Latinx Book Reviewers Having Their Say, Part 3

This is the third and final installment in a roundtable conversation with some of the reviewers on our team. It can’t be said too often: we’re overflowing with THANKS for the hard work and wisdom they pour into their reviews! Still, we figured they’d have more to say on the topic of children’s and YA lit, so we posed a few questions. 

Latinxs in Kid Lit: Tell us about yourself as a child reader. How do those experiences color your impressions of the books you read now?

Araceli Méndez Hintermeister

Araceli Méndez Hintermeister is a librarian and archivist with a background in public, academic, and culinary libraries. I was an avid reader as a child and have very fond memories of Scholastic Book Fairs. My dad, who was a teacher, was one of my biggest literacy advocates. He would bring home piles of books and advanced reader copies that his colleagues shared with him. As a Mexican immigrant, he was mostly happy that these books were in English. It made for a really diverse set and rarely included bestsellers. Today, I still look for diversity in genres and aim to search for hidden gems. I also tend not to read bestsellers until years after their release.

Maria Ramos-Chertok is a writer, workshop leader and coach with The Butterfly Series. As a bi-cultural child (Cuban immigrant father/Jewish American mother) growing up in a majority white neighborhood in the 1960 and 70s, I did not have any books that reflected my Latinx heritage. As a result, it was very challenging for me to articulate my identity. My father, who spoke English with a heavy accent, chose not to teach us Spanish. That further compounded my confusion as child named “Maria Diana Ramos” who did not speak or understand Spanish.

Cecilia Cackley is a performing artist, creator of puppet theater, and a children’s bookseller based in Washington, DC. I was a voracious reader as a child and it has been a huge part of my identity since I was about six or seven years old. In elementary school, I mostly read historical fiction—I didn’t get into fantasy or sci-fi until I was in middle school. I read a lot of what we term the ‘canon’ like Anne of Green Gables, Little Women, etc and only as an adult have I realized that I never read a chapter book about a Latinx character as a kid. Even though I went to a dual immersion school, most of the Spanish books in the library were translations of things like the Little House series. I work hard to hold onto the mindset of a kid when I read, especially when reading books about Latinx characters and try to imagine how they would have affected me if I had read them earlier in life.

LiKL: What is your reviewing process like? Do you take notes throughout your reading time? Are there sticky flags involved? Are there sticky fingers involved (because: sugary snacks)?

Cecilia Cackley

Cecilia: I usually read a book through once and often I’m not sure if I’m going to be the person reviewing it. Since I’m a book buyer, I’m reading most books about six months ahead of publication date and my first thought is always for whether or not I’ll purchase this book for the store and what short blurb I can write to get a customer interested in it. Once I know I’m reviewing it for the blog, I make a list of points that I thought were especially interesting about the book and I read it a second time, paying close attention to those elements.

Maria: I tend to read a book and then sit with it for a bit before writing. I like to see what it makes me think about. I don’t typically take notes or use sticky flags and I avoid eating when I write because I find it distracting (I take a dedicated break when I eat). I really don’t like people who earmark pages in books or who write in books with pen, so I avoid doing both. Over the course of a few days, I might jot down some phrases to jog my memory for when I do sit down to write. I prefer an organic flow on the page to the pre-outlined, thoughtful preparation. I’m that way in a lot of my life –not just writing (spontaneous versus planned).

Araceli: Most of my reading happens during my long commute on the Boston T, so I keep tools to a minimum. Before writing a review, I keep a document on my phone filled with notes by categories — overall thoughts, teaching connections, and related readings. I make a note of quotes and page numbers that speak to me and my Latina identity. On my happiest reading days, I sit on my couch next to my dog. Unfortunately, this means keeping my snacks to a minimum.

LiKL: Your work as an educator, youth librarian, scholar of children’s literature, or author of books for young readers is bound to affect your work as a reviewer. Help us understand the professional perspective you bring to the evaluation of texts.

Cecilia:  I used to be a third grade teacher and now I am a bookseller (I still teach art as a freelancer). My number one goal has always been to give kids and teens books they will love, books that will give them a greater understanding of the world and books that will reflect their own experiences. However, as a bookseller, I’m focused on selling, and I try to figure out who the audience is for the book and the best way to describe it in order to move it off the shelf. I’m not a trained critic and haven’t studied literature in an academic way, so a lot of how I approach books is from the point of view of “Who will read it?” and “How do I sell it?”

Maria Ramos-Chertok

Maria: In my youth, I worked a lot with kids who had severe challenges (sexual abuse, emotional disturbance, severe physical disability). I always had an acute awareness of how dependent children are on adults, and how the information we provide them, including the stories we tell, influences their development and sense of self. I never wanted to betray any child’s trust, so in my evaluation of texts I look for honesty and stories grounded in truth. I had my own children later in life, age forty and forty-two, and that perspective is what guides me most as a reviewer. I want a book that I would feel good reading to my two sons; I want a book that will make them think; I want a book that has characters that look like them.

