Bilingual Children’s Book Wins Skipping Stones Honor!

HOUSTON, TX June 6, 2016—Acclaimed author Pat Mora is the recipient of a 2016 Skipping Stones Honor Award for her bilingual picture book, The Remembering  Day / El día de los muertos.  The Skipping Stones Awards encourage understanding of the world’s diverse cultures, nature and ecological richness. They promote cooperation, nonviolence, respect for differing viewpoints and close relationships in human societies. In this story about family relationships, Pat Mora creates an origin myth in which she imagines how the Mexican custom of remembering deceased loved ones—El día de los muertos or the Day of the Dead—came to be. Long, long, long ago, Bella and her grandmother Mamá Alma admired their vegetable garden. They walked around the flowers and vegetables holding hands, something they had done frequently since Bella was a baby. As her grandmother aged, Bella helped her to walk. “Every year, I need your help more and more,” said …

Author on the Airwaves: Diane Gonzales Bertrand

Bertrand chosen as May 2016’s “Author of the Month” on Houston Public Media Houston Public Media radio host Eric Ladau interviewed Bertrand for its website’s “Arte Público Press Author of the Month” feature, and along with the transcript, their conversation is available to listeners on the station’s interactive site through on-demand audio streaming here. Click here to see all Arte Público authors featured on Houston Public Media. About the Author: DIANE GONZALES BERTRAND is the author of numerous books for children. They include The Story Circle / El círculo de cuentos (Piñata Books, 2016), A Bean and Cheese Taco Birthday / Un cumpleaños con tacos de frijoles con queso (2015), and Cecilia and Miguel Are Best Friends / Cecilia y Miguel son mejores amigos (2014). A lifelong resident of San Antonio, Bertrand teaches at St. Mary’s University, where she is also Writer-in-Residence. About her latest book, The Story Circle / El círculo de cuentos Monster storms …

APP Director Nicolás Kanellos receives honor from Spain

Arte Público Press Director and University of Houston Brown Foundation Professor of Hispanic Studies, Nicolás Kanellos, received one of the Spanish government’s highest distinctions. With the Royal Sanction of Spain’s King Felipe VI, Kanellos received the “Cruz de la Orden de Isabel la Católica” in a private ceremony at the Houston residence of the Consul General of Spain on Friday, May 20. “With the distinction conferred to Dr. Kanellos, Spain wishes to recognize his contribution to the knowledge and dissemination of the Spanish language and Hispanic culture in the United States,” said Consul General Enric Panés Calpe. The Order of Isabella “Cruz de Oficial” is one of the highest ranks within the Order created in 1815 by King Fernando VII in honor of Queen Isabella I of Castile. Please click here to learn more about this prestigious award.  

Author on the Airwaves: Patricia Santos Marcantonio

Santos Marcantonio chosen as April 2016’s “Author of the Month” on Houston Public Media Houston Public Media radio host Eric Ladau interviewed Santos Marcantonio for its website’s “Arte Público Press Author of the Month” feature, and along with the transcript, their conversation is available to listeners on the station’s interactive site through on-demand audio streaming here. Click here to see all Arte Público authors featured on Houston Public Media. About the Author: PATRICIA SANTOS MARCANTONIO is the author of Red Ridin’ in the Hood and Other Cuentos (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2005), a Book Sense Children’s Book favorite. She lives and works in Twin Falls, Idaho. About her first novel, Verdict in the Desert In the summer of 1959, everyone knows his place in Arizona. Michael Shaw is an alcoholic lawyer struggling with his reputation as the son of one of Mitchell County’s wealthiest, most successful attorneys. Toni Garcia, the first in her family to obtain …

Acclaimed Children’s Author Wins Award!

