Planting Stories: The Life of Librarian and Storyteller Pura Belphré

Title:  Planting Stories: The Life of Librarian and Storyteller Pura Belphré

Author:  Anika Aldamuy Denise

Illustrator:   Paola Escobar

Target Ages:  4 and up

Genre:  Picture Book Biography

Publisher Summary: 

Follow la vida y el legado of Pura Belphré, the first Puerto Rican librarian in New York City.  When she came to America in 1921, Pura carried the cuentos folklóricos of her Puerto Rican homeland.  Finding a new home at the New York Public Library as a bilingual assistance, she turned her popular retellings into libros and spread story seeds across the land.  Today, these seeds have grown into a lush landscape as generations of children and storytellers continue to share her tales and celebrate Pura’s legacy. 

First Lines:

It is 1921.

Pura Teresa Belphré leaves her home in San Juan

for a visit to Nueva York.

Words travel with her:

stories her abuela taught her.

Cuentos folklóricos Pura retold in the shade of a tamarind tree,

in Puerto Rico.

Memorable Moment:

The seeds she has planted,

the roots that grew shoots into

the open air of possibility,

have become a lush landscape

into which she steps, as though she has never left.

Evaluation:

Pura Belphré story is inspirational.  As an immigrant, she finds her own version of the American dream.  As a storyteller and writer, she encourages others to read, to imagine, and to soar.  As a woman, she is devoted to her husband and her passion. People of all ages will be moved by her story.

As a picture book biography, Planting Stories: The Life of Librarian and Storyteller Pura Belphré is exemplary.  Author Anika Aldamuy Denise's use of language and her story telling skills capture the imagination.  At no time did I feel I was reading a non-fiction biography.  Instead, I felt I was traveling along on Pura’s captivating journey. 

Paola Escobar’s illustrations are stunning. The colors, the energy, the details are perfect in every way. 

If you read one picture book biography, make it this one! 

Activities and Extension Ideas for Lesson Plans:

• Literature:  Read Puerto Rican folktales from an anthology or picture book retellings.
• Figurative Language: Teach or review what a metaphor is. Discuss how the writer uses the extended metaphor of plants/planting.  Why do you think the author used that metaphor?  How does it add to the story?  What other metaphors might have worked?
• Dramatic Play:  Put on a puppet show using one of the Puerto Rican folktales or ones the children are familiar with.  
• Context Clues:  Use context clues to figure out the meaning of Spanish words used in place of English words.

For more great picture book suggestions, head over for the Perfect Picture Book Link Up.

Visit Kid Lit Frenzy for more Non-Fiction selections. 

Flutter and Hum Animal Poems (Julie Paschkis)

Title:  Flutter & Hum Animal Poems (Aleteo y Zumbido Poemas de Animales)

Author:  Julie Paschkis

Illustrator:  Julie Paschkis

Target Ages:  

Genre:  Bilingual Poetry

Publisher Summary:  All sorts of animals flutter and hum, dance and stretch, and slither and leap their way through this joyful collection of poems in English and Spanish. Julie Paschkis’s poems and art sing in both languages, bringing out the beauty and the playfulness of the animal world.

Todas los animals aletean y zumban, bailan y se estiran, y tambien se deslizan y saltan por todos los poemas alegres de esta coleccion en ingles y espanol.  Los poemas y el arte de Julie Paschkis cantan en los dos idiomas, resaltando la bellezo y lo gracioso del mundo animals.

Example Poems and Pages:

Favorite Poem:

“Owl”

The moon is a lantern

in the branches.

A shimmer.

A shadow whistles

through the grass.

A whisper.

Out of the darkness

an owl hoots.

An echo.

The night train

is leaving.

“El Buho”

La luna es un farol

en las ramas.

Brilla.

Silba una sombra

por las hierbas.

Un susurro.

De la ascuridad

ulula un buho.

Un eco.

El tren de la noche

esta saliendo.

Evaluation: 

Flutter and Hum is a stunning!  In concept.  In language.  In illustrations. 

The author’s approach was to first write the poems in Spanish, which is notable because she is not a native speaker.  As she composed, she reveals she “felt like a visitor wandering through the forest of Spanish words, marveling at the beauty of sound, meaning, and syntax.”  Then, she translated them into English.   However, they are not all translated word-for-word.  Sometimes, she “used the phrase that worked best in each language to convey the same meaning.”  The result is a beautiful collection of poems that native people in both languages will appreciate.

The collection is a celebration of language—both in the poems themselves as well as the added words on each page.  I love lines like “Slithering through the grass the sinuous snake is writing a slippery poem with his body” and “Your bed is like a small boat.  Your dreams are the sea where the boat floats.”  Paschkis adds to these lines, and all the other poems, words in both Spanish and English in the illustrations.  For instance, the “Snake” poem has lyrical words like “sway,” “serpentine,” and “swerve” in the grass while in the “Fish” one includes words like “longing,” “linger,” and “listen” in the sea.  The additional words add to the poems and their meaning. 

The illustrations are striking!  Intricate details and bold colors fill each two page spread.  They vary in purpose.  Sometimes they mirror each other like in “Dog,” but other times they add to the storytelling of the poem such as in “Owl,” where the night train leaving appears to be a metaphor for the owl (whose sound is like a night train) leaving the tree. 

Flutter and Hum is ideal for teachers seeking diverse books for their classroom and for parents teaching their children to be bilingual. However, anyone who enjoys poetry, language, and beauty will enjoy it.  I highly recommend this collection of poems and gorgeous illustrations. 

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