Discounted Access to Anansesem's Digital Issues During COVID-19 Crisis

In response to the spike in back issue purchases since our closing and to better enable you to engage with the challenges of the COVID-19 outbreak, we're offering access to our most recent digitial issues at a reduced cost of $10 for 3 PDF issues.

Offer ends November 30, 2020.

Catch up on the latest writing, news, reviews and interviews from the world of Caribbean children's and YA literature, from the comfort of your home.

Get the May 2019 (Puerto Rico Issue), May 2018 (Book Reviews Issue) and September 2017 (Love Issue) .pdf special issues (259 pages in full color) of Anansesem, the premiere publication for librarians and information specialists who work with Caribbean children and teens.

*This offer expired on 11/30/2020.*

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Holiday Sale! – Back Issue Bundle

Gift or receive the gift of Anansesem this Christmas.

Happy holidays to all our readers! This Christmas season, we invite you to enjoy a Back Issue Bundle, featuring our three most recent issues, with a limited-time 50% off special offer.

Anansesem is the world's largest and most authoritative reviewer of Caribbean children's and young adult material. Get top-notch industry coverage and access to a broad range of resources and digital content.

The perfect gift for librarians, reader advisory specialists, teachers and parents. Buy for yourself or give as a gift. Offer ends December 31 at midnight.

Get 3 Special Issues (the Love Issue, the Book Reviews Issue and the Puerto Rico Issue), a total 259 pages in full color. Sharp editorials, insightful reviews, special features, starred books, author and illustrator interviews and more.

*This offer expired on 12/31/2019.*

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Contributors to the Special Issue on Puerto Rico

Good news— the .pdf of our special bilingual issue on Puerto Rico is now available for purchase here.

Guest edited by Boston-based librarian and Association for Library Service to Children (USA) Board member Sujei Lugo Vásquez (herself Puerto Rican), the Puerto Rico Issue is dynamic and our longest (128 pages lovingly designed in full color) to date. With its focus on post-Hurricane Maria literacy, storytelling, library and publication projects that are connecting children and youth to Puerto Rican children's literature and Puerto Rican history, the issue both clarifies and problematizes the current social and political climate in Puerto Rico, which is grappling with a plummeting economy while renewing its push for statehood.

Contributors to the issue include Puerto Rican professors, librarians, primary/secondary school teachers, storytellers, and children's authors/illustrators, and we wanted to take a moment to share their faces. Right click on the image above to download the promotional banner, and do share with your networks! (Feel free to use the handy link below to share on Twitter).

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Anansesem's Special Offer for Caribbean American Heritage Month

Anansesem is the world's largest and most authoritative reviewer of Caribbean children's and young adult material. Get top-notch industry coverage and access to a broad range of resources and digital content.

In recognition of Caribbean American Heritage Month, we invite you to join us today with a limited-time 'buy-1-get-1-free' special offer.

Catch up on the latest writing, news, reviews and interviews from the world of Caribbean children's and YA literature. Offer ends June 30 at midnight.

Get the September 2017 and May 2018 .pdf special issues (131 pages in full color) of Anansesem, the premiere publication for librarians and information specialists who work with Caribbean children and teens.

*This offer expired on 06/30/2019.*

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The Use of Children’s Literature in Puerto Rican Learning Institutions

Stock image of a teacher reading to her students

The need to support preservice teachers in building rich and deep knowledge of culturally relevant children's and young adult (YA) literature is something that has gained traction in Puerto Rico's university teacher preparation and library studies programs. Inspired by mounting calls for books that reflect Puerto Rican children's lives in the primary and secondary school English language arts curriculum, a new generation of English teachers, youth librarians and teacher educators across the Puerto Rican archipelago are examining their reading habits. They are also investing in their own continued growth, learning, and development as advocates of Puerto Rican children’s and YA literature, and youth literature more generally.

We are delighted to exclusively publish the below conversation between Yazmín Méndez Bonet and Dr. Melissa Lee García Vega, a middle school English teacher and a university English professor respectively, both of whom teach in the Aguadilla-Isabela-San Sebastián metropolitan area in northwestern Puerto Rico.

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Melissa: Thinking about children’s literature, my mind takes me back to second grade at Catholic school in New York City. I fell in love with books in our classroom reading corner and enjoyed meeting with my teacher for reading tutoring during the mornings. Once I was able to read independently, I started visiting one of the New York Public Library branches with a neighborhood friend. I would always select not one, but a few books to take home. My library card, the excitement of having so many books to choose from, and the library building remain clear in my mind. Those library visits played a significant role in my development as an early reader.

I also remember that in sixth grade, my dad saw my interest in reading and gifted me a copy of L. M. Montgomery’s Anne of Avonlea. Because my family did not have a lot of money (my self-sacrificing parents could just barely afford to send me to Catholic school), receiving a book as a gift was a big deal, however my younger self couldn’t completely identify with Anne’s life, or with the red-headed girl illustrated on the book’s cover. I began searching for books that spoke more directly to my experience as a young Puerto Rican girl living in a big city.

Today, I teach in the English Department at the University of Puerto Rico, Aguadilla Campus, where I also research Caribbean children’s literature. Shortly after my arrival on campus, I began teaching courses in children’s literature and was excited to share my teaching and reading experiences. During the first weeks of class, I always ask my undergraduate students to share their memories and experiences with children’s literature. These conversations have led to an ever-broadening understanding of how children’s stories support the development and shape the lives of individual readers.

Yazmin: I grew up in Rincón, a small town located on the west coast of Puerto Rico. From Kindergarten through twelfth grade, I went to public schools, and like my current students, I took classes in Spanish and was enrolled in an English as a Second Language (ESL) class. Reading was not something I used to do at home and my father only read the newspaper. I was introduced to books in my Kindergarten classroom where we read European fairy tales like The Ugly Duckling and Little Red Riding Hood. I don’t recall reading books in which I could see my Puerto Rican self and heritage reflected, at least not in English class. But I do remember María Chuzema, a Puerto Rican TV show that featured María Chuzema reading different stories to children.

Visiting a library wasn’t something I was

A shelf of children's books at the public library
in San Antonio, Aguadilla, Puerto Rico

encouraged to do as a child. There was a public library in my hometown, but I mainly used it to look up information for a school project or homework assignment. In middle school, I stopped by the school library several times and even participated in oratory events where I spoke about the importance of reading and the magic of books. Thinking back, I don’t recall seeing a story time session at the library or a children’s book display.

It wasn’t until I enrolled as an undergraduate student in the English program at the University of Puerto Rico, Aguadilla Campus that I had the opportunity to learn more about children’s and young adult literature. However, even in the Young Adult (YA) Literature course, only a few YA books that portrayed Puerto Ricans were assigned, and they were mainly about the Puerto Rican experience in the United States. I decided to focus my master’s thesis on the use of Caribbean children’s literature in the English classroom in Puerto Rican schools. I am now an English teacher at the Profesora Juana Rosario Carrero Middle School.