Araceli: As a librarian, I try to be open-minded. While I may sometimes find fault with the story line or characters, that does not make a book bad. It just means it may not be for me! Reading is all about finding the right fit for yourself. I don’t believe there are people who aren’t readers, I just think they haven’t found the right literature yet. With so many formats, genres, book lengths, and topics, the possibilities are endless. With this perspective, I try to think about what type of reader each book is aimed for and highlight what they would find the most interesting.

LiKL: Let’s draw up a wish list for authors and publishers. Which genres, storylines, locations, representations, or other considerations do you pine for in books for children or teens?

Maria: I am the daughter of a mother who came out as a lesbian when I was fourteen. That was in 1976 and there were no books that I knew of then that spoke to my circumstance or to my changing family construct. I love that there are books on alternative families now, but I also want characters who are racially and culturally mixed. I want layered characters and I also want strong feminist characters.

Cecilia: Central-American representation, PLEASE! I live and work in a city where the majority of the Latinx community has ties to El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. Across the river in Virginia, we have a huge Bolivian community. I almost never see these kids represented in books, especially by authors who share their heritage.

LiKL: Now let’s flip the coin. What are your reading pet peeves? Specify the tired tropes, stereotypes, or overused plot machinations that cause you to roll your eyes—or to slam a book shut.

Cecilia: Books that treat Dia de los Muertos like Halloween, books where everyone from Latin America lives in a little village, books where all the Latina characters are the “tough girl,” books where all the Latinx characters are poor or in a gang.

Maria: I’m tired of girl meets cute boy and they have a crush. I know that sells, but there are many other realities related to sexual orientation that are non-binary and gender fluid. That is a huge challenge for kids and I’d like to see more fluidity in the gender roles and stories.

LiKL: What is your current hot read and which books are at the top of your to-be-read list?

Maria: Someone just sent me a copy of Dear Madam President: An Open Letter to the Women Who Will Run The World. It’s not a book I would have bought for myself, but I found it interesting and think it’s a good read — especially for young adult women. Also, two dear friends of mine Alma Flor Ada and F. Isabel Campoy wrote the book Yes! We are Latinos (2013) and gifted me a copy. I absolutely love that young adult book because it does exactly what I’ve always wanted in a book: share a diverse grouping of stories about the many different ways to identify as Latinxs. I wish I’d had a copy when I was growing up, but having it now is healing something inside of me.

Cecilia: I’m about to start WE SET THE DARK ON FIRE by Tehlor Kay Mejia and I’m super excited for it!


In case you missed the previous posts in this series, here are links to Parts 1 and 2.

Unfortunately, not every current or recent contributor was available to respond to this Q&A. Here’s a list of those reviewers–mil gracias to each one! 

Chantel Acevedo reviewed Martí’s Song for Freedom/Martí y sus versos por la libertad.

Dora M. Guzmán loves covering picture books. Here are her thoughts on Alma and How She Got Her Name/Alma y como obtuvo su nombre.

Carolina Hinojosa-Cisneros supplied great insights on Jabberwalking.

Christa Jiménez did an excellent round-up review of baby books from indy publishers.

Marcela Peres provided her insights on Sci-Fu: Kick it Off.

Lettycia Terrones gave us a breakdown of The First Rule of Punk.


Latinx Book Reviewers Having Their Say, Part 1

Latinxs in Kid Lit owes tremendous thanks to the wonderful contributors who review books for us!  We were curious to learn how they conduct the reviewing process and which books sit atop their TBR lists, along with other topics. This post brings you Part 1 of a roundtable discussion with some of our current team members. Stay tuned—there’s more to come! 


Sanjuana Rodriguez

Sanjuana Rodriguez is Assistant Professor of Literacy and Reading Education in the Elementary and Early Childhood Department of Kennesaw State University.  I attended kindergarten through second grade in Mexico, where I was born. Since most of my reading there was in workbooks, my first memories of actual books was after we moved to the United States, where I read as a way to learn English. I vividly remember searching the library for books that included Latinx characters. There were only a handful, including a biography of Gloria Estefan, which I read about 100 times. This is partly why I developed an interest in books by and about Latinx. My own background taught me the importance of kids seeing their experiences reflected in texts.

Cris Rhodes is a lecturer in English, who recently completed her doctorate in literature. My mom was an elementary school teacher, so she knew the importance of reading to my twin sister and me. Because of this, I became an avid reader. I read and reread the Josefina American Girl series. She was the first character I encountered who looked like me, and I used to put on traditional dresses to pretend I was her. As an adult, I’ve revisited those books and am sad to say they’re pretty awful, as far as representation goes. Now, when I do research on representation, I keep my child-reader self in the back of my mind. That little girl deserved better, so I let that inform how I read and advocate for the many excellent Latinx children’s books available today.

Mark Oshiro, the author of Anger is a Gift, is also the driving force behind the website Mark Does StuffI started reading at a very young age, and after reading almost everything in my school library, I moved on to my local branch. But few books had characters like me. Prior to high school, I recall only Bless Me, Ultima, which I have not revisited in a long time. Reading The House on Mango Street, at 14, is what made me realize that people like me could be in a novel. It’s one of the most important books in my life.

