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Mexican Culture
Inspired stories celebrating the incredible and myriad facets of Mexican culture.
Counting With Frida / Contando con Frida
Mexican Culture, Spanish, Counting
A Lil' Libros Bilingual Counting Book
Introduce your little one to the life of one of Mexico's most iconic painters, Frida Kahlo, while teaching them their numbers, 1 to 10, in English and Spanish. Count una casa azul (one blue house), tres flores (three flowers), and cinco retratos (five portraits).
Patty Rodriguez
Dreamers
NY Times Best Sellers, Perseverance, Immigration Stories
We are resilience. We are hope. We are dreamers.
Yuyi Morales brought her hopes, her passion, her strength, and her stories with her, when she came to the United States in 1994 with her infant son. She left behind nearly everything she owned, but she didn't come empty-handed.
Dreamers is a celebration of making your home with the things you always carry: your resilience, your dreams, your hopes and history. It's the story of finding your way in a new place, of navigating an unfamiliar world and finding the best parts of it. In dark times, it's a promise that you can make better tomorrows.
This lovingly-illustrated picture book memoir looks at the myriad gifts migrantes bring with them when they leave their homes. It's a story about family. And it's a story to remind us that we are all dreamers, bringing our own strengths wherever we roam. Beautiful and powerful at any time but given particular urgency as the status of our own Dreamers becomes uncertain, this is a story that is both topical and timeless.
The lyrical text is complemented by sumptuously detailed illustrations, rich in symbolism. Also included are a brief autobiographical essay about Yuyi's own experience, a list of books that inspired her (and still do), and a description of the beautiful images, textures, and mementos she used to create this book.
A parallel Spanish-language edition, Soñadores, is also available.
Yuyi Morales
Día de los Muertos
Mexican Culture
Learn all about the traditions of Día de los Muertos with this second book in the brand-new board book series Celebrate the World, which highlights special occasions and holidays across the globe.
At the end of October each year, it’s time to celebrate an ancient tradition: Día de los Muertos! With vibrant illustrations by Golden Globe–winning Mexican illustrator Jorge Gutierrez, this festive board book teaches that Día de los Muertos honors ancestors and loved ones who have passed. From sugar skulls to papel picado, this is a holiday that truly commemorates the cycle of life.
Hannah Eliot
Cuauhtémoc: Shapes
Mexican Culture
A Lil' Libros Bilingual Book of Shapes
Explore the city of Tenochtitlan along side Cuauhtémoc, the last Aztec emperor―where you’ll come across the circulo (circle) in the Aztec calendar, the triángulo (triangle) in the pyramid, the heart in the shield of an Aztec princess, and more! This book introduces your little one to shapes and their first English and Spanish words.
Unable to find bilingual first concept books she could enjoy reading to her baby, Patty Rodriguez came up with the idea behind Lil' Libros.
Patty Rodriguez
Green Is a Chile Pepper
Colors, Latin Culture
Green is a chile pepper, spicy and hot.
Green is cilantro inside our pot.
In this lively picture book, children discover a world of colors all around them: red is spices and swirling skirts, yellow is masa, tortillas, and sweet corn cake. Many of the featured objects are Latino in origin, and all are universal in appeal. With rich, boisterous illustrations, a fun-to-read rhyming text, and an informative glossary, this playful concept book will reinforce the colors found in every child's day!
Roseanne Greenfield Thong
The Princess and the Warrior
Mexican Culture
Award-winning creator Duncan Tonatiuh brings a cherished Mexican legend to life
A Pura Belpré Illustrator Honor Book and ALA/ALSC Notable Children's Book!
Izta was the most beautiful princess in the land, and suitors traveled from far and wide to woo her. Even though she was the daughter of the emperor, Izta had no desire to marry a man of wealth and power. Instead, she fell in love with Popoca, a brave warrior who fought in her father’s army—and a man who did not offer her riches but a promise to stay by her side forever.
The emperor did not want his daughter to marry a mere warrior, but he recognized Popoca’s bravery. He offered Popoca a deal: If the warrior could defeat their enemy, Jaguar Claw, then the emperor would permit Popoca and Izta to wed. But Jaguar Claw had a plan to thwart the warrior. Would all be lost?
Today two majestic volcanoes—Popocatépetl and Iztaccíhuatl—stand overlooking Mexico City. They have been admired and revered for countless generations, and have formed the basis of many origin and creation myths. In The Princess and the Warrior, award-winning author and illustrator Duncan Tonatiuh retells one of Mexico’s cherished legends.
Duncan Tonatiuh
Oaxaca
Mexican Culture
Teach your baby about Oaxaca, a magical city in the state of Oaxaca, Mexico, through illustrations and words that will teach them about the world in English and Spanish.
Let's take a trip around the world with VÁMONOS. In this colorful new series by Lil' Libros, each book celebrates the sights, sounds, and people of a different city both in English and Spanish. With simple text by Patty Rodriguez and Ariana Stein, and colorful illustrations by Lil' Libros' very own Ana Godinez, each book will have your little ones celebrating the world, fostering empathy, and seeing that there are a million ways to live on this planet!
Patty Rodriguez
The Adventures of Lily Huckleberry in Mexico
Mexican Culture
To the wild ones who dream of flying...this story is for you!
In this new Lily Huckleberry adventure, our brave Lily meets Maria, a migrating monarch butterfly who needs help finding her way back home. Lily and Maria embark on a whimsical journey through deserts and seas, colorful markets and magical villages, meeting all kinds of charming new friends along the way.Will Lily be able to help Maria reunite with her family?
Kids love Lily s colorful escapades in Mexico for its fun characters and whimsical twists and turns! Parents love the underlying message: You will never know if you can fly, unless you jump!
Get this book NOW and share the magical hullabaloo with your child! No magic doubter allowed!
The Adventures of Lily Huckleberry in Mexico is the third book of a travel series for kids that aims to:
1) show kids the beauty + diversity of the world
2) give them a brave female role model to look up to
3) foster children's imaginations
4) create a society of little explorers who are curious about the world and always ready for adventure
Audrey Smit
Nine Days to Christmas
Caldecott Medal, Christmas, Mexican Culture
Generations of readers have treasured this 1960 Caldecott Medal winner and its tale of a little Mexican girl's excitement at the approach of Christmas. Ceci eagerly awaits Las Posadas, the traditional nine-day series of yuletide celebrations. This year she'll lead the candlelight procession that reenacts Mary and Joseph's trek to Bethlehem. Meanwhile, Mother takes her to the old marketplace to choose her very first piñata. Ceci is dazzled by the colorful array of options, and after making her choice has second thoughts about the fate of her piñata once the posada takes place.
Graced by evocative illustrations, this international holiday classic is now available in a lovely hardcover edition. "The youngest child will be completely transported by this story," noted The Atlantic, and readers of all ages will be charmed by the child's-eye view of Mexican culture.
Marie Hall Ets
Jovita Wore Pants
Strong Female Leads, Caldecott Medal, Mexican Culture
Jovita dreamed of wearing pants! She hated the big skirts Abuela made her wear. She wanted to scale the tallest mesquite tree on her rancho, ride her horse, and feel the wind curl her face into a smile
When her father and brothers joined the Cristero War to fight for religious freedom, Jovita wanted to go, too. Forbidden, she defied her father’s rules – and society’s – and found a clever way to become a trailblazing revolutionary, wearing pants!
This remarkable true story about a little-known maverick Mexican heroine is brought vividly to life by her great-niece and Américas Award–winner Aida Salazar, and Eisner Award–honoree Molly Mendoza.
Aida Salazar
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