LATINITAS

Celebrates the lives of 40 women who hail from all over Latin America and from the United States and who dreamed big and worked hard to follow their passion.

They are presented in chronological order, starting in 1651 with writer and philosopher Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz from Mexico and concluding with present-day U.S. Olympic gymnast Lauren Zoe Hernandez. Young readers will find artists, writers, poets, singers, musicians, dancers, engineers, astronauts, scientists, activists, a soccer star, a spy, and a Supreme Court justice, among others. The women represent different nationalities, ethnicities, races, cultural, and economic backgrounds, and life paths followed, but they are all highly successful role models that will inspire young children to follow their own dreams. Each minibiography appears in a double-page spread, with a charming illustration on the verso and the text on the recto. Capturing some essential quality for each person, the earth-toned, contemporary-feeling graphic illustrations have a folk-art sensibility. The biographies are meant to provide but a glimpse into the life of each person. The author thoughtfully connects with her reading audience by including childhood events and influences that sparked lifelong pursuits—hence the diminutive used in the title of the book. A further 10 women are introduced in the backmatter, with a small portrait and sentence of explanation. There is a sprinkling of Spanish words throughout the text; though there is no glossary included, readers unfamiliar with the language should have no problem understanding.

This book belongs in any child’s hands.