Pura Belpré was the first Puerta Rican librarian for The New York Public Library, as well as an inspiring storyteller and author. Her legacy lives on through the Pura Belpré Award, an honor given each year to a Latino/Latina writer and illustrator whose “work best portrays, affirms, and celebrates the Latino cultural experience in an outstanding work of literature for children and youth.” Her life was recently depicted in the 2019 children’s nonfiction picture book Planting Stories: The Life of Librarian and Storyteller Pura Belpré by Anika A. Denise and illustrated by Paola Escobar. This biographical narrative features warm, colorful illustrations of Belpré’s amazing life and work, and is an excellent teaching tool to engage students in their local library, in New York City’s rich culture, and in real-world connections to nonfiction texts. 

Planting Stories is featured in The New York Public Library’s 2021 Summer Learning Educator Guide, along with discussion questions, activities, and more! While the guide is a wonderful starting point for incorporating this title into your instructional plans, check out additional NYPL resources below that make this title a great choice for teaching biographies and research to elementary students. Furthermore, HarperCollins has an educator guide for this title, as well.

Educators, as you begin to plan for back to school, consider incorporating this title into your lessons early on in the school year to encourage students to visit their local library, check out materials, and get a library card.

Print Collections

As students learn from the text, Belpré authored many Spanish children's books over the course of her lifetime when she realized that the Library did not have Spanish-language books at the time. Perez y Martina; un cuento folklórico puertorriqueñoa is available for checkout, while other titles she’s written are available as non-circulating reference materials. 

Educators can also peruse the complete list of books that have won the Pura Belpré award and use our online catalog to find these materials at their local branch library or online. 

Digital Collections

Because Pura Belpré was a librarian at The New York Public Library, the Digital Collections feature images of her, as well as the branches that she worked at, which are mentioned throughout the text of Planting Stories. By sharing these images with students, educators can shed light on Pura Belpré’s real life, through photographs of the libraries she worked at and an image of her reading to children just like them. 

Belpré began her work with NYPL at the 135th Street Library as a bilingual assistant in 1921, and as the author’s note in Planting Stories details, when she realized there were no Spanish books in the collection, she wrote them herself!

135th Street is now named the Countee Cullen Library, and the original building is part of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. The Countee Cullen Library moved to its current location in 1941, and features the James Weldon Johnson Reference Collection for children and a reference collection on the African American experience. 

Belpré continued her career at The New York Public Library at the 115th Street Library, where she hosted storytimes with many children! The 115th Street Library is now named  the Harry Belafonte 115th Street Library—built in 1908, it was renamed in 2017 to honor Harry Belafonte, an entertainer and civil rights leader. 

Clarence Cameron White, Belpré’s husband, is referenced in Planting Stories, with Anika writing, “Together they travel to new cities. Clarence plays his music. Pura tells her stories.” The image above shows him visiting Haiti. Photos are an excellent way to introduce primary source documents to elementary school students, who will relish in seeing the pages of a picture book come to life in photographs and real life documents. 

Learning to Research 

Planting Stories: The Life of Librarian and Storyteller Pura Belpré is a fantastic entrypoint for students to begin to learn how to research. NYPL. has digital resources that are available with a library card that will allow students to search for information about Belpré, New York City, and more generally, children’s literature. 

Explora Elementary is a database that allows young researchers to find information on a variety of topics. While its user interface is similar to that of a database for older students and academics, it features content specifically for elementary students, including reference articles and other media content. This digital resource in particular has a great article on the Pura Belpré Award. After students read more about the award, they can browse and borrow other Pura Belpré award winners. Educators can see the complete list of award winners, to guide their students appropriately.

World Book Online is a digital encyclopedia featuring reference articles for all ages. This digital resource allows students to select their grade level after logging in, and allows for audio narration of articles to support all learners access the material. World Book Online has a wonderful article on Pura Belpré for students to read to supplement Planting Stories. 

World Book Online also features educator tools that provide lesson plans and printable materials that support research for young learners. Their Webquest printable Literature for Children Using World Book Online assists students in learning how to find information on World Book Online and record it appropriately. 

Scholastic Go! is another digital resource that supports research for young children. Because it’s made by Scholastic, all of its articles are leveled by lexile score so that educators can connect their students with materials that are appropriate for their needs. This resource also connects to Google Classroom, provides standards alignment, and like World Book Online, provides audio narration of the text of an article. Scholastic Go! features connected content, like additional websites for students to check out. 

Scholastic Go! has lesson plans and instructional materials, as well. Check out this lesson plan on Illustrating Children’s Books (must be logged in to activate link), which teaches children about the work that goes into illustrating picture books like Planting Stories. 

Finally, Naxos Music Library features a few of Clarence Cameron White’s classical pieces. Using the left hand navigation bar, educators can select “People” and then click “W” to find Clarence Cameron White’s profile and listen to the music available.

Class Visits 

The New York Public Library offers class visits to K–12 school groups, and visiting your local branch to hear a story from a children’s librarian is the perfect culminating activity to learning about Pura Belpré! Like the children in the story, students will be able to see the magic of libraries in real life and get their very own library card. Not able to make it to the branch in-person with your class? The New York Public Library continues to hold virtual class visits. 

To connect with your local branch library for a class visit, reach out to schoolvisits@nypl.org with grade level, school information, and whether you're requesting an in-person or virtual visit.