Pura Belpre

The Pura Belpre Award was first established to recognize and honor Latino writers and illustrators whose work best portrays the Latino cultural experience in a work of children's literature. This award was first presented in 1996 and is presented biennially to a Latino/Latina writer and illustrator. It has been in the works of changing this award to an annual award because there are more and more authors and illustrators and will begin taking place in 2009. The terms and criteria are extremely complicated within the criteria for the text and the criteria for the illustrations but I will sum up the overall terms:
1. Two medals shall be awarded biennially, one to a Latino author and one to a Latino illustrator.
2. The award-winning books must be published in the United States or Puerto Rico.
3. Recipients of the Pura Belpre Medal must be residents or citizens of the United States or Puerto Rico.
4. Only eligible books within these terms may be considered.
5. Fiction and nonfiction books for children published in Spanish, English or bilingual.

Within each of the different medals (text and illustrations) there are their own terms and criteria as well. They differ but stay along the same type of theme:
1. Identifying an author/illustrator of an outstanding book while having an accurate and positive portrayal of the Latino culture.
2. Considering other aspect of the book that make the book whole (illustrations vs text).
3. Not only is this award based on the illustrations and text but it is on how it portrays and celebrates the Latino culture.
4. Particular attention will be paid to the "insider's voice" and cultural authenticity.
etc.

The award is co-sponsored by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), and the National Association to Promote Library and Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish-Speaking (REFORMA).

The selection committee is those that are part of the co-sponsoring committees.

There is no official website for the award but there are different resources that provide information about this award. Many library websites have posted a description of the award as a link. Some websites included:
1)ALSC: Association for Library Service to Children
http://www.ala.org/ala/alsc/awardsscholarships/literaryawds/belpremedal/belprmdeal.cfm

2)http://www.library.pitt.edu/libraries/is/enroom/awards/purabelpre.htm

3)Book Spot: http://www.bookspot.com/awards/belpre.htm

This award was first created in 1996 to acknowledge Latino authors or illustrators who best depict and celebrate the Latin cultural experience in children's literature. Pura Belpre was the first Latina librarian at the New York Public Library. This award was named after her to recognize all of her hard work to address the misconceptions as well as to promote the Latino culture as a children's librarian, an author, and a storyteller.

Some books that we chose to display in class were:

-"Parrot in the Oven" by: Victor Martinez
-"The Tequila Worm" by: Viola Canales
-"Magic Windows" by: Ventanas Magicas
-"Chato and the Party Animals" by: Gary Soto and Susan Guevara
-"Snapshots from the Wedding" by: Gary Soto

Nikole, Allison, Sarah