Katrina Ortega is the young adult librarian at the Hamilton Grange Branch of the New York Public Library. As a child, I was just as avid a reader as I am today. My first experience with Latinx characters didn’t come until high school, when I was assigned to read Bless Me, Ultima. Before that, I was only exposed to Latinx characters through books published in Mexico, read to me by my mom. I was never exposed to characters who came from similar situations as my own—Mexican-Americans whose families had lived in the U.S. for generations— and my view of “normal” book characters was very different from what I saw in my own life. Looking at some of the books currently available, I cannot imagine how much more I might’ve related to characters who looked like me or lived in environments like the one in which I grew up.


Mark Oshiro

Mark: For my Mark Does Stuff reviews, I record myself while reading, so no note-taking there! But for publications like Latinxs in KidLit, I do take notes. What stands out? Which parts do I want to comment on? I keep track of my thoughts and how they develop as I experience the text. Those transitions can often be the coolest part of reading.

Sanjuana: My first step is to read the book just for fun! As I reread, I begin to think about my impressions of the text. My last step is to see what resources already exist online that teachers or librarians may find helpful.

Katrina: I read through the book first, then write down my initial thoughts about characters, setting, plot-lines, and go back through certain parts to read them more closely. My style of reading is such that I sometimes get completely consumed by the story and forget to stop and write things down. 

Cris: I bookmark important moments and quotations with sticky flags as I go, but I also tend to have a document open on my computer or phone where I type out some rough sentences and thoughts that may make it into the final review. I end up Frankensteining these notes together after finishing the book.


Cris Rhodes

Cris: It’s really hard to turn off my scholarly training when I’m reading, so whatever I consume is filtered through that lens. I always have questions running through the back of my mind: How might this book be approached from a critical standpoint? Does feminist theory apply? Queer theory? Trauma studies? Sometimes those questions don’t make it into a review. Regardless, they’re always present, even if on the periphery, and they generate other modes of analysis that do come out in the reviews.

Katrina: The area I live and work in is a predominantly Latinx community. One of my main responsibilities as a teen/young-adult librarian is making sure the youth I work with find content to which they can relate. This doesn’t mean characters have to be from Harlem or the Bronx, although that definitely is a huge selling point. Instead,  the books I suggest must have genuine and honest characters, situations, and conversations. When I review a book, I ask myself, “Is this believable? Would a teen say something like that or behave in that way?” Authenticity in the representation of characters and situations is super important. 

Sanjuana: My work as an elementary teacher shapes the work I do as a reviewer. I am always thinking about how texts could be used in the classroom and how those books can facilitate conversations, particularly around difficult or controversial issues, such as immigration. In my current role, working with pre-service teachers, one of my goals is introducing them to books they’re unlikely to encounter in their field-experience classrooms. I want them to see the value of diverse characters and experiences in books, which they will hopefully include in their own future classroom libraries.

Toni Margarita Plummer is an award-winning writer of short stories, who has also worked in publishing. I was an acquiring editor for many years, meaning I was the one always hoping for good reviews for my titles, for those one or two golden lines I could put up online or on the paperback. I think the best reviews accurately describe what the book is about, place it in context, and highlight the successes and shortcomings of the work, all toward the end of helping readers to discover books they will enjoy. That is what I try to give in my reviews, along with those few golden lines of praise someone can pluck.


Katrina Ortega

Katrina: I love reading stories about the border. It’s where I grew up, and writers like Guadalupe Garcia McCall and Benjamin Alíre Saenz take me back to the desert and open skies of West Texas. I also love reading fantasy that is Latinx-character centric. The Brooklyn Brujas series by Zoraida Córdova is by far my favorite. In addition, I’d love to read more about Latinx families that have been living in the United States for generations, like mine has—families that have sprawled across the country, and their stories of traversing back and forth.

Mark: More Afro-Latinx rep is super important to me. I’m always on the lookout for more rep of queer Latinx, LGBT Latinx, and ace Latinx!!! The tradition I write in deals with the difficulties Latinx people face, historically and in our present time. But these days, I am also super into fluffy beach reads. I want some big Latinx rom-com YAs. Soon. I may be writing one myself!

Cris: As a Latina who grew up in a rural area with no other Latinxs besides those I was related to, I want more stories like that–more diverse Latinx experiences represented. We need more queer Latinx stories, more Latinxs who don’t speak Spanish, more Latinxs living outside of big cities, more Latinxs who don’t have large, extended families. We also need to make being Latinx not a plot point—I love books where being Latinx is incidental to what’s going on.

Sanjuana: I see a need for more books that represent diversity in the immigration experience, as well as more bilingual texts that reflect the growing number of multilingual students in schools.


Cris: In continuation of my previous answer, I’m tired of books that homogenize the Latinx experience, even if they don’t mean to do so. Not all Latinxs act, live, and think the same way.  I encounter certain plot lines over and over: barrio life, single-parent homes, racism and xenophobia. That’s not to say these things aren’t valid experiences or necessary for a certain readership.

Mark: My reading pet peeves? Writers using a very easily solved misunderstanding to fuel their plot. Plots that could be solved by people just TALKING to one another. Also, Latinx drug lords. I’ll roll my eyes at the inevitable ICE or US border story written by a white person, with an attitude of “how can this possibly happen in our country?” Spoiler alert: it’s been happening for far, far longer than this past year.

