Pura Belpré Award facts for kids

The Pura Belpré Award is a special prize for Latino and Latina authors and illustrators. It honors books for children and teens that best show and celebrate the Latino cultural experience. The award was created in 1996. At first, it was given every two years, but since 2009, it has been awarded every year.

The award is named after Pura Belpré, who was the first Latina librarian at the New York Public Library. She was a talented children's librarian, storyteller, and author. She helped Latino children by collecting and sharing folktales from Puerto Rico.

This award is presented by two groups: the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), which is part of the American Library Association (ALA), and REFORMA, the National Association to Promote Library and Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish-Speaking.

How Books Are Chosen

To win the Pura Belpré Award, a book has to meet certain rules. The award celebrates amazing books for kids from birth to age 14 that honor Latino culture. The term "Latino" for this award means people whose families come from the Spanish-speaking cultures of North and South America.

Starting in 2021, the award for authors was split into two: one for children's books and one for young adult books.

Here are the main rules for a book to be considered:

• It must be published in the United States.
• The author or illustrator must live in or be a citizen of the United States.
• The book can be written in Spanish, English, or both languages.

Judges look at each book by itself. They don't consider other books the author or illustrator has made. Sometimes, extra books are named as "Honor" books because they are also excellent. If no books are good enough in a certain year, the award might not be given.

Award Winners

Many talented people have won the Pura Belpré Award. The list below shows the winners and honor books for each year.

Yuyi Morales has won six Belpré Medals and four honors as both an author and an illustrator.

Margarita Engle has won three Medals and three honors, all as an author.

Duncan Tonatiuh has won one medal and eight honors as both an author and an illustrator.

Rafael López has won three medals and three honors as an illustrator.

Creators with Multiple Awards

Some authors and illustrators have won the Pura Belpré award more than once. A few have even won for both writing and illustrating!

Top Medal Winners

• Six Medals: Yuyi Morales has won the most medals, all for her illustrations (2004, 2008, 2009, 2014, 2015, 2019).
• Three Medals: Margarita Engle (author), Rafael López (illustrator), and Raúl Gonzalez (illustrator) have each won three medals.
• Two Medals: Julia Alvarez (author), Susan Guevara (illustrator), and Pam Muñoz Ryan (author) have each won two medals.

Top Honor Winners

• Eight Honors: Duncan Tonatiuh holds the record for the most honor awards. He has won for both his writing and his illustrations.
• Four Honors: David Diaz and Yuyi Morales have each received four honor awards for their work.
• Three Honors: Many creators have won three honors, including Francisco X. Alarcón (author), Margarita Engle (author), and John Parra (illustrator).

See also

In Spanish: Premio Pura Belpré para niños