Hispanic Heritage Month (HHM) takes place September 15 to October 15 every year as a time to recognize and celebrate the many contributions, diverse cultures, and extensive histories of the Latinx community.
During this month and throughout the year, the Jane Addams Peace Association honors and celebrates the history, heritage, and accomplishments of the Latinx community, both past and present. All month we will be sharing some of our favorite stories from members of the Latinx community that exemplify literary, visual and aesthetic excellence and invite dialogue, passionate response, purposeful reflection and deep questioning related to social justice themes.
In honor of #NationalHispanicHeritageMonth, our Executive Director, Angela Medina, and our Selection Committee Chair, Josefa Bustos Pelayo, would like to share what being Hispanic means to them and how the Jane Addams Peace Association will continue to support and highlight the Latinx community through the gift of books and positive representation.
BOOKS TO READ FOR
NATIONAL HISPANIC HERITAGE MONTH
In honor of #NationalHispanicHeritageMonth, the Jane Adams Peace Association would like to highlight Latinx and Hispanic authors, creators, and trailblazers whose stories are redefining identity and shaping the minds of readers everyday. These books invite deep thinking about a myriad of issues and invite us and our young people to be kind to ourselves and to others and to both rest and work together towards justice.
The Storyteller’s Candle / La Velita De Los Cuentos
by Lucia M. Gonzalez and Lulu Delacre
The winter of 1929 feels especially cold to cousins Hildamar and Santiago–they arrived in New York City from sunny Puerto Rico only months before. Their island home feels very far away indeed, especially with Three Kings’ Day rapidly approaching. But then a magical thing happened. A visitor appears in their class, a gifted storyteller and librarian by the name of Pura Belpré. She opens the children’s eyes to the public library and its potential to be the living, breathing heart of the community. The library, after all, belongs to everyone–whether you speak Spanish, English, or both. A 2009 Honor Book, Jane Addams Children’s Book Award
The Surrender Tree: Poems of Cuba’s Struggle for Freedom
by Margarita Engle
It is 1896. Cuba has fought three wars for independence and still is not free. People have been rounded up in reconcentration camps with too little food and too much illness. Rosa is a nurse, but she dares not go to the camps, so she turns hidden caves into hospitals for those who know how to find her. Black, white, Cuban, Spanish―Rosa does her best for everyone. Yet who can heal a country so torn apart by war?
Using the true story of the folk hero Rosa la Bayamesa, acclaimed poet Margarita Engle gives us another gripping, breathtaking account of a tumultuous period in Cuban history.
2009 Winner, Jane Addams Children’s Book Award
Harvesting Hope: The Story of Cesar Chavez
by Kathleen Krull and Yuyi Morales
In this Pura Belpré award–winning picture book, illustrated by Caldecott Honoree Yuyi Morales, acclaimed author Kathleen Krull celebrates Latinx civil rights leader Cesar Chavez. An inspirational book about resistance and hope.
When Cesar Chavez led a 340-mile peaceful protest march through California, he ignited a cause and improved the lives of thousands of migrant farmworkers. But Cesar wasn’t always a leader. As a boy, he was shy and teased at school. His family worked in the fields for barely enough money to survive. Cesar knew things had to change, and he thought that—maybe—he could help change them. So he took charge. He spoke up. And an entire country listened.
2004 Winner, Jane Addams Children’s Book Award
The Jane Addams Children’s Book Award annually recognizes children’s books of literary and aesthetic excellence that effectively engage children in thinking about peace, social justice, global community, and equity for all.
Find resources associated with each of our winning and honor books here:
https://www.teachingbooks.net/
COMMUNITY HIGHLIGHT
The Lit. Bar
Despite being home to some 1.4 million people in 2014, the Bronx only had one bookstore—a Barnes & Noble outpost that was scheduled to shut down. Bronx native and resident, Noëlle Santos, rallied thousands of protestors to save it, but it finally shuttered in 2016, leaving the neighborhood without a single bookstore. However, Noëlle continued to rally her neighbors and opened her own shop in 2019 called The Lit. Bar.
The Lit. Bar, located at 131 Alexander Avenue (between 134th Street & Bruckner Boulevard) is currently the only brick & mortar bookstore serving the Bronx, New York. The venue encourages curious readers and welcomes literary and community gatherings—while their wine bar connects the great pastimes of social sipping and introverted reading. They also offer a carefully curated selection of general interest books, gift items, and programming which emphasize local interest and diversity for all ages.
Check Out The Lit. Bar Here!
The Jane Addams Peace Association is excited to announce that we will be present for this year’s National Council of Teachers of English Conference in Anaheim, California! We will be conducting a workshop entitled, “Jane Addams Children’s Book Award Author/Illustrator Panel: Anti-Racist Children’s Books for Today’s Diverse Classrooms” on Saturday, November 19th from 12:30PM – 1:45PM PST,with special guests Dr. Jackie Arnold, Ms. Josie Bustos, Ray Anthony Shepard, Aida Salazar, and Angela Joy.
The 2022 NCTE Annual Convention offers access to more than 690 sessions led by literacy educators, for literacy educators. Centered around the theme, !Suenos! Pursuing the Light, this Convention will include sessions and messages specific to our time—finding the light for ourselves and for students while in a period of darkness, exacerbated by a worldwide pandemic. Join us as we share the ways our individual and collective pursuit of light has assisted and continues to assist us in imagining a new story with bright spots and new sueños (dreams) for ourselves, our students, and our communities.
REGISTER FOR EVENT NOW!
Jane Addams Children’s Book Award Selection Committee Accepting New Applications for 2023 Committee
The Jane Addams Children’s Book Award titles are carefully selected by a diverse set of activists, educators, parents, and librarians. The selection process strives to be ever more democratic, intersectional, and representative. (Pictured here, l-r.: Dr. Robert Braylock, Jane Addams Peace Association Board Member; Angela Joy, author of 2021 Jane Addams Children’s Honor Book Black Is a Rainbow Color; and Angela Medina, Executive Director of the Jane Addams Peace Association.)
The Jane Addams Peace Association seeks selection committee members with diverse perspectives and identities among parents, teachers, librarians, activists, and child advocates, all with knowledge of children’s literature. The committee is composed of nine to twelve people serving three-year terms. Members read widely throughout the year, communicate via an online platform, and meet virtually bi-monthly.
We are accepting new applications for the 2023 Children’s Book Award Selection Committee. The deadline is October 15th, 2022. If you have any questions please contact execdirector@janeaddamspeace.org.
APPLY HERE
SUPPORT OUR WORK
The Jane Addams Peace Association perpetuates the spirit of activist and pacifist Jane Addams, her love for children and humanity, her commitment to freedom and democracy, and her devotion to the cause of world peace.
Through our Books In Their Hands program we bring authors and illustrators to low income schools nationally to share their Jane Addams award books. We also donate Jane Addams Children’s Book Award commended titles into the hands of children. This season we are focusing on giving books to Chicago Public School students.
Your donation to the Jane Addams Peace Association, a 501(c)(3) organization, is tax-deductible and helps us support authors, illustrators, parents, teachers, and librarians deepen understanding of peace and justice for children and their adults through reflection, dialogue, and social action.