Sanjuana: I don’t like to read books that paint a perfect picture of the world. I believe that literature should represent current realities and issues that children and teens are grappling with.

Katrina: My biggest pet peeve? When authors use Spanish in their characters’ dialogue, but then repeat the dialogue in English. It drives me up the wall to have to read the same thing twice! 


Toni Margarita Plummer

Toni: I am reading Roshani Chokshi’s Aru Shah and the End of Time, from the new Rick Riordan Presents imprint at Disney. Naturally, I am eager to read the imprint’s forthcoming Latinx titles by J.C. Cervantes and Carlos Hernandez. I think it’s so exciting that children will be invited to explore Latinx mythology through these books! I also still need to read I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika L Sánchez and The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo.

Sanjuana: This a list of books currently on my desk ready to be read: Amal Unbound by Aisha Saeed, Dear Martin by Nic Stone, Another Brooklyn by Jacqueline Woodson, The First Rule of Punk by Celia C. Pérez ( I know that I’m late reading this one!). Picture books I can’t wait to read and share with kids: The Day you Begin by Jacquline Woodson, Dreamers by Yuyi Morales, and Imagine by Juan Felipe Herrera.

Mark: Just read Gabby Rivera’s Juliet Takes a Breath and it was just as stunning as I’d thought it would be. I’m about to read and review the newest Anna-Marie McLemore, and then am eager to start The Resolutions by Mia García!

Cris: My current “hot read” is any book I’m using for my dissertation, but I’m particularly enjoying digging into Celia C. Pérez’s The First Rule of Punk. My current TBR is anything I’m not using for my dissertation! I’m very excited to dive into Zoraida Cordova’s Brooklyn Brujas series. I recently began Lila Quintero Weaver’s My Year in the Middle, and there are some rad looking anthologies that have been recently released!

Katrina: I just finished Javier Zamora’s Unaccompanied, a semi-autobiographical (or so it seems) account of the journey north from Central America, written in verse. It’s heartbreaking and redemptive and beautifully put together. 

Our warmest thanks to the reviewers who participated in this roundtable discussion! We’ll continue the conversation in the next installment. 


Celebrating the Legacy of Judith Ortiz Cofer + A Giveaway!


By Toni Margarita Plummer

Judith Ortiz Cofer was born in Hormigueros, Puerto Rico, raised in Paterson, New Jersey, and for twenty-six years taught English and Creative Writing at the University of Georgia. She was a prolific author of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry, and she won distinctions in all these genres. The first Latino to win an O. Henry Prize, her other honors included a PEN/Martha Albrand Special Citation for Nonfiction, an essay published in Best American Essays, and an induction into the Georgia Writers Hall of Fame. She also was a celebrated author of children’s literature. Ortiz Cofer was the first author to win the Pura Belpré Award for her first young adult book An Island Like You: Stories of the Barrio. On December 30, 2016, she passed away at the young age of 64, due to cancer.

Latinxs in Kid Lit wishes to celebrate Judith Ortiz Cofer’s life and work by dedicating this week to her. Each day you will find a review of one of her books: the young adult novels Call Me María, If I Could Fly, and The Meaning of Consuelo and the picture book A Bailar/Let’s Dance. We will also host a giveaway of the books reviewed this week, so be sure to enter for a chance to win. We hope highlighting a few of Ortiz Cofer’s many books will lead you to discover or rediscover her writing, which holds a special place in Latino literature.


Given last year’s Hurricane María and the ongoing hardships in Puerto Rico, it is perhaps a good time to revisit the fraught relationship between Puerto Rico and the U.S. mainland, in particular, how this has affected Puerto Rican families. This is a recurrent theme in Ortiz Cofer’s work. In her stories, the tension between the two places manifests itself in the parents. The mother is loyal to the island. The father feels more at home in New York or New Jersey, or longs to go there because he imagines it offers a superior life. This plays a major factor in why the parents separate. The daughter, the main character, is independent, smart, and creative. She must grow up quickly and often has to take care of her parents. But she still manages to be true to herself and to ultimately follow her dreams. I found all of Ortiz Cofer’s books brimming with a love of language and reading, and a rich appreciation for Puerto Rican culture, especially its music. interviewed Ortiz Cofer back in 2015 and asked how she would like to be remembered. This question was a general one and not in reference to her cancer. But I was still very interested to read her response: “I haven’t given much thought to how I want to be remembered. But perhaps it would be enough if someone remembered me by one thing they’ve read: ‘Wasn’t she the one who wrote . . .?'”

For Judith Ortiz Cofer, I think we can do better than that. See you here tomorrow!


judith ortiz cofer



toni margarita plummerToni Margarita Plummer is a Macondo Fellow, a winner of the Miguel Mármol Prize, and the author of the story collection The Bolero of Andi Rowe. She hails from South El Monte, a working-class suburb of Los Angeles, and worked as an acquiring editor at a major publisher for more than ten years. Toni now freelance edits and lives in the Hudson Valley with her family. Visit her website at


We will be giving away a copy of each of the Judith Ortiz Cofer books reviewed here this week to one lucky winner! The titles are: Call Me María, If I Could Fly, and The Meaning of Consuelo and the picture book A Bailar/Let’s Dance.


