The best books celebrating Latino cultural heritage, by Latino/a authors and illustrators from 1996 to the present.
![Book cover of Mexikid : a graphic memoir](https://lapl.org/sites/default/files/styles/staff_recommends_x97w/public/items/2024/fd7e14704e68c7821b8e11ca2ab87d05.jpg?itok=6Xb63IK3)
![Book cover for Where Wonder Grows](https://lapl.org/sites/default/files/styles/staff_recommends_x97w/public/items/2023/1919e3fca6dfd91af9ec3df7b624c0e2.jpg?itok=FV1GZmlf)
![Book cover for ¡Vamos! Let's Cross the Bridge](https://lapl.org/sites/default/files/styles/staff_recommends_x97w/public/items/2022/cbdda165cff1f18b04fd1979232aeeb2.jpg?itok=ItCHQxnY)
¡Vamos! Let's Cross the Bridge
Grades K - 3: The third entry in the World of Vamos series has Little Lobo and his friends stuck in a traffic jam trying to get to a party. The comic-style illustrations lovingly portray the details of life in a border community, where the interplay of language and culture unites two cities into one city on either side of a bridge. Like the other Vamos books, each page is a delightful look-and-find puzzle of Spanish words and Mexican-American pop culture.
![Book cover for ¡Vamos! Let's Go Eat!](https://lapl.org/sites/default/files/styles/staff_recommends_x97w/public/items/2023/46eda28a1aa7730bd23bc3edea134efb.jpg?itok=0Nv9ce7q)
¡Vamos! Let's Go Eat!
In this book little Lobo picks up food for his favorite wrestling star El Toro and his friends. He takes us on a journey to explore the world of food trucks. The illustrations are detailed and represent this food culture in various ways. Children can read this book again and again and still discover interesting details in the story and illustrations.
![Book cover for Dancing Hands: How Teresa Carreno Played the Piano for President Lincoln](https://lapl.org/sites/default/files/styles/staff_recommends_x97w/public/items/2021/c68cc37ccf45944bf0a6214875790761.jpg?itok=x38F692c)
Dancing Hands: How Teresa Carreno Played the Piano for President Lincoln
![Book cover for Dreamers](https://lapl.org/sites/default/files/styles/staff_recommends_x97w/public/items/2022/ccdb97838d1b8fedb93a947a52ca6ef5.jpg?itok=FVCDqphd)
Dreamers
Pre-K - Grade 3: Yuyi Morales delivers another classic in this autobiographical story of her immigration from Mexico to the United States with her small son. The library is an entry point for literacy, wonder, and Morales’ future career as an author/illustrator. A celebration of finding your creative self in dual languages.
![Book cover for La Princesa and the Pea](https://lapl.org/sites/default/files/styles/staff_recommends_x97w/public/items/2020/c914d8027d7f7df516f8774682c2db98.jpg?itok=uvHoFVnD)
![Book cover for Lowriders to the Center of the Earth](https://lapl.org/sites/default/files/styles/staff_recommends_x97w/public/items/2020/d652ccb423ba9a20cf118e5645490ac1.jpg?itok=YUjQRmVC)
![Book cover for Drum Dream Girl: How One Girl's Courage Changed Music](https://lapl.org/sites/default/files/styles/staff_recommends_x97w/public/items/2020/75425f471b21df0356016976a74905ef.jpg?itok=dIC_kHU9)
Drum Dream Girl: How One Girl's Courage Changed Music
Grades Pre-K-3: A little girl dreams of pounding on congas and bongos at a time when everyone thinks only boys can play the drums in this richly illustrated rhyming story. Inspired by the life of Millo Castro Zaldarriaga, the drummer for Cuba’s first “all-girl dance band,” it’s a powerful lesson that “both girls and boys should feel free to dream.”
