HOUSTON, TX—Adriana Camacho-Church’s bilingual picture book, Grandma’s Hair Is Ankle Length / El cabello de Abuela le llega hasta los tobillos (Pinata Books, 2024), is the winner of the
Colorado Libraries for Early Literacy’s 2025 Spanish Bell Award in the “Hablar / Talk” category.
The awards are an annual recognition of high-quality Spanish picture books that provide excellent support for early literacy skills for young children. A winner is chosen in each of five categories: READ, WRITE, TALK, SING, and PLAY. Winners were selected from a 25-title shortlist—five books per category—chosen by the awards committee.
In Camacho-Church’s poetic ode to grandmothers, a young girl likens her abuela’s long hair to strength, security and understanding. The black strands speak of “finding courage in the unknown,” while the white ones represent wisdom and hope. With stunningly beautiful illustrations by Carmen Lop that depict a loving intergenerational relationship playing out against the backdrop of nature, this bilingual picture book for children ages 4-8 confirms both the importance of the world in which we live and the love between an elder and a child.
The book has been widely praised. School Library Journal said Grandma’s Hair Is Ankle Length / El cabello de Abuela le llega hasta los tobillos is a “breathtaking, bilingual offering that can be used with countless themed story times and read-alouds” and Kirkus Reviews called it a “gentle lullaby: poetic, sweet, and moving…a lyrical story [that] makes clear self-love can be passed down and taught through generations.” In addition, the book was a finalist in the 2024 International Latino Book Awards and received “Honorable Mention” in the 2024 Premio Campoy-Ada de la Academia Norteamericana de la Lengua Española.
ADRIANA CAMACHO-CHURCH is the author of another picture book, Grandma, Where Will Your Love Go? / Abuela, ¿adónde irá tu amor? (Piñata Books, 2023). She was born in Colombia and grew up in Chicago and Los Angeles. She currently lives and works in Delaware.
CARMEN LOP is a Mexican artist based in Los Angeles. Her work has been selected for inclusion in the 3rd Biennial of Illustration by Pictoline 2022 and the XXXVI Catálogo de Ilustradores de CONACULTA 2016. This is her first picture book.
ARTE PÚBLICO PRESS is the nation’s largest and most established publisher of contemporary and recovered literature by US Latino authors. Its imprint for children and young adults, Piñata Books, is dedicated to the authentic portrayal of the themes, languages, characters and customs of Hispanic culture in the United States. Books published under the imprint serve as a bridge connecting home and school to support family literacy and elementary education. Based at the University of Houston, Arte Público Press, Piñata Books and the Recovering the US Hispanic Literary Heritage program provide the most widely recognized and extensive showcase for Latino literary arts and creativity. For more information, please visit www.artepublicopress.com.