American Stories of Opportunity, Hope, and Ambition: A Guest Post by Author Jennifer Torres


By Jennifer Torres

Melissa, an 8th grader who plans to go to MIT and be a college math professor.

Melissa, an 8th grader who plans to go to MIT and become a college math professor.

Escalon is a Spanish word that means “step” or “stepping stone.” It is also a small town in the heart of California’s agricultural Central Valley, surrounded by dairies and almond orchards. Just off Main Street there, across from American Legion Post 263, is the library where Melissa, an eighth grader, volunteers to read to younger children, sometimes in English and sometimes in Spanish.

“I think it’s important to read to kids because they get to know new things when they read a book,” she told me. Melissa’s own favorite books, she said, are mystery and fantasy novels. “It’s like a whole new world.”

Just like Melissa, many of the children who visit the Escalon Library are the sons and daughters of Mexican immigrants, families who saw, in the United States, a step toward opportunity and who courageously took it.

Stef Soto, Taco Queen CoverThose stories are American stories, and I hope that readers will recognize them in Stef Soto, Taco Queen.

The fictional Stef Soto, like millions of very real children in the United States who have immigrant parents, is a first-generation American.

Just like Melissa, Stef sometimes translates for her mom and dad.

Just like Stef, Melissa has parents whose hearts thunder with hope and ambition for their daughter.

“I want her to remember where she comes from, but her future is here,” Melissa’s mom, Adriana, told me in Spanish as she helped her daughter lead an arts-and-crafts project at the library. (She credits the San Joaquin County Office of Education’s Migrant Education department for encouraging her to become an advocate for Melissa’s learning). “I want her to graduate, to go to college, to have a better quality of life.”

She and her husband have encouraged Melissa to begin investigating colleges, to think about what she wants to study, who she wants to be.

“I’ve decided I want to go to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology,” Melissa said, braces glinting. “I think that’s a good one for what I want to do.”

What she wants to do is teach math. When I asked her what grade, she hesitated, sheepish about correcting me.

Finally, she shook her head. “No, I want to be a math professor. Like at a university.”

Just like I did—in a family that includes first-, second-, third- and fourth-generation Americans, as well as some who still live in Mexico—Stef is growing up speaking and listening to a vibrant mix of English and Spanish. We both find comfort in friends and family and warm tortillas, smeared with butter.

And just like all of us, I think, she is trying hard to figure out exactly where she belongs. Too often, for too many, it can feel like a here or there question.

But as I have learned, as students like Melissa remind us, and as characters like Stef discover, our stories are so much richer than that.

“I get to have both cultures,” Melissa said. “And I want people to know that immigrants are people—smart people—who want a better future, and so they came to this country. I think it’s really brave of them.”

jtorresFrom the author’s website: Hi there. I’m Jennifer. I live with my family in California’s Central Valley, and I write stories. I used to work as a newspaper reporter, writing stories about real people, whose lives told us something about our world and maybe about ourselves. Now, I write books for young readers—books with make-believe characters whose stories, I hope, are just as full of life and truth as the real ones.

Check out my picture book, Finding the Music, published by Lee & Low Books, and look out for my debut middle-grade novel, Stef Soto, Taco Queen, coming January 2017 from Little, Brown Books for Young Readers.

Del inglés al español: entrevista con Teresa Mlawer


Readers, this is a first for us–a complete article in Spanish! We are delighted to present this guest post, an interview with the translator Teresa Mlawer, originally published on the blog Lapl en español, a service of the Los Angeles Public Library. We are reprinting it with their permission. 

blog-post-cover-teresa-mlawerby Patricia Tarango, Multilingual Collections Librarian, Los Angeles Public Library

Introduction: A recipient of the nation’s highest honor for library service—the National Medal from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the Los Angeles Public Library serves the largest and most diverse urban population of any library in the nation. Its Central Library, 72 branch libraries, collection of more than 6 million books, state-of-the-art technology accessible at, and more than 18,000 public programs a year provide everyone with free and easy access to information and the opportunity for lifelong learning. Lapl en español is the Spanish language blog written by library staff.

Del inglés al español: entrevista con Teresa Mlawer

Desde que tradujo Silvestre y la piedrecita mágica en 1980, Teresa Mlawer ha completado más de 500 traducciones de libros del inglés al español. Muchos de los libros que ha traducido son considerados clásicos universales de la literatura infantil y juvenil. Teresa fue pionera en este campo, y hoy continúa haciendo posible que niños tengan acceso a maravillosas historias en su idioma, el español. Tuvimos la dicha y el honor de conversar con Teresa y de preguntarle sobre su experiencia como traductora, editora y experta en libros infantiles.

1 – ¿Qué tan importante ha sido para usted traducir al español libros clásicos como Silvestre y la piedrecita mágicaBuenas noches luna y Donde viven los monstruos?