Melissa: For many of my students in the Children’s Literature course, it was their first experience holding a picture book. In creating the course, my approach was to outline markers of quality in children’s literature. I tried to expand beyond Scholastic books and Disney’s picture books. I often got pushback from students since Disney stories were a big part of their childhood reading experiences.

One of the purposes of the course was to explore the intersection of learning, pleasure and language development in the reading of children’s books. In these respects, Yazmin, your experiences are very similar to my students’ experiences. You said that in middle school you participated in oratory events where you spoke about the magic and importance of reading. What were those experiences like for your younger self? What books or poems do you remember reciting? Do you remember choosing a story to read or did your teachers always assign them?

Yazmin: As a young student, I was eager to participate in speech contests, and my teachers noticed this. I remember how my history teacher motivated me to participate in an oratory event organized by the school librarian. I wrote my own speeches on those old square papers everyone used in school back in those days. I memorized the words all afternoon and all night. I thought about my life experiences, how I had never had the chance to travel, but how books transported me to other places, allowed me to learn about other people’s lives, and sparked my imagination. I placed first in that oratory competition!

It is our responsibility as educators to share children’s literature that is provoking, that reflects our children’s lives, and that motivates them to read independently. This is the way to build lifelong readers.

Melissa: What you just said makes me think of the picture book The Day You Begin written by Jacqueline Woodson and illustrated by Rafael López. The main character feels different because she spent the summer at home while her classmates were off “flying and sailing.” Yet, she realizes that through books she had also traveled to many places. As a child, you also experienced that sense of empowerment through reading.

Yazmin: Absolutely. To answer your question about whether the stories were assigned reading or not, my teachers chose most of the books and stories we read in class. I remember how in seventh grade my Spanish teacher took us to the computer lab and told one of my friends and I that he thought we would like El polizón del Ulises by the Spanish writer Ana María Matute. He gave us a copy and we read it and discussed it together. It was meaningful because the book exposed us to a different vocabulary and experiences outside of our own. I would also go through books at the school library by myself, even if I didn’t consider myself an avid reader. I liked reading both fiction and non-fiction, especially picture books.

Melissa: Now as a high school English teacher, how do your personal experiences guide or influence you when you are matching books to students? What are you doing to ensure that your students don’t view the public library as just a homework resource, and have access to story time, children’s book displays, and other things your younger self didn’t get to experience?

Yazmin: As teachers we often feel trapped by having to follow a curriculum and emphasize teaching practices that are “accountable”. Technology and media can be distractions that hamper students from reading books for pleasure; on the other hand, technology does allow more access to books, and I am able to present stories to my students in video format. However, the reality of Puerto Rican schools is that many lack the resources and support to integrate technology and digital media in the classroom. Often, we can’t put what we learn in professional development trainings into practice. But we always look for different ways to expose students to books. Recently, for International Day of Reading, I brought some of my own children’s books to the classroom so students could read them in small groups. It was an enriching activity for them, and for some, a new experience.

Melissa: Thinking about Puerto Rican cultural heritage and children’s literature, it’s tough to think that in the 21st century we still have an undersupply of books that present our heritage. We can make a distinction between children’s books that reflect island-based Puerto Rican experiences and those that reflect Puerto Rican experience in the United States. I discuss this with my students and learn from them about how the two perspectives and experiences are distinct, but also similar in some ways. There’s so much to explore within the “two branches” of the Puerto Rican experience.

Many of my students are not familiar with the life and groundbreaking work of Pura Belpré, who was the first Puerto Rican librarian in New York City. In my course, pre-service teachers learn about her and review the Pura Belpré Award website to identify winning books and read them. I also assign chapter books that reflect familiar Puerto Rican childhood scenarios and immigration experiences such as Going Home and its sequel, Felita, both by Nicholasa Mohr. My students are drawn to the relatable settings and characters and consider the value of using these stories to teach English to their students.

Teaching and supervising pre-service teachers allows me to learn how to effectively incorporate best practices in teaching reading and writing into my course and professional development workshops. We discuss how students read some books over and over, how revisiting a text allows an engaged reader to explore their own path to learning, and how we should celebrate what seems like purposeless repetition because it is building independence. As an educator, I recognize that some challenges are beyond a teacher’s control, and yet, the art of teaching is finding space to celebrate learning within complex social realities.

Yazmin: Using Puerto Rican children’s literature, and children's literature in general, with my ESL students has helped me to build their enthusiasm for reading, and their ability to analyze and interpret themes portrayed in texts. Children’s books provide the opportunity to learn about the world from a child or teenager’s perspective. These viewpoints open spaces for conversations, reflection and even roleplay. Sadly, reading and ESL resources, including high-quality children’s literature, are not that accessible in Puerto Rico; many of the books my students read are books I have purchased myself. Also, not all public schools have a library, and those that have one often misuse the space for meetings, storage, or as a digital media center. This undermines the school community’s perception of the library.

Melissa: I often run into former students, now teachers, working in public and private schools with or without libraries. We inevitably start talking about books they are currently reading, books they are using with students, and difficulties accessing books. I love learning about new titles, and learning from their teaching experiences. Our community of educators keeps growing. We aim to create and develop libraries, story time approaches, and book displays for children. Puerto Rican students should see the library as an empowering space that belongs to them.

Yazmin: It is our responsibility as educators to share children’s literature that is provoking, that reflects our children’s lives, and that motivates them to read independently. This is the way to build lifelong readers. Children’s books inspire readers to reflect on and question their own realities and social responsibilities. Libraries have been a part of educational reforms around the world, and to empower our Puerto Rican communities, we should advocate for fully engaged children’s and youth libraries in all our towns, municipalities, and cities. Going to libraries that serve as reading and writing centers, and as technology hubs, should be an essential part of our youth culture. We must begin from an early age to foster an appreciation of the value of literature in Puerto Rican society, and we must be active in the construction of movements that promote community empowerment and growth through reading.

About the Authors

Dr. Melissa Lee García Vega was born in Brooklyn, New York to Puerto Rican parents. She holds a bachelor’s degree in English literature from CUNY-Queens College and completed her doctoral degree examining postcolonial and global contexts in Caribbean children's literature at the UPR, Rio Piedras Campus. She is currently co-editing a collection of essays on children’s and young adult literature of the Caribbean and its diaspora. She teaches courses in English literature, as well as curriculum and instruction, at the UPR, Aguadilla Campus.

