Children's Picture Books: Stories about Characters of Guatemalan Ethnicity

Jasmín Pictures Home

2021

by Antonia Marisol Garcia, Yunior Jose Garcia, Andy Pina, Pedro Reyes and Ian L. Springer

"In Jasmín Pictures Home, Andy, Marisol, Pedro and Yunior wanted to write a book that explores what it's like to be different in a new country. In this book, a group of friends are the only kids in their school who are not from the City of Caves. These four best friends are all immigrants --from four different countries!--and they all speak Spanish. Though they bond over their shared language and their shared love of soccer, it's not always easy being different from everyone else. The newest arrival, Jasmin, is having the hardest time and she spends all her time drawing. Hector, Manolito, and Jorge don't like seeing Jasmin struggle. Can they work together to help Jasmin see the beauty in being different?" -- publisher

Juanita

2021

by Lola Walder and Martina Peluso

"A magical story of a Guatemalan girl named Juanita, who loved cooking crunchy maize tortillas and counting stars every night. Juanita lived in Santa Catarina Palopó, a pretty little village next to a beautiful lake, surrounded by three huge volcanoes. She loved her pueblo and their people. Women there helped their families by weaving huipiles from silk, wool, and cotton thread while men worked the land. Juanita wanted to be of help, so she always cooked for her family her favorite meal, tortillas. At night, when the sun cleared the way for the moon to shine bright, Juanita would run onto the roof of the house for her nighttime routine: counting stars. The sky was so clear she could almost touch it. But one day, Juanita’s mom became very ill, and she couldn’t work at her loom. Juanita wanted to help but didn’t know how to. It appears the sky had been listening to her all the time and had a big surprise stored for her…" -- publisher

Diarou’s Not So Different

2020

by Diarou Bayo, Riley Campbell, Anthony Cooke and Alex Perkins

"Diarou is starting her first week in a new school, in a new country, speaking a new language... and she feels completely alone. She moved to the U.S. from Guinea over the summer and is determined to make friends, but with her limited English, she's having trouble communicating with her classmates. Just when she thinks she might be on her own, she meets another new student who’s struggling too. Can Diarou find a way to connect across language barriers to make a true friend? The authors of this story are part of an innovative program run by Reach Incorporated. Reach develops grade-level readers and capable leaders by preparing teens to serve as tutors and role models for younger students, resulting in improved literacy outcomes for both. Learn more at reachincorporated.org. Books were created in collaboration with Shout Mouse Press. Shout Mouse is a nonprofit writing and publishing house dedicated to amplifying underheard voices. Through writing workshops that lead to professional publication, Shout Mouse empowers writers from marginalized backgrounds to tell their own stories in their own voices and, as published authors, to act as agents of change. Learn more at shoutmousepress.org" -- publisher

Someone new

2018

by Anne Sibley O'Brien

When three children, Jesse, Jason, and Emma, are confronted with new classmates from different ethnic backgrounds, they strive to overcome their initial reactions, and to understand, accept, and welcome Maria, Jin, and Fatima.

Welcoming Babies

2018

by Margy Burns Knight and Anne Sibley O'Brien

"50,000 copies sold! New Edition! Welcoming Babies draws from experiences around the world to show the diverse ways in which the human family welcomes new life. This redesigned edition features updated content and new backmatter with additional ways of welcoming babies around the world. It’s a powerful concept, exploring the routines and rituals of a child’s first year in diverse cultures and traditions and introducing readers to babies from tiny Luke, who is spending his first days of life in an incubator, to Kasa, who is being introduced to the sunrise by her grandmother. Nontraditional families—biracial, adoptive, and single-parent—are included. The ways in which babies are welcomed into the world are wonderfully varied yet strikingly kindred. Welcoming Babies is equally appropriate as a gift to new parents or grandparents and a read-aloud for babies." -- publisher

I’m new here

2016

by Anne Sibley O'Brien

Three children from Somalia, Guatemala, and Korea struggle to adjust to their new home and school in the United States

Margarito’s forest / El bosque de Don Margarito

2016

by Andy Carter and Allison Havens

Margarito's Forest, a bilingual book in English and Spanish with excerpts in K'iche, is based on the life of Don Margarito Esteban Álvarez Velázquez as told by his daughter, Doña María Guadalupe. It is a story of Maya culture and wisdom passed from one generation to the next. As the devastating effects of climate change become clear, Don Margarito's life and the ways of the Maya offer timely wisdom for a planet in peril.

Rainbow weaver

2016

by Linda Elovitz Marshall and Elisa Chavarri

Ixchel, a young Mayan girl who is not allowed to use her mother's thread to weave, exercises her ingenuity and repurposes plastic bags to create colorful weavings. Includes glossary and author's note

The soda bottle school

2014

by Laura Kutner and Suzanne. Slade

In a Guatemalan village, students squished into their tiny schoolhouse, two grades to a classroom. The villagers had tried expanding the school, but the money ran out before the project was finished. No money meant no wall materials, and that meant no more room for the students. Until one boy got a wonderful, crazy idea: Why not use soda bottles, which were scattered all around, to form the cores of the walls?

The wheels on the bus

2014

by Stella. Blackstone and Melanie Williamson

In this version of the classic song, residents of a rural Guatemalan village travel by bus to the city. Includes endnotes on Guatemala's geography, agriculture, transportation, currency, landmarks, and customs