercado-López


Illustrations by Alex Pardo DeLange


Spanish translation by Gabriela Baeza Ventura

• ISBN: 978-1-55885-847-3
• Publication Date: May 31, 2017
• Bind: Hardcover
• Pages: 32 Ages: 4-8
• Piñata Books- Arte Público Press

In this bilingual picture book, a young boy discovers that he doesn’t need magical powers to be a hero.

Esteban wears his green cape every day. He wears it to breakfast. He wears it to the park. He even wears it to the grocery store. The only problem is that it doesn’t do anything. It doesn’t help him fly or become invisible. So he decides to sell it.

Just then his mother tells him that they’re going to the park, so Esteban puts his cape back on. At the park, he sees a baby doll on the swings. Suddenly a storm blows in, and Esteban’s mom calls him to run home. If Esteban leaves the doll, it will get wet and dirty. So he wraps the doll in his cape and ties it back on. “Don’t worry, baby! I’ll save you!”

On the way home he jumps over puddles and walks under awnings to keep the baby dry. At home, he wears the doll in his cape as he plays and does his chores. That night, with the baby clean and dry, Esteban feels like a superhero. He will not sell the cape after all. “From now on, I am Esteban de Luna, Baby Rescuer!”

This charming picture book depicts a young boy who is compassionate and kind, and will be sure to generate dialogue about what it means to be a boy while broadening the meaning of masculinity to include caring and protection.

LARISSA M. MERCADO-LÓPEZ, a Texas native and mother of four, is a professor of Women’s Studies at California State University, Fresno. This is her first book for children.

ALEX PARDO DELANGE is a Venezuelan-born artist educated in Argentina and the United States. A graduate in Fine Arts from the University of Miami, she has illustrated numerous books for children, including the Pepita series and Sip, Slurp, Soup, Soup / Caldo, caldo, caldo. She lives with her family in Florida.