Yazmín Méndez Bonet has been a secondary school English teacher for the past ten years in Puerto Rico’s public school system, and has taught all grades from sixth through twelfth grades. She completed a bachelor’s degree in teaching english as a second language at the University of Puerto Rico (UPR), Aguadilla Campus and a master’s degree in English education at the UPR, Mayagüez Campus. As part of her professional development, Yazmín has been involved with the Maya West Writing Project, AFORMAR Academy and the WebTools Project, all at the UPR, Mayagüez Campus, and participated in the Pilar Barbosa Internship in Washington, D.C.. She is currently pursuing a doctoral degree in curriculum and instruction with a sub-concentration in instructional technology.

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Exhibit to Use Books to Help Children Make Sense of Hurricane María, Climate Change

I have many memories of the months we spent in darkness after Hurricane María, when we were trapped in the largest blackout in United States history and the second largest on record worldwide. Each day, as the sun started to slip out of the sky, we would race to prepare for long nights of solar lamps and candlelight, camp stoves and generators. Woven into the sound of evening preparations and generators starting up were also the sobs of my neighbors’ children, as they begged their mother, “por favor, mamá, no la noche.” After enduring those endless months without electricity, many Puerto Rican children still feel terror when the night comes and have learned to fear the rain.

As a professor of literature at the University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez Campus, I am now leading a large-scale public humanities project with a group of student collaborators titled, “Mi María: Puerto Rico After the Hurricane.” The project uses biographical methodologies—with a special focus on oral history—situated within the contexts of critical disaster studies, environmental humanities, social justice, and climate justice to study the impacts of Hurricane María and its aftermath on the people of Puerto Rico. Through this academic research project, we seek to address children’s needs, in the hopes of beginning to allay some of the anxieties that have taken root in the aftermath of Hurricane María.

The project is being undertaken in collaboration with Voice of Witness (VOW)—a human rights nonprofit organization dedicated to amplifying unheard voices—and the Humanities Action Lab’s (HAL) Initiative on Climate and Environmental Justice, led by Columbia University, Rutgers University, and The New School. As the culmination of the project, we will publish a volume of oral histories of the hurricane and its aftermath in the VOW book series published by Haymarket Books, a social justice press in the United States, which will be accompanied by a curriculum that meets Common Core education standards.

By reading about characters involved in climate justice and saving the Earth, children can begin to cultivate a positive lifelong relationship with the environment.

We will also make a contribution to HAL’s international traveling exhibition, which will be based upon our collected oral histories and other, multimodal forms of auto/biographical expression used to narrate experiences of the hurricane: parranda and other song lyrics; radio broadcasts; photography; comics and graphic narratives; micro-narratives; podcasts, and more. The Puerto Rico segment of the exhibition will travel throughout the Puerto Rican archipelago, and a digital version of the entire international exhibition will be permanently held at Rutgers.

At the core of the larger research project is the work of approximately one hundred and fifty undergraduate students from the University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez Campus. Last semester, we trained approximately one hundred students in the ethical collection, transcription, translation, and editing of oral narratives. Currently, over fifty additional students are working to collect multimodal narratives for the HAL exhibition. Four of these students, Yarelis Marcial Acevedo, Adriana Montes Pacheco, Francheska Morales Garcia and Sharon M. Nieves Ferrer, comprise the Children’s Literature Team, and together with the help of team mentor, Melissa García Vega of the University of Puerto Rico, Aguadilla campus, and Joan Baker González of Mayagüez Children’s Library, we are developing a section of the HAL exhibition specifically geared toward the “María Generation” of children who have survived the hurricane and are mired in its aftermath.

The Children's Literature Team: Adriana Montes Pacheco, Sharon M. Nieves Ferrer, Francheska Morales Garcia, Yarelis Marcial Acevedo (from left to right)

This part of the exhibition is focused on using children’s literature to educate children about problems related to climate change. It will include approximately thirty English, Spanish and bilingual books related to different topics under the umbrella of climate change, including recycling and working together. Although the HAL exhibition is geared towards an adult audience, it is important to include a component that addresses climate and environmental justice with children.

We are interested in picture books, and will select books with engaging illustrations that help children connect with the issues in an impactful way. Illustrations not only help children understand books, but also help them become immersed in the story, something that is even more essential when teaching children about complex issues like climate justice. It is important for us to develop effective means of speaking with children, in order to mold their attitudes during childhood, the period when most of our beliefs are formed.

We will research, select, and oversee the purchase of the books. We also plan to ask for donations of additional relevant books that will be displayed in a small bookcase and available for children to read at the exhibition. Afterward, we will donate the collected books to the Biblioteca Juvenil de Mayagüez (Children's Library of Mayagüez) and host an activity on-site.

The main goals of our work are to assist children who lived through the hurricane. We will do this by engaging them in discussions about, and actions related to, climate justice; developing their interest in environmental protection; and instilling a sense of empathy for, and connection to, others. We will encourage children who see the physical exhibition or its digital version to recognize that they are fully capable of making a positive difference in their communities, no matter how young they are. By reading about characters involved in climate justice and saving the Earth, children can begin to cultivate a positive lifelong relationship with the environment. This project will not only serve as a means to educate children, but parents and educators too, including elementary school teachers and librarians in and outside of Puerto Rico who are looking for resources to help children learn about fragile ecosystems and what they can do to help protect them.

Our final idea for the exhibition is the creation of our own children’s picture book. This children's book, titled Maxy sobrevive al huracán/Mazy Survives the Hurricane, will be written in English and Spanish, and the illustrations will be done by one of our team members. The book will reflect children’s experience of the hurricane through the eyes of a puppy, Maxy.

We want to write the book from a puppy’s point of view so that all children can relate to the story, and also to ease some of the tension surrounding an experience as harrowing as a hurricane; hopefully child readers will come to believe that they, like the puppy, can find a way to deal with such a situation. Luckily, two social workers have agreed to read the draft of our book and provide feedback on how we can produce a thoughtful, effective book that will aid the children of Puerto Rico and other children who have gone through similar situations.

We believe that this part of the larger HAL exhibition is very important for the contributions it will make to children and for the resources it will provide for parents and teachers. We want to address the lasting psychological and emotional impact of the hurricane and its aftermath, and make a contribution to the island’s recovery by instilling in children a love for the environment and an understanding of the ways in which local and global decisions impact nature.

Visit the Facebook page of the Mi María: Puerto Rico After the Hurricane project at www.facebook.com/MiMariaPR and their website at www.mimariapr.org. To donate money or children's books to the project, contact Dr. Ricia Anne Chansky at ricia.chansky@upr.edu.