En 1975 comencé a distribuir libros en español. En aquel entonces, la mayoría de los libros infantiles venían de España, y unos pocos de México y Argentina. Muchos eran libros de autores de esos países o traducciones de otros idiomas, pero no necesariamente de libros publicados en Estados Unidos. Como vendíamos principalmente los libros infantiles a las escuelas, los maestros empezaron a pedir traducciones de libros en inglés como Silvestre y la piedrecita mágicaDonde viven los monstruos y Buenas noches luna. Entonces empezamos a publicar algunos libros bajo el sello de Lectorum y a recomendarles a las editoriales americanas que publicaran ediciones en español de sus clásicos. Fue así como muchas editoriales americanas me contrataron para que yo hiciera estas traducciones.

Por ejemplo, traducciones como Buenas noches lunaHarold y el lápiz color morado y Donde viven los monstruos, las hice para HarperCollins. Cuando no lograba que las editoriales de Estados Unidos publicaran ediciones en español de sus libros, le recomendaba los libros a las editoriales españolas con miras a vender en este mercado y muchas empezaron a aceptar mis sugerencias, ya que era importante que los niños hispanohablantes pudieran leer traducciones al español de algunos de estos magníficos libros que sus compañeros de clase podían leer y disfrutar de su lectura en inglés. Esto tuvo una gran aceptación en los años 80 cuando la educación bilingüe tuvo un gran auge, especialmente en California.

De hecho, casi todos los libros en español que yo le recomendé a HarperCollins siguen en prensa después de más de 25 años. Son clásicos que nunca mueren.

2 – ¿Cuál es su proceso para traducir un libro en español? ¿Cómo decide cuál es el vocabulario indicado?

Cuando yo traduzco para editoriales norteamericanas o para una editorial mexicana, uso un vocabulario neutral, del español de Latinoamérica. Un vocabulario neutral que lo entienda todo el mundo. Sin embargo, si traduzco una historia que tiene lugar, por ejemplo, en la República Dominicana o que tiene lugar en Puerto Rico, y hay alguna palabra que es indígena de ese país, la utilizo porque considero que es importante respetar la voz del autor y el vocablo de ese país.


3 – Yo leí uno de los blogs de Meg Medina y ella dijo como le gustó que usted fuera la traductora de su libro Mango, abuela y yo, porque usted le puso el sabor indicado al dialecto de Cuba.

Exactamente. A eso es lo que me refería anteriormente. Lo mismo sucedió cuando hice la traducción de Yaqui Delgado quiere darte una paliza porque en esta historia hay varias voces. Voces cubanas, puertorriqueñas, voces dominicanas. A Meg Medina le gustó mucho, por ejemplo, que en el libro de Mango, abuela y yo en lugar de usar la palabra cajones (común en México), elegí la palabra gavetas (común en Cuba) para traducir la palabra “drawers”. La voz de Meg, aunque universal es cubana, y especialmente en esta historia. Por encima de todo, yo siempre respecto la voz del autor/autora en mis traducciones.

Acabo de traducir el libro que ganó el premio Newbery este año, Última parada de la calle Market (Last Stop on Market Street), publicado por Corimbo, en España. Soy muy cuidadosa y tuve un par de dudas al traducir unas partes del libro. Como conozco a Matt de la Peña le escribí y le pregunté: Matt, tengo un problema. No estoy segura si interpreto bien lo que tú tratas de decir. ¿Me puedes ayudar? Era una cosa muy sencilla y todavía me pregunto ¿cómo pude haber sido tan tonta? En una de las páginas, el niño se sube al autobús con la abuela. Entonces, la abuela le dice al niño: “Boy, what do we need a car for? We got a bus that breathes fire”. Y yo me preguntaba ¿cómo yo voy a traducir eso? ¿Cómo que el autobús echa fuego?

last-stop-on-market-street-interior2Llamé a Matt y él me dijo: “abre el libro y mira las ilustraciones con cuidado”. Abro el libro y miro el dibujo de la página y no veo que el autobús eche fuego. Entonces le dije: Lo siento Matt, pero no veo nada y Matt me contestó: “Teresa, mira al dragón que echa fuego”. Caigo en cuenta y le pregunto: Matt ¿crees que debo especificar que el autobús tiene un dragón pintado en un costado? Pero él me dijo: “No, no Teresa, los niños ven las cosas que no vemos los adultos y se darán cuenta de que se refiere al dibujo del dragón, y verán el fuego que sale de su boca.”

Para mí fue un libro muy especial de traducir porque es muy sencillo pero muy poético. Con pocas palabras Matt descubre todo un mundo en este libro.

Una traducción que me dio mucho trabajo fue la de Yaqui Delgado quiere darte una paliza porque Meg Medina tiene el don de la palabra y expresar sus palabras en otro idioma y a la vez mantener la fuerza que encierran sus palabras fue definitivamente un reto para mí. Meg me envió una carta que una profesora de una universidad que enseña un curso de traducción le escribió. En la carta, la profesora decía que había encontrado la traducción tan buena que la iba a usar en clase para que sus estudiantes examinaran este trabajo de traducción a fondo. Eso fue muy halagador.

