Celebraciones at ALA Washington DC

Pura Belpré Celebración

Let’s celebrate the winners of this year’s Pura Belpré Award! Hear their voices, meet them, get their autographed books at the Pura Belpré Celebración.

Sunday, June 23, 2019

1:00- 3:00 PM

Marriott Marquis

Washington, DC

The Pura Belpre Award honors Latino authors and illustrators whose work best portrays and affirms the Latino cultural experience in books for children.

The award is named after Pura Belpré, the first Latina librarian at the New York Public Library. The Pura Belpré Award, established in 1996 by REFORMA, is presented annually to a Latino/Latina writer and illustrator whose work best portrays, affirms, and celebrates the Latino cultural experience in an outstanding work of literature for children and youth. It is co-sponsored by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), and REFORMA, the National Association to Promote Library and Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish-Speaking, an ALA affiliate.

2019 Author Award Winner 

  

The Poet X, written by Elizabeth Acevedo and published by HarperTeen, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.

2019 Illustrator Award Winner

Dreamers, illustrated by Yuyi Morales, written by Yuyi Morales, and published by Neal Porter Books, Holiday House Publishing, Inc.

2019 Author Honor Book

They Call Me Güero: A Border Kid’s Poems, written by David Bowles, and published by Cinco Puntos Press.

2019 Illustrator Honor Books

Islandborn, illustrated by Leo Espinosa, written by Junot Díaz, and published by Dial Books for Young Readers, Penguin Young Readers Group, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC.

When Angels Sing: The Story of Rock Legend Carlos Santana, illustrated by Jose Ramirez, written by Michael Mahin, and published by Atheneum Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division.

Noche de Cuentos

Celebrating the Power of Storytelling to Unite Communities

Featuring award-winning authors and storytellers in an enchanting evening of performances celebrating and affirming the richness of Latino heritage and culture.

Friday, June 21, 2019

Hispanic Reading Room - Library of Congress

Thomas Jefferson Building

7 - 8:30 p.m.

Free!

Meg Medina

Meg Medina is the author of the Newbery Medal–winning book Merci Suárez Changes Gears, which was also a 2018 Kirkus Prize finalist. Her young adult novels include Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass, which won the 2014 Pura Belpré Author Award; Burn Baby Burn, which was long-listed for the National Book Award; and The Girl Who Could Silence the Wind. She is also the author of picture books Mango, Abuela, and Me, illustrated by Angela Dominguez, which was a Pura Belpré Author Award Honor Book, and Tía Isa Wants a Car, illustrated by Claudio Muñoz, which won the Ezra Jack Keats New Writer Award. The daughter of Cuban immigrants, she grew up in Queens, New York, and now lives in Richmond, Virginia.

Yuyi Morales

Born in Yelapa, Mexico, where she currently resides, Yuyi Morales lived for many years in the San Francisco Bay Area, where she still maintains close relations with booksellers and librarians. Professional storyteller, dancer, choreographer, puppeteer, and artist. She has won the prestigious Pura Belpré Award for Illustration six times, for Just a Minute, Los Gatos Black on Halloween, Just in Case, Nino Wrestles the World, Viva Frida - also a Caldecott Honor Book - and Dreamers. She also illustrated Sherman Alexies Thunder Boy Jr., a New York Times Bestseller.

Elvia Pérez Nápoles

Elvia Pérez Nápoles is a world-renowned storyteller, storytelling advocate, author, actress, and journal editor who has served on the Cuban National Cultural Counsel for more than two decades. Elvia has received many distinctions and awards for her contributions in the cultural arena, including the award Cuentacontigo, and the award Brocal given to her artistic trajectory by the Biennal de Oralidad. Elvia is the author of From the Winds of Manguito, Desde los vientos de Manguito: Cuban Folktales in English and Spanish, Cuentos folklóricos de Cuba, edited by Margaret Read MacDonald (Libraries Unlimited 2004).