About the Authors

Dr. Ricia Anne Chansky is professor of literature at the University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez Campus. She is co-editor of a/b: Auto/Biography Studies and editor of the new Routledge Auto/Biography Studies book series. She is the author of recent and forthcoming essays on critical disaster studies, disaster pedagogy, climate and social justice, Puerto Rico, and the Caribbean, as well as on oral history, transnational and diasporic identity constructions, contested national identity, and gendered identity constructions. Yarelis Marcial Acevedo is studying English with a concentration in linguistics. Adriana Montes Pacheco is studying agricultural economics and wants to specialize in art. Francheska Morales García is currently completing a bachelor’s degree in theoretical physics. Sharon M. Nieves Ferrer is currently completing a bachelor’s degree in physics. Pictured above, they are all undergraduates at the University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez Campus.

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The University of Puerto Rico's Learning Resource Center Promotes Culturally Relevant Childhood Literacy

*Lee una traducción al español de este artículo aquí.
*Read a Spanish translation of this article here.


The Learning Resource Center (Library) at the University of Puerto Rico, Bayamón Campus is a space dedicated to study, research and the sociocultural enrichment of all our visitors. Our library offers access to information in many different formats, and our personnel educate our community on how to effectively search for information, and its ethical and critical use. Our community consists of five thousand undergraduate students, faculty, non-academic staff and the children who attend our campus preschool.

Housed in the library, in the Sala de Niños y Jóvenes Isabel Freire de Matos (Isabel Freire de Matos Children's and Youth Room), is a special collection of Puerto Rican and international children’s and youth literature. With this collection, we hope to foster a love of reading and plant seeds of cultural self-awareness in the children who will hopefully make up the university’s student body in the future. We aim to give them an unforgettable and formative experience by exposing them to a variety of books and helping them to see the library as a space for learning and positive socialization.

Since 2014, we have been celebrating the

Dr. Delgado-Cordero at CELELI's Reading Marathon

Maratón Puertorriqueño de Lectura (Puerto Rican Reading Marathon), an island-wide reading marathon organized by the Centro para el estudio de la lectura, la escritura y la literatura infantil (the Center for the Study of Reading, Writing and Children's Literature, abbreviated as CELELI) of the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus. The goal of CELELI is to promote, enhance and increase research focused on reading, writing, and children’s literature.

The Maratón Puertorriqueño de Lectura is a day devoted to celebrating the phenomenal benefits of reading, and we are proud to participate in this annual event. The marathon is organized as a series of interesting and enjoyable activities that allow children, teens and adults to read for pure pleasure, in an uninterrupted manner.

This past year, we celebrated the 13th edition of the Maratón by inviting Puerto Rican children's author-illustrator Isset M. Pastrana Andino to the center. She is a young educator with a degree in preschool education who grew up and attended public schools here in Bayamón. It was really special having a “daughter of Bayamón” to celebrate the reading marathon with us!

We hope to foster a love of reading and plant seeds of cultural self-awareness in the children.

On September 7th, we hosted an event where Pastrana Andino read her book, En el patio de Lucas, to our preschoolers. The tale features a boy named Lucas who enjoys close contact with nature. He loves to observe, analyze and investigate his surroundings. He decides to sow a seed he finds in his backyard and takes care of it with love using what nature gives him: water, sunlight and wind. Doing so, he discovers through the plant’s germination process that it is a beautiful miramelinda flower.

Isset entranced the children with an engaging read-aloud of her book. As part of our activity, we visited a nearby nursery garden and bought some miramelindas plants and seeds to recreate Lucas’ journey. The children learned about the life cycle of the plant, and at the end, each child planted a seed to take home.

At the Learning Resource Center, we are committed to the crucial work of promoting childhood literacy. We enjoy every part of designing our programs, because seeing the preschoolers’ happy faces is the best reward for our hard work.

Visit the Facebook pages of the Center for the Study of Reading, Writing and Children's Literature (CELELI) and the Learning Resource Center (Library) at the University of Puerto Rico, Bayamón Campus at www.facebook.com/celeli.lectura and www.facebook.com/UPRBayamonBiblioteca respectively.

About the Author

Dr. Mercy Delgado-Cordero has been a librarian since 2008, and has worked in academic libraries in both private and public institutions. For the past five years, she has been in charge of the Puerto Rican Collection in the Library of the University of Puerto Rico, Bayamón Campus, from where she vigorously promotes reading in adults and children. She has a bachelor's degree in comparative literature with a minor in art history, a post-graduate certificate in editorial arts, a Master's degree in library and information science, and a doctorate in leadership of educational organizations from the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus. She has been a national and international speaker on the topics of library leadership, the responsibility of the librarian in the promotion of reading, and the sociocultural function of libraries.

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[Cover Reveal] Clemente, Corazón de Pueblo: Illustrating the Politics around Roberto Clemente

We are delighted to bring you the exclusive cover reveal for Puerto Rican children's author Wanda I. De Jesús Arvelo’s forthcoming children's book, Clemente, Corazón de Pueblo, a picture book biography of the legendary Puerto Rican baseball player, Roberto Clemente. Rosa Colón, who was a Featured Illustrator in our May 2018 issue, illustrated the book. Victor Maldonado is the book's designer.

Clemente, Corazón de Pueblo is the third book in the Los Súper Gigantes children's book series, a project of the Municipio Autonomo de Carolina (Autonomous Municipality of Carolina) and the Fundación Puertorriqueña de las Humanidades (Puerto Rican Foundation of the Humanities). Each book in the collection highlights a historical figure who has made important contributions to Puerto Rico and the wider world.

In Carolina, Land of Giants, we have many heroes.
Our Roberto Clemente is one of them.
Childhood hero. Sports hero.
Hero to justice. Hero to solidarity.
This is his story.

Ready to see the cover? Watch the video below, then keep reading to learn more about Colón's process illustrating the book, as told by herself.

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Roberto Clemente was an exceptional Puerto Rican baseball player, equally remembered for his illustrious sports career, as for being charitable and outspoken against injustices. Thus, it was no surprise to me that the text for Clemente, Corazón de Pueblo, Wanda I. De Jesús Arvelo’s forthcoming children’s book that I am very proud to have illustrated, was full of history and politics. In order to understand Clemente’s success and extraordinary empathy, one must first understand the events that shaped him into the man everyone admires.

“¿Tiene un obrero el derecho a exigir trato justo?
¡Por supuesto que sí!”

[Does a worker have the right to demand fair treatment?
Of course!]

The Puerto Rican people are suffering but not broken and I wanted that strength to show in my illustration. The color palette is nostalgic without being too sad. I wanted to depict jíbaros (workers) as active and angry, the opposite of the passive or even happy worker in the cane field trope.

“Melchor trabaja de sol a sol
y es justo y solidario
con los obreros que laboran con él.”


[Melchor works from sun up to sun down
And is just and shows solidarity
With the workers who toil with him.]

Clemente learned empathy from his parents, Melchor and Luisa. I illustrated the workers’ clothes to look dirty but not disheveled. Their hands are cut and scarred but still strong.