Otra traducción que nos dio bastante trabajo fue la traducción de El Gato ensombrerado (The Cat in the Hat) de Dr. Seuss, que hice en colaboración con Georgina Lázaro. En este libro mantuvimos no solo la rima sino la métrica que es muy importante especialmente en las obras de Dr. Seuss. Traducir los libros con rima no es nada fácil. Hay quien traduce los libros con rima y no le presta atención a la métrica, o sea, el número de sílabas de cada estrofa, lo cual es muy importante en la rima. Esto es algo que aprendí de mi buena amiga y colega Georgina Lázaro. Ambas estamos muy orgullosas del resultado de nuestra colaboración.

Debo hacer hincapié que toda persona que escribe o traduce necesita la ayuda de un buen editor y corrector de pruebas. Yo personalmente nunca he publicado un libro o una traducción que no haya sido revisada antes. En España tengo una editora que tiene un gran dominio de la gramática, y ella revisa todas mis traducciones.

 4 – ¿Qué tan importante es la diversidad cultural en los libros para niños?

Esa respuesta la conoces tú mejor que nadie. Yo creo que es muy importante que los niños se vean reflejados en los libros. Todavía queda mucho camino por recorrer, pero creo que hemos avanzado un poco y que honestamente las editoriales norteamericanas están poniendo de su parte para que haya más diversidad en los libros que publican. Pero también tenemos que pensar, que con tantos millones de hispanos en este país, es un número reducido de escritores que escriben literatura infantil y juvenil. Necesitamos que más autores latinos escriban para niños.

5 – En su opinión ¿qué importancia tienen los libros bilingües en Estados Unidos y especialmente en una ciudad como Los Ángeles?

Existen muchas opiniones al respecto, pero yo te voy a dar mi opinión personal, basada en lo que yo he podido observar en el mercado durante todos estos años. Hay mucho interés por parte de los editores, de los bibliotecarios y de las librerías porque se publiquen más libros bilingües. Ahora, cuando yo hago una traducción de un libro que es bilingüe, de alguna forma, al tratar de seguir el texto lo más fielmente posible, uno de los dos idiomas no fluye natural. Por eso yo personalmente prefiero dos ediciones separadas: una en inglés y otra en español. Aunque no dejo de ver las ventajas de algunos libros, como poco texto, en ambos idiomas.

Es importante que cualquier libro bilingüe sea escrito por un autor que domine ambos idiomas. Si esto no es posible, se debe contratar a un traductor para el español o el inglés cuya lengua materna sea a la que va a traducir. Hay que respetar ambos idiomas: el inglés y el español y que ambos sean totalmente correctos y que fluyan bien.

6 – ¿Está trabajando en algunas traducciones ahora?

Traduje hace poco la historia Esperando (Waiting) de Kevin Henkes. También acabo de terminar la traducción al español de Ladder to the Moon (Escalera a la Luna) que escribió hace ya algún tiempo la hermana de Barack Obama y que fue ilustrado por la increíble ilustradora Yuyi Morales.

También recientemente traduje un libro que me encantó. Un libro que tiene rima, métrica y un mensaje muy especial, El pez pucheros (The Pout-Pout Fish). Traducir este ingenioso libro, lograr la rima, la métrica y el mensaje de la autora, me tomó mucho tiempo, pero quedé muy complacida con el resultado final.

7 – ¿Hay algún libro (o libros) que le recuerde su infancia o que a usted le haya impactado?

Un libro que me impactó mucho y que traduje hace 25 años fue Los cien vestidos (The Hundred Dresses). Cada vez que pienso en la historia o la leo, me entran ganas de llorar. Otro libro que también me impacto mucho fue Sadako y las mil grullas de papel (Sadako and The Thousand Paper Cranes).

8- ¿Qué le diría usted a los padres, maestros y tutores para motivarlos a inculcar en los niños el amor por la lectura y la importancia de que mantengan el idioma suyo o de sus padres mediante la lectura de buenos libros en español?

Yo creo que los maestros y los bibliotecarios son los mejores promotores de la literatura infantil y de que los niños lean. Sé que es importante que los niños aprendan inglés y que lean en inglés, pero también es importante que no pierdan su idioma, o el de sus padres o abuelos. Es importante que los niños se sientan orgullosos de sus raíces. Yo llevo 56 años en Estados Unidos y aprendí inglés, pero cada vez mi español es mejor porque hago uso del español constantemente.

Yo creo que el trabajo comienza desde el hogar. Cuando yo era pequeña, mis padres siempre el Día de Reyes me dejaban juguetes, pero también me dejaban libros, dejando bien claro la importancia que para ellos tenían los libros en casa. Mi madre trabajó en una librería antes de casarse y el amor por los libros y la lectura nos lo inculcó desde pequeñas a mi hermana y a mí. Los padres son los primeros maestros de sus hijos y de ellos los niños aprenden con el ejemplo. Hay que darle a los libros y a la lectura la importancia que merecen en el hogar.

Lista de librosDel inglés al español: libros traducidos por Teresa Mlawer

Celebrating Pura Belpré Winners: Spotlight on Rafael López



hires-cover-fiesta  Drum Dream GirlLeading up to the event, we will be highlighting the winners of the narrative and illustration awards. Today’s spotlight is on Rafael López, the winner of the 2010 Pura Belpré Illustration Award for Book Fiesta! Celebrate Children’s Day/Book Day, Celebremos El dia de lo niños/El día de los libros, written by Pat Mora, and the 2016 Pura Belpré Illustration Award for Drum Dream Girl, written by Margarita Engle. We featured Drum Dream Girl in a book talk and in a special report about a library event.