“The realistic style and warm colors of the illustrations bring to life the loving relationship between Bella and her grandmother. A warm family story.”—Kirkus Reviews HOUSTON, TX April 2016— Pat Mora’s bilingual picture book for children, The Remembering Day / El día de los muertos, has won the Texas Institute of Letters’ 2016 Denton Record-Chronicle Award for Best Children’s Picture Book. In this special picture book, Mora introduces children to the idea that, even though we may lose a loved one, they remain with us forever in our memories. The Texas Institute of Letters is a non-profit organization whose purpose is to stimulate interest in Texas letters and to recognize distinctive literary achievement. Each year the organization awards more than $20,000 to recognize outstanding literary works in several categories including fiction, nonfiction, poetry, children’s books, and translations. Eligibility for the awards requires that entrants be born in Texas or have …

Author on the Airwaves: Frank de Jesús Acosta

Acosta chosen as March 2016’s “Author of the Month” on Houston Public Media Houston Public Media radio host Eric Ladau interviewed Acosta for its website’s “Arte Público Press Author of the Month” feature, and along with the transcript, their conversation is available to listeners on the station’s interactive site through on-demand audio streaming here. Click here to see all Arte Público authors featured on Houston Public Media. About the Author: FRANK DE JESÚS ACOSTA is principal of Acosta & Associates, a California-based consulting group that specializes in professional support services for public and private social change ventures in the areas of children, youth and family services, violence prevention, community development, and cultural fluency. He is the author of The History of Barrios Unidos (Arte Público Press, 2007). About her first novel, Latino Young Men and Boys in Search of Justice: Testimonies In “Message to My Seventeen-Year-Old Self,” Roberto Martínez, a California Correctional inmate, writes that …

Teen Book Exploring Death and Homelessness Named to Recommended Reading List!

“Villareal paints a believable picture of what can happen to a family when a crisis hits and how such events can ripple throughout every aspect of an adolescent’s life.”—Kirkus Reviews HOUSTON, TX March 2016— Ray Villareal’s young adult novel, On the Other Side of the Bridge, has been named to the 2016 In the Margins Book Award List. In the Margins (ITM) is a committee under the umbrella of Library Services for Youth in Custody, an organization serving the needs of and advocating for those who provide library services for youth in custody, which includes incarcerated/detained/committed youth in both juvenile and adult settings, from local to federal facilities, ICE detention centers and mental health or rehab centers. The ITM committee seeks to highlight the best fiction and non-fiction titles of high-interest appeal to youth, ages 9-21, living in poverty, on the streets or in custody. The complete list of recommended …

Author on the Airwaves: Henry A. J. Ramos

Ramos chosen as February 2016’s “Author of the Month” on Houston Public Media Houston Public Media radio host Eric Ladau interviewed Ramos for its website’s “Arte Público Press Author of the Month” feature, and along with the transcript, their conversation is available to listeners on the station’s interactive site through on-demand audio streaming here. Click here to see all Arte Público authors featured on Houston Public Media. About the Author: HENRY A. J. RAMOS is is president and CEO of Insight Center for Community Economic Development, a national economic policy think tank focused on promoting asset building and economic security in diverse, low-income communities. His publications include Latino Young Men and Boys in Search of Justice: Testimonies (Arte Público Press, 2016), The American GI Forum: In Pursuit of the Dream, 1948-1983 (Arte Público Press, 1998) and Nuevos Senderos: Reflections on Hispanics and Philanthropy (Arte Público Press, 1999).  Ramos is also the co-author of Opening …

The Tejas Stars Have Aligned Again!

Four books published as part of Arte Público’s imprint for children and young adults, Piñata Books, were chosen for the 2016-17 Tejas Star Reading List. The Tejas Star Reading List (TSRL) is developed to encourage children ages 5-12 to explore multicultural books and to discover the cognitive and economic benefits of bilingualism and multilingualism. Sponsored by the Texas Library Association, the TSRL is intended for recreational reading and not to support a specific curriculum. The program began as the Tejas Star Book Award, created by the Region One ESC Library Advisory Committee. The Texas Library Association assumed responsibility for the list in 2012. The four Piñata Books selected for inclusion on the list are: The Donkey Lady Fights La Llorona and Other Stories / La señora Asno se enfrenta a la Llorona y otros cuentos by Xavier Garza; Francisco’s Kites / Las cometas de Francisco written by Alicia Z. Klepeis …