“Detestaba el discrimen,
las comparaciones,
el trato condescendiente
y el intento de asimilarlo a una cultura que no era la suya.”

[He detested discrimination,
the comparisons,
the condescending treatment
and the attempts to assimilate him to a culture that wasn’t his own]

This spread was a bit challenging. Adding too many scenes depicting racism and the civil rights struggles would’ve been too overwhelming for kids. For this story, it’s more important to show how Clemente is reacting to the racism. I hope that the page works as a conversation starter for teachers and parents.

Adding historical context to children’s stories will spark curiosity about the past and the future. It gives them a way to understand complex situations and can build empathy for different lived experiences. Our children carry the burden of an uncertain future; we need children’s books that help prepare them to fight for it.

Clemente, Corazón de Pueblo hits shelves this summer.

About the Illustrator

Rosa Colón is an illustrator and comic artist based in San Juan, Puerto Rico. She has a BA from the University of Puerto Rico and an MA from the University of Brighton, UK, and is passionate about storytelling in sequential art and illustration. She has self-published her comics with her friend, Carla Rodríguez, for over ten years. They are the creators of Soda Pop Comics, the first all female comic collective in Puerto Rico, and Tintero, a comics and art fest focusing on Puerto Rican artists. Rosa has been focusing on non-fiction comics and her work can be found at The Nib and the Eisner nominated anthology Puerto Rico Strong by Lion Forge. Visit her on Twitter: @sodapopcomics, Facebook: @sodapopcomics, and on the web at www.rosacolonguerra.com.

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El Centro de Recursos para el Aprendizaje en la Universidad de Puerto Rico promueve la alfabetización infantil culturalmente relevante

*Read an English translation of this article here.
*Lee una traducción al inglés de este artículo aquí.


El Centro de Recursos para el Aprendizaje (CRA) de la Universidad de Puerto Rico (UPR), Recinto de Bayamón es un espacio para el estudio, la investigación y el enriquecimiento sociocultural de todos los que la visitan. Nuestra biblioteca ofrece el acceso a la información en muchos formatos, a la vez que su personal educa a la comunidad universitaria en la búsqueda efectiva de la información, y su uso ético y crítico. La comunidad universitaria se comprende de alrededor de cinco mil estudiantes sub graduados, la facultad, los empleados no académicos, y también incluye a los niños que asisten al Laboratorio Preescolar.

Albergada en la biblioteca, en la Sala de Niños y Jóvenes Isabel Freire de Matos, es una colección especializada en literatura infantil y juvenil puertorriqueña e internacional. Con esta colección, esperamos fomentar el amor por la lectura y plantar semillas de autoconciencia cultural en los niños en edad preescolar que, con suerte, conformarán el cuerpo estudiantil de la universidad en el futuro. Nuestro objetivo es brindarles una experiencia inolvidable y formativa, exponiéndolos a una variedad de libros, y ayudándoles a ver la biblioteca como un espacio para el aprendizaje y la socialización positiva. Aprenden a relacionarse con los libros y la función de la biblioteca, además de que viven una fiesta de lectura, junto con otras actividades educativas.

Desde 2014, hemos participado de la iniciativa

Dr. Delgado-Cordero en la maratón de lectura de CELELI

del Maratón Puertorriqueño de Lectura, organizado por Centro para el Estudio de la Lectura, la Escritura y la Literatura Infantil (CELELI), de la Universidad de Puerto Rico, Recinto de Río Piedras. El objetivo de CELELI es promover, mejorar y aumentar la investigación centrada en la lectura, la escritura y la literatura infantil.

El Maratón Puertorriqueño de Lectura es un día dedicado a celebrar los beneficios fenomenales de la lectura, y estamos orgullosos de participar en este evento anual. El Maratón se organiza como una serie de actividades interesantes y agradables que permiten a los niños, jóvenes y adultos participantes leer por puro placer, de manera ininterrumpida.

Este pasado año, en la edición número 13 del Maratón, invitamos a la autora e ilustradora de libros infantil, Isset M. Pastrana Andino, al center. Isset es una joven educadora con un título en educación preescolar de la Universidad de Puerto Rico, Recinto de Río Piedras que creció y asistió a escuelas públicas aquí en Bayamón . Así que se nos hizo especial invitar a una “hija de Bayamón”, para celebrar el maratón de lectura con nosotros!

Esperamos fomentar el amor por la lectura y plantar semillas de autoconciencia cultural en los niños.

El 7 de septiembre de 2018, recibimos a los estudiantes del preescolar para una lectura de uno de los libros de Pastrana Andino, En el patio de Lucas. El mismo tiene como personaje principal a Lucas, un niño que disfruta el contacto con la naturaleza. Como todo niño, gusta de observar, analizar e investigar lo que ocurre a su alrededor. Es por eso que decide sembrar la semilla que encuentra en su patio. Lo cuida con esmero utilizando los recursos de la naturaleza tales como, agua, sol y viento. De esta forma, el descubre a través del proceso de germinación de la planta que es una hermosa flor de Miramelinda

La autora deslumbró a nuestros pequeñines con la lectura de su hermoso cuento. Como parte del diseño de la actividad, fuimos a un vivero cerca de la universidad y compramos varias plantas de miramelindas. Así los niños podrían veer cómo crecería la semilla que Lucas plantó y se convertiría en una linda miramelinda. Al terminar de leer el cuento, los niños tuvieron la oportunidad de aprender sobre el ciclo de vida de la planta, y luego cada niño sembró una semilla para llevársela a su casa para verla germinar.

En la biblioteca del Centro de Recursos para el Aprendizaje, estamos comprometidos con el trabajo crucial de promover la alfabetización infantil. Disfrutamos cada parte del diseño de nuestros programas, porque ver las caras felices de los niños en edad preescolar es la mejor recompensa por nuestro arduo trabajo.

Visite las páginas de Facebook del Centro para el Estudio de la Lectura, la Escritura y la Literatura Infantil (CELELI) y el Centro de Recursos para el Aprendizaje (Biblioteca) de la Universidad de Puerto Rico, Recinto de Bayamón en www.facebook.com/celeli.lectura y www.facebook.com/UPRBayamonBiblioteca respectivamente.

Sobre la autora

Dra. Mercy Delgado-Cordero ha sido bibliotecaria desde 2008 y ha trabajado en bibliotecas académicas tanto en instituciones privadas como públicas. Durante los últimos cinco años, ha estado a cargo de la Colección Puertorriqueña en la Biblioteca de la Universidad de Puerto Rico, Campus de Bayamón, desde donde promueve vigorosamente la lectura en adultos y niños. Ella tiene una bachillerato en Literatura Comparada con concentración en Historia del Arte, un certificado postgrado en Artes Editoriales, una Maestría en Cincias de la Información-Bibliotecología y un doctorado en Liderazgo de Organizaciones Educativas de la Universidad de Puerto Rico, Recinto de Río Piedras. Ha sido oradora nacional e internacional sobre temas relacionados con el liderazgo de la biblioteca, la responsabilidad del bibliotecario en la promoción de la lectura y la función sociocultural de las bibliotecas.