Tito book  Cazuela  Celia

Rafael also received a Pura Belpré Illustration Honor three times: In 2014, for Tito Puente: Mambo King/Rey de Mambo, written by Monica Brown; in 2012, for The Cazuela that the Farm Maiden Stirred, written by Samantha R. Vamos; in 2006, for My Name is Celia/Me Llamo Celia: The Life of Celia Cruz/ La Vida de Celia Cruz, written by Monica Brown.

Book Fiesta!

Illustration Review by Lila Quintero Weaver

Book Fiesta! Celebrate Children’s Day/Book Day/ Celebremos El día de los niños/El Día de los libros, written by Pat Mora and illustrated by Rafael López, is a gem of a picture book that offers its wonders in two languages, English and Spanish.

Book Fiesta! exuberantly proclaims the joys of reading and introduces the concept of Día, an annual celebration of literature for children, founded by Pat Mora in 1996, and observed through special events by many libraries nationwide.

What Mexican painter, muralist, and illustrator Rafael López brings to a picture book must be seen and not just read about. His mastery as an illustrator extends to every aspect of the art: a strong concept, dynamic design, brilliant execution, and irresistible charm. It’s no wonder that the Pura Belpré committee recognized his work. Let’s take a closer look.


Used by permission from HarperCollins Children’s Books.

You don’t have to be an artist to appreciate López’s expert techniques, including his winning combination of hard-edged shapes and saturated colors, delivered through heavily textured paint and splashy accents, and supported by a golden undertone that unifies all of the spreads. In the pages above, a huge, friendly sun smiles down on the children, accompanied by a trotting elephant. Such charm!


Used by permission from HarperCollins Children’s Books.

López champions diversity in his illustrations. Here, a parade of children follows a Chinese dragon whose tail doubles as a banner, announcing Día to one and all. Note the diversity represented in the races of the children. One child pulls a wagon full of books bearing titles in English and Spanish.


Used by permission from HarperCollins Children’s Books.

Outside the library, even the stone lion looks pleased to take part in Día. The children relaxing on the marble beast are immersed in their books. In the background, a boy in a wheelchair eagerly makes his way to the library—another evidence of the illustrator’s awareness of diverse representation.


Used by permission from HarperCollins Children’s Books.

López amplifies Pat Mora’s words through many inventive means. Here, in a depiction of the glorious adventures made possible by reading, a hot-air balloon floats over a mountainous backdrop, complete with a smoking volcano. The pilot is a giraffe in old-fashioned aviator goggles. Elsewhere, books transport children by other means: on an airplane, a train, an automobile, a rowboat, on the back of an elephant, and even in a submarine. Simply put, stories hold the power to magically ferry readers to far-away places and imaginary lands. López brings this virtual travel to life through an enthralling variety of presentations and an engaging level of detail.


Used by permission from HarperCollins Children’s Books.

Reading in bed—what better way is there to top off a busy day? In a color-drenched scene, López presents two children indulging in this lovely pastime. One child, floating on a bed of clouds, has already fallen asleep, while the other is midway through a yawn. Her bed is supported by the curve of a crescent moon. López’s trademark brushwork fills the sky with vivid sunset hues that transition to the deep violet of late evening. It’s all grounded by rolling hills, painted in shades of teal, a color appropriate to the dying light. In the distance, the windows of buildings twinkle with warmly lit interiors, while cutout stars punctuate the heavens. Dreamy.

The richness of each spread in Book Fiesta! invites long looks and repeated views that reward readers with the new discoveries. Every page turn reveals a refreshing surprise, backgrounded by a palette that spans the rainbow. Thanks to Pat Mora’s wonderful vision and Rafael López’s dynamic illustrations, this picture book offers a perennial delight to readers of all ages.

Book Fiesta! Celebrate Children’s Day/Book Day; Celebremos el día de los niños/el día de lo libros. Text copyright ©2009 Pat Mora. Illustration copyright ©2009 Rafael López. Images used by permission of HarperCollins Children’s Books.

RafaelAbout the illustrator:

Raised in Mexico City, Rafael López makes his home part of the year in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, as well as in San Diego, California. He credits Mexican surrealism as a major artistic influence. Besides his Pura Belpré medals and honors, Rafael is also a double recipient of the Américas Award. For more about his work, including poster illustrations and a mural project in San Diego that is the subject of a new picture book, Maybe Something Beautiful, visit his official website.


  • Lead children in an imagination exercise based on the reading spots depicted in Book Fiesta. What are some places that you can take a book to? What are some places that a book takes you to? Ask students to include real-life and imaginary destinations.
  •  Devise a book parade, featuring wagons loaded with books, masks or disguises based on favorite characters, and banners heralding Día, or another book-related holiday or theme.
  • Invite children to create illustrations based on López’s style. This can include painted backdrops and cutout figures, with an emphasis on strong shapes and bright colors.

Watch Rafael López’s thank you video for his most recent Pura Belpré medal, for Drum Dream Girl: