Alberto Salas Plays Paka Paka con la Papa:
Join the Quest with Peru's Famed Scientist and Potato Expert
Written by Sara Andrea Fajardo and illustrated by Juana Martinez-Neal
*Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
*Print length: 40 pages
*ISBN-13: 978-1250422866
*Reading age: 4 - 8 years
What can a potato do? To Peruvian scientist Alberto Salas, they have the power to change the world. Go on the hunt with Alberto for for wild potatoes before they go extinct in this playful picture book biography, gorgeously illustrated by Caldecott-honoree Juana Martinez-Neal.
High up in the Andes mountains of Peru, agricultural scientist Alberto Salas is on a quest. A quest... for potatoes.
Up and down the Andes mountains he goes, playing an epic game of paka paka con la papa, potato hide and seek. These potatoes are special: they have the power to feed the world.
Alberto doesn't have a second to waste. The climate is changing and Alberto must find each and every one to save them before they go extinct.
The game is on!
Alberto races and peers and prods. Drives and trods and climbs. Will he find the potato he seeks? Will he win the game of paka paka con la papa?
Author Sara Andrea Fajardo’s spirited biography about “the godfather of potatoes” is paired with lush art by Caldecott-honoree Juana Martinez-Neal to capture how celebrated scientist Alberto Salas brings joy, curiosity, and fun to his very important, life-changing work.
Alberto Salas juega a la paka paka con la papa:
Únete a la búsqueda con el célebre científico y experto en papas peruano
Esta biografía ilustrada y oda a la conservación y ciencia acompaña al agrónomo peruano Alberto Salas en su búsqueda de papas silvestres antes de que se extingan, con ilustraciones de la ganadora de un Caldecott Honor, Juana Martínez-Neal.
Muy alto en la cordillera de los Andes en Perú, el ingeniero agrícola Alberto Salas anda en una búsqueda. En búsqueda… de papas.
Arriba y abajo de las montañas va, jugando un juego épico de paka paka con la papa, a las escondidas con la papa. Estos tubérculos son especiales: tienen el poder de alimentar y salvar al mundo.
Alberto no tiene tiempo que perder. El clima está cambiando en los Andes y él debe encontrar y rescatar cada una de las variedades de papa antes de que se extingan.
¡El juego ya empezó!
Alberto corre, busca detenidamente y escarba. Maneja y camina y trepa. ¿Encontrará la papa que busca? ¿Podrá ganar este juego de paka paka con la papa?
En su debut como autora con esta energética biografía sobre el “padrino de las papas”, Sara A. Fajardo une fuerzas con el rico y lúdico arte de la ilustradora galardonada con el premio Caldecott, Juana Martinez Neal, capturando cómo el celebrado agrónomo Alberto Salas realiza su imprescindible trabajo con deleite, curiosidad y regocijo.
Review
"A lovely tribute to an unassuming yet impactful changemaker." -Booklist, starred review
"In a warm palette, Caldecott Honoree Martinez-Neal’s lush mixed-media illustrations convey Salas’s dedication and the potatoes as jewels hiding in an ever-shifting landscape. Fajardo smartly melds playful language with an urgent conservationist message..." -Publishers Weekly, starred review
"[A]n affable, often playful tone and a loose yet incredibly informative narrative peppered with words in Spanish and Quechua, Fajardo recounts the potato expert’s adventures in all their glory..." -Kirkus, starred review
"This tribute to a contemporary figure will no doubt strike a chord with young readers." -BookPage, starred review
"Fajardo’s playful narrative brings readers along on Salas’s quest, touching lightly but directly on other serious issues that affect his work, such as climate change and human encroachment on natural habitats." -Horn Book
Sara A. Fajardo first discovered the power of words when she was four. Newly arrived in the United States from her native Peru, her English vocabulary consisted of the word “monkey,” which she promptly turned into her favorite greeting, “Hola Monkey!” The amused reaction to that phrase started her on a lifelong path of telling stories—first as a photojournalist, then as a multimedia storyteller for humanitarian aid organizations, and now as a writer for children. She grew up in the agricultural community of Salinas, California, and has lived in Finland, Japan, and Kenya. Sara currently resides in the San Francisco Bay Area, with her husband, two children, and very playful cat.
Juana Martinez-Neal is the Peruvian-born daughter and granddaughter of painters. Her debut as an author-illustrator, Alma and How She Got Her Name, was awarded a Caldecott Honor, and Zonia’s Rain Forest was named an ALA Top 10 Sustainability-themed Children’s Book. She illustrated New York Times bestselling picture book Tomatoes for Neela by Padma Lakshmi; Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story by Kevin Noble Maillard, which won a Robert F. Sibert Medal; and La Princesa and the Pea by Susan M. Elya, for which she won a Pura Belpré Illustrator Award. She also co-illustrated with Molly Idle I Don’t Care by Julie Fogliano. Juana Martinez-Neal lives in Connecticut with her family.