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[Fiction] Together as One

Crash! Bang! Crash! Bang!

Hurricane María whipped the island. Through a gap in the storm shutter, Julia saw the wind spit out a palm tree, like a toothpick. A roof hurtled toward the beach. Time to hurry to Julia’s school, which was being used as an emergency shelter.

They drove through the pounding rain in tense silence. The curtain of rain hid the top of the hill where Don Alonso lived. This wind could easily blow away his tiny house—and him!

"Did somebody take Don Alonso to the shelter?" Julia already knew the answer: Don Alonso would never abandon his house.

All around them, branches cracked. BANG! Julia watched as a huge quenepa tree crashed down onto a tienda.

At the school, Julia was glad to see her guaraguao tree still standing. But . . . ¡Ay, bendito! In the music room, the cuatros were shattered. Julia would no longer get to play her favorite dance song, the seis chorreao.

The gym was hot and loud with babies crying, children running around, their parents chasing them.

“Leida!” Julia hugged her friend. “Where are your puppies?”

“I had to leave Sato and Sata behind.”

The wind roared like the Air Force jets that had shaken Julia’s house as they flew overhead gathering information about the weather. So, she had to yell, “Don’t worry, Leida, we’ll find them!”

The drivers behind him stepped out of their cars. Julia feared that they were angry because Papi wasn’t moving. But no. They pushed Papi’s car all the way to the pump.

Julia folded a piece of paper into a fan. Soon everyone in the shelter was making paper fans. Battery-powered radios blasted the news: the airport was flooded, mudslides had buried cars, dead iguanas blocked the roads. Julia tried to distract herself by showing Leida how to make an origami crane. ¡Uy! Hurricane, go away!

The hurricane roared all day and night before it finally got tired and drifted away, like the Air Force jets. The next morning, Panchito, the school custodian, opened the front doors.

Julia’s guaraguao tree! Knocked down!

“No tears,” Panchito said, as Julia and her parents left the school. “We’ll put the wood to good use.”

Señor Medina, the school principal, directed traffic at the intersection. Julia waved to him as they went by. She closed her eyes and saw mud. She opened her eyes and saw mud. They came to a car that was stuck. It was Leida and her parents!

“The road is blocked,” Leida’s father said. “How will we get through?”

Don Raúl came with a machete. He chopped through the thick branches. Everybody slogged away behind him, hauling branches, clearing palm fronds, and tossing avocados from the path.

When Leida’s father opened their front door, a surge of water spilled out. Leida’s mother wrung her hands. “We’ve lost everything!”

“Sato! Sata!” Leida called.

Julia waded in with a lantern. They searched everywhere: the muddy sofa, Leida’s soggy bed, the murky water. Had the dogs been swept out to sea? Suddenly, Julia heard a whimper. Standing on their back legs in the bathtub, two small dogs wagged their tails excitedly.

“Sato! Sata!” The puppies covered Julia and Leida with kisses.

For days, there was no power, no running water, no school. Julia and Leida helped Leida’s abuelita wash clothes in the river. “Like the good old days!” said Abuelita.

Good? Julia frowned. Having no power meant no TV, no video games, no cell phones, no refrigerator. But then Julia saw something good. A guaraguao sapling had survived! She knew exactly where to replant it.

Julia and Leida helped Miss Medina clean up the school. When it rained, they took desks outside and washed them. When it was sunny, they carried school books outside to dry.

On the way to the gasolinera, Papi’s car ran out of gas in the middle of a long line of traffic. The drivers behind him stepped out of their cars. Julia feared that they were angry because Papi wasn’t moving. But no. They pushed Papi’s car all the way to the pump.

In the meantime, Julia and Mami stood in line under a scorching sun to get drinking water. Watching the piraguero scrape a block of ice made Julia thirstier.

“Don Alonso’s creek had turned into a river, flooding his road,” he told them. “Chief Enrique braved the hill to check on him. Don Alonso is safe. He just needs batteries for his lantern, but everyone has run out of batteries.”

“I have extra batteries!” Julia said, taking them out of her backpack and giving them to the piraguero.

He didn’t thank her. Instead he scooped ice into a paper cone, drizzled it with raspberry and tamarind syrups, and handed her the piragua. It was hers, for free!

That evening, over on the hill, Don Alonso swung his lit lantern, signaling his thanks.

The next day, Julia ferried plates from the beachfront restaurant to the volunteers. “Can we feed them all?”

Doña Luisa flipped red snappers on the grill. “We’ll feed everyone until there’s nothing left.”

They fed teenagers hammering blue tarps to roofs.

They fed carpenters repairing walls.

They fed electricians trying to restore power.

They fed the fisherman who offered his catch.

One day, as Julia worked in the restaurant, she heard a loud sound. It was a sound they had not heard for a long time. Hummmmmm.

“The refrigerator! Wepa! The electricity is back!” Julia clapped. Everybody dashed to the beach to celebrate.

Panchito handed Julia the shiniest cuatro she had seen. “Your very own cuatro, made from the wood of your old guaraguao tree.”

Julia hugged Panchito around his waist. Then everyone listened as she played a seis chorreao.

-

Author's Note


On September 20, 2017, Hurricane María attacked Puerto Rico. And I was there!

For thirty long hours, the winds roared like war jets, snapped tree after tree, splintered windows, and ripped away traffic signs and zinc roofs. If the deafening wind was terrifying, the hurricane’s aftermath was worse. The whole island was incommunicado, without drinking water, and without power.

“Together as One,” read a tattered Puerto Rican flag. We had to be!

“Puerto Ricans need to do more,” President Trump tweeted in the days after the disaster.

Politicians failed Puerto Rico, but the US public didn’t.

My cousin and his wife live a block away from the beach. They sheltered in town and returned to find their house flooded. They lost everything!

My family and friends took up a serrucho, a money collection. At an Oregon conference of the Society of Children Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI), attendees also contributed to the serrucho.

“With this money,” my cousin said, “I’ll buy a mattress, but the rest will go to others who are less fortunate.”

The day I returned to Oregon, on the way to the airport, I met sixty-three electricians who wore T-shirts painted with the Puerto Rican flag, and a lineman climbing a pole.

For months they had worked hard to restore some of the power to the island. Not an easy task. The terrain in the mountains is steep and risky. Many roads had turned into raging rivers. Others were blocked by downed trees, and even dead iguanas.

These electricians showed me photos of red snappers that Puerto Rican families had caught and cooked for them. They were full of gratitude for those home-cooked meals.