![Book cover for Viva Frida](https://lapl.org/sites/default/files/styles/staff_recommends_x97w/public/items/2022/5e87fa169b35283be9b18b6d73db2427.jpg?itok=VFaMSBmx)
![Book cover for Niño Wrestles the World](https://lapl.org/sites/default/files/styles/staff_recommends_x97w/public/items/2022/101f426372bb3a96caf14f67e4a9e4f1.jpg?itok=UlQdblt9)
Niño Wrestles the World
(Gr. K-3) Niño! Yuyi Morales’ pint-size, briefs clad, masked luchadore is guaranteed to win you over as he defeats foes like la momia Guanajuato, the Guanajuato mummy, with such surefire moves as the Tickle Tackle! Particularly endearing is his conciliatory approach to his final contenders: las hermanitas, his boisterous baby sisters. The book includes brief explanatory notes on lucha libre.
![Book cover for Martin de Porres: The Rose in the Desert](https://lapl.org/sites/default/files/styles/staff_recommends_x97w/public/items/2020/b76adcc339affa8d2d4ec947643d4691.jpg?itok=3jUZYWKp)
![Book cover for Diego Rivera: His World and Ours](https://lapl.org/sites/default/files/styles/staff_recommends_x97w/public/items/2020/4ea212c824a4391be87a671b78d22023.jpg?itok=60UpFI01)
![Book cover for Grandma's Gift](https://lapl.org/sites/default/files/styles/staff_recommends_x97w/public/items/2020/13abba54a5f2ad47818888e832017222.jpg?itok=iR0OWfg2)
![Book cover for Book Fiesta!: Celebrate Children's Day/Book Day/Celebremos El Día de los Niños/El Día de los Libros](https://lapl.org/sites/default/files/styles/staff_recommends_x97w/public/items/2022/ed9fef501195bb6a021c3df2fc5df3b4.jpg?itok=TiXqB6KF)
Book Fiesta!: Celebrate Children's Day/Book Day/Celebremos El Día de los Niños/El Día de los Libros
Children read aloud in various settings to celebrate of El día de los niños, or Children's Day, in this bilingual story. Includes facts about Mexico's annual celebration of children and the book fiestas that are often included.
![Book cover for Just In Case: A Trickster Tale and Spanish Alphabet Book](https://lapl.org/sites/default/files/styles/staff_recommends_x97w/public/items/2020/ab18354447bf198da4da592b39baf60a.jpg?itok=8nsKDUlJ)
![Book cover for Los Gatos Black on Halloween](https://lapl.org/sites/default/files/styles/staff_recommends_x97w/public/items/2020/2ab9e6dd76f93502deeaff170fac2589.jpg?itok=wDrPhats)
![Book cover for Dona Flor: A Tall Tale About a Giant Woman with a Great Big Heart](https://lapl.org/sites/default/files/styles/staff_recommends_x97w/public/items/2020/54350f2d269031a5e51aabe0e227bfc5.jpg?itok=0QqbKaFV)
![Book cover for Just a Minute: A Trickster Tale and Counting Book](https://lapl.org/sites/default/files/styles/staff_recommends_x97w/public/items/2020/879dbb26e0d7b6f18b2589f3f06f2e89.jpg?itok=nSelSKSF)
Just a Minute: A Trickster Tale and Counting Book
In this version of a traditional tale, Senor Calavera arrives at Grandma Beetle's door, ready to take her to the next life, but after helping her count, in English and Spanish, as she makes her birthday preparations, he changes his mind.
![Book cover for Chato and the Party Animals](https://lapl.org/sites/default/files/styles/staff_recommends_x97w/public/items/2020/54d24e27019ef581f73269b83904e79e.jpg?itok=Xph2-Kt7)
![Book cover for Making Magic Windows: Creating Papel Picado/Cut-Paper Art with Carmen Lomas Garza](https://lapl.org/sites/default/files/styles/staff_recommends_x97w/public/items/2020/5ed1c9908b6d57fa5a90120c51cbe7e7.jpg?itok=hZRE67m8)
Making Magic Windows: Creating Papel Picado/Cut-Paper Art with Carmen Lomas Garza
![Book cover for Snapshots from the Wedding](https://lapl.org/sites/default/files/styles/staff_recommends_x97w/public/items/2020/f1a235cf2e3d5b2beec76336818e16ee.jpg?itok=SGAqSnM9)
![Book cover for Chato's Kitchen](https://lapl.org/sites/default/files/styles/staff_recommends_x97w/public/items/2020/e2092f7082c720a1bbb6046e3dceeb74.jpg?itok=2NdYfPIi)