The moving speeches at the 20th Anniversary Celebration of the Pura Belpré Awards brought tears to the eyes of illustrators, authors and attendees. Keynote speaker, Carmen Agra Deedy opened the session with a touching and humorous story about her father learning to read. Family was a recurring theme in the speeches. Antiono Castro L. spoke of his grandmother’s unusual home remedies. Angela Dominguez couldn’t talk about her mother’s importance without crying. Duncan Tonatiuh spoke lovingly of his parents. Rafael Lopez, winner of the 2016 Pura Belpré Award for illustrator for Drum Dream Girl: How One Girl’s Courage Changed Music, spoke of how his mother’s commitment to become an architect influenced his art for the book. Meg Medina shared a tear inducing moment about her recent anniversary and her husband. These heartfelt moments were part of a wonderful celebration that included a dance performance and silent art auction.
The Pura Belpré Medal was established in 1996 to recognize Latino authors and illustrators for excellent children’s literature that affirms and celebrates the latino cultural experience. It honors Pura Belpré the first Latina Librarian at the New York Public Library. The Pura Belpré Award 1996-2016: 20 Years of Outstanding Latino Children’s Literature from Rosen Publishing was available for purchase at the reception. Keep checking this blog for more information about educator resources for sharing the Belpré award-winning literature with your library customers.