Those photos, and my cousin’s selflessness, bear witness to the Puerto Rican spirit, and testify to the importance of working together as one.

About the Author

Carmen T. Bernier-Grand is the Puerto Rican author of eleven books for children and young adults. Her children's book biographies, César: Yes, We Can! / ¡Sí, se suede!, Diego: Bigger Than Life, and Frida: ¡Viva la vida! / Long Live Life received Pura Belpré Author Honor Awards. In 2008, the Oregon Library Association’s Children’s Division awarded Carmen the Evelyn Sibley Lampman Award for her significant contributions to the children of Oregon in the field of children’s literature. Ten years later, Oregon Literary Arts awarded her the Walt Morey Young Readers Literary Legacy Award. She lives with her husband and bilingual Maltese dog, Lily, in Portland Oregon. Her next bilingual picture-book is scheduled for publication in 2021. Visit her on Twitter: @GrandBernier, Facebook: @carmen.berniergrand, and on the web at www.carmenberniergrand.com.

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Puerto Rico Necesita Bibliotecas (Puerto Rico Needs Libraries)

Libraries are spaces for intellectual growth, social development, empowerment, and leisure. They are spaces dedicated to making reading and learning available for everyone as a way to invest in the social and cultural capital of a community. At the Puerto Rico Necesita Bibliotecas (Puerto Rico Needs Libraries) Advocacy Project , we believe that libraries must be a primary part of a country's educational plan.

Puerto Rico does not have a national system of libraries that includes school libraries, public libraries, academic libraries and specialized libraries, despite the fact that Puerto Rico’s public policy related to the development of our libraries (Law No. 188 of 2003) makes such a system mandatory. Therefore, we cannot expect that the current controversial plan for the educational restructuring of Puerto Rico will prioritize libraries.

The information access, reading and recreational needs of Puerto Rico’s children and youth are not being addressed by Puerto Rico’s Department of Education during this historical moment of economic and political upheaval our country is experiencing. Puerto Rico’s young people do not have proper spaces to read, explore, develop metaliteracy competences or simply escape to other worlds. They do not have the safe havens that libraries and reading can provide. Public libraries are almost nonexistent. Some municipalities have a library where conditions resemble those of the nation’s school libraries: a lack of resources, materials, infrastructure, personnel, and programming.

I founded the Puerto Rico Necesita Bibliotecas (PRNB) advocacy project in 2018, during the summer after Hurricane María. I was on vacation and spent a lot of time thinking, meditating, and taking action on something I am passionate about: libraries and their conditions in Puerto Rico. PRNB intends to raise awareness of the importance of free and equitable access to information and knowledge, and to advocate for library issues and funding in relevant legislative and governmental forums.

Puerto Rico’s young people do not have proper spaces to read, explore, develop metaliteracy competences or simply escape to other worlds. They do not have the safe havens that libraries and reading can provide. Public libraries are almost nonexistent.

Puerto Rico has had moments when our governments gave libraries their due as essential institutions which have faced great challenges. Sadly, this is not one of those moments. These are precarious times for Puerto Rico. Our Carnegie Public Library in San Juan has been closed since 2010. Puerto Rico’s Metropolitan Area does not have a public library.

We want to encourage public debate on the opening of libraries and build awareness about their contribution to the social, economic and cultural wealth of our island. We need to promote childhood reading and caregiver involvement in childhood literacy. Libraries allow for free, fair and democratic access to information, and inclusive library services can foster an environment of diversity and egalitarianism, which is why we seek to educate people about the importance of having a library in their community. PRNB wants to stimulate dialogue between community members, educators, influential figures, and importantly, youth. We also aim to research the root causes behind the deterioration of Puerto Rico’s libraries and their lack of visibility.

We began with a blog and social media accounts. Our second phase includes a plan for a radio program, podcasts and direct action to make our voices heard on a national level in the legislature. Please support our work by visiting the Puerto Rico Necesita Bibliotecas blog.

You can follow us on Facebook: @puertoriconecesitabibliotecas,Twitter: @PRPROBiblioteca, and Instagram: @prnecesitabibliotecas.

About the Author

Rossana I. Barrios Llorens is a virtual reference librarian and website content developer for the Conrado F. Asenjo Library at the University of Puerto Rico's Medical Science Campus. She is the founder of the Puerto Rico Necesita Bibliotecas Advocacy Project and a quality assurance consultant for higher education learning resources. She holds a Master's degree in Information Sciences from the University of Puerto Rico, and is involved in her institution’s Framework Metaliteracy Project. You can look out for her as username 'PI Illios' in the Second Life virtual video game.

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Re-Writing Hurricane María: Owning our Stories and Creating New Narratives

Artwork by © Olivia Hernandez for the 10 ACTION STEPS FOR PUERTO RICO illustration project

Howling winds and roaring waters still ring in my ears two years after Hurricane María ravaged the archipelago of Puerto Rico. I had often heard of storms that destroyed villages and cities, about people who had been forced to evacuate if they wanted to survive, who returned to nothing and had to start anew. But what happens when you can’t simply drive away? When you can’t just jump on an airplane to escape assured devastation? It wasn’t just a city or a town that needed to be evacuated—it was our entire archipelago, the place and space that held our memories, dreams, and hearts. What do you do then?

You wait. You wait and hope that you’ll make it through this because you know you’ve endured so much already. You see the hurricane slash through everything before you. You see it flood your surroundings. You see it pass and marvel at the destruction. You hope your family is okay, both those who live on the archipelago and those who live elsewhere. Your friends and relatives abroad are as desperate to communicate with you as you are with them. Then, you do some more waiting. You hear of communities without access to food, water, or medical help. You hear of people losing their loved ones. Taking a shower varies depending on your location…and your luck. The lines for food, ice, gas, and at the ATM are never-ending. You know that some people took matters into their own hands right from the very beginning, providing refuge to those in need even though they were also in need. And when you finally realize waiting will only bring more death, you too take matters into your own hands, and discover that you were self-sufficient all along.

The year 2018 was not easy. The official death toll kept changing. Our words were always the same: “We know how many people died. Just ask us.” It was heartbreaking when we learned that humanitarian supplies sent to the island were “found abandoned.” How many would have lived had those supplies reached them? And then, I couldn’t help but think that undelivered supplies were strategically “discovered” whenever it was politically expedient to prove that resources had indeed been sent. These “discoveries” were usually reported by the press whenever a new death toll number was announced, and everything seemed to connect. It was around that time that I knew we, the people, were just part of a political game.

Our stories neither begin nor end with two hurricanes. We are so much more. And with that mindset, we take ownership of our narratives, subvert narratives that silence and suppress us, create new ones, and resist.

It was, and to this day it continues to be, incredibly powerful watching how people have turned their sadness and anger into self-determination. It’s been beautiful to witness Puerto Ricans taking matters into our own hands and succeeding. We can determine our destiny and don’t have to depend on anyone else to decide it for us. Our stories neither begin nor end with two hurricanes. We are so much more. And with that mindset, we take ownership of our narratives, subvert narratives that silence and suppress us, create new ones, and resist.

* * *

Looking back, I realize my connection to children’s stories begins as a child in Puerto Rico. I remember the novels by Boricuas I was assigned at school that had young characters at the center of the story. For instance, Manuel Zeno Gandía’s La charca and Magali García Ramis’s Felices días Tío Sergio both have child protagonists, and while those novels don’t have action-packed plots because they were not written as children’s novels per se, we still see kids carrying the narrative forward. It wouldn’t be until many years later that I would really become a reader, and consequently, a writer for young audiences.

I officially started writing in 2017, in the aftermath of Hurricane María. In May 2018, on a full scholarship, I attended the Highlights Foundation's “Retell, Revisit, Reimagine: Writing Fresh Fairy Tales and Folklore for Older Readers” children’s writing workshop taught by authors Julie Dao and Anna-Marie McLemore. That same month, my debut short story “Civilized Alien” was published in Sábanas, a bilingual literary magazine started by students and a professor from the University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez Campus. In July 2018, I attended the Kweli International Literary Festival on a full scholarship, where I participated in a master class taught by author Kali Fajardo-Anstine. In addition, I attended Kweli’s The Color of Children’s Literature Conference in April 2019, where I participated in a master class with literary agent Tiffany Liao. As a new writer, the fact that I’ve gotten to be in rooms with people I admire and respect is nothing short of amazing.

Growing up, I did read books where I saw myself represented, in a way, but the story was always the same—about loss, sadness, and lack of self-determination. There is a need for many types of stories in Puerto Rico, narratives where Boricuas and all children of color who live on the archipelago see themselves accurately represented. This is one of the reasons I decided to start writing fiction. While there are many children’s books by Boricuas that have been published in Puerto Rico, many are disregarded and/or not discussed under a critical lens due to the focus on knowing the literatures of Spain, Britain, and the United States. The children’s stories of home, or even from the extended Caribbean, must be elevated. It is vital that Boricuas and all children who live in Puerto Rico understand that there is a literature they can identify with, a literature that can empower them to write about their own lives using their authentic voices.

As an instructor to undergraduate students, I have taught, and will continue to teach young adult fiction by Boricuas, authors from the Caribbean, and people of color from all over the world. By equipping my students with culturally relevant young adult fiction, it is my hope that they awaken to the systems and structures that try to silence them in more ways than one, and that they are thus empowered to tell their own stories.

About the Author

Adriana De Persia Colón is pursuing an MA in English Education at the University of Puerto Rico's Mayagüez Campus. Her research focuses on re-imaginings of Shakespeare’s The Tempest written by Caribbean writers. As a Highlights Foundation '19-20 Diversity Fellow, she is currently working on a young adult novel. Her debut short story, “Civilized Alien,” was published in the fourth edition of Sábanas Literary Magazine. Adriana was born and raised in Puerto Rico. Visit her on Twitter: @adrii_deper and on Instagram: @adrii_deper.

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Y este cuento (no) ha terminado: Rebuilding, Rewriting and Resisting in Puerto Rico

Artwork by © Francis Mead for the 10 ACTION STEPS FOR PUERTO RICO illustration project

Foreword to Anansesem's Special Issue on Puerto Rico, by guest editor, Sujei Lugo Vázquez


Literacy, education, and activism have played, and continue to play, a major role in moving Puerto Rico and our communities forward, serving as vehicles for resistance, change, and empowerment for our islands, people, and youth. The impact of, and challenges resulting from, our history of colonialism and imperialism, have ignited and compelled us to organize, educate, write, illustrate, and share our histories and experiences through storytelling and social activism. The ongoing economic and political crisis, along with the impact of Hurricane María, have foregrounded the need for Puerto Rican self-determination. We have become even more aware of the power of community organizing, the importance of education and literacy projects, the crucial role of youth in the present and future, and the tools we have at our disposal for recording our memories, reflections, and stories.

In this special bilingual issue, I wanted to showcase Puerto Rican literacy and storytelling projects and efforts that are connecting youth to local literature and Puerto Rican history, including the different storytelling formats and techniques being used. I also wanted to examine the current status of Puerto Rican children’s literature, and feature fiction and poetry created by upcoming and established Puerto Rican children’s authors and illustrators, using the language(s) that best represents their voices. The pieces featured here are merely a cross section of the voices, perspectives, and literacy activism of people living in Puerto Rico, and people with diasporic connections to the Puerto Rico islands. The issue includes contributions from writers, students, illustrators, teachers, professors, librarians, bloggers, storytellers, and activists. I thank each one of them for their creative labor and the sincerity expressed in their work.

It is our duty to provide the tools needed to build better futures with, and for, our children and their literature.

In capturing lived experiences of Hurricane María and the disaster's impact on Puerto Rican life, families and communities, this issue explores social, political, cultural and historical themes central to Puerto Rican identity. In describing their post-María youth literacy initiatives, their experiences with Puerto Rican children’s literature, and the stories and histories that need to be told, many of the contributors are honest about the challenges faced. They also share valuable ideas about what needs to be done and how changes can be implemented to move Puerto Rico

CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE ISSUE.

forward to a better future, and toward a more authentic tradition of children’s literature and youth literacy.

This is just a glimpse of the work, voices and collaborations tied to children’s literature in Puerto Rico. Each experience, sentiment and reflection is valid and part of the collective and historical process of cultural memory-making. Collaborations are intrinsic for rebuilding communities. Intergenerational, marginalized, silenced and underrepresented voices play a crucial role in rewriting Puerto Rican history and Puerto Rican children’s literature. Lastly, it is by looking to, and (un)learning from, the past and the present that we become empowered to continue resisting the injustices perpetrated upon our people and peoples around the world. Yes, este cuento (no) ha terminado, and it is our duty to provide the tools needed to build better futures with, and for, our children and their literature.

*Guest-edited issues are line edited and proofread by Anansesem staff.

About the Author

Sujei Lugo Vázquez is a former elementary school librarian from Puerto Rico who moved to Boston, USA to pursue doctoral studies at Simmons University. Her research focuses on racial justice in children’s librarianship. She currently works as a children’s librarian at the Boston Public Library and is an active member of professional organizations such as REFORMA, ALA, and ALSC. She is a contributor to the Latinxs in Kid Lit blog and a member of the We’re the People Collective. Her body, heart, and mind constantly travel between Boston and Puerto Rico. Visit her on Twitter: @sujeilugo and on Letterboxd: @sujeilugo.

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