The recipients of Texas State University's Tomás Rivera Mexican American Children’s Book Award for works published in 2022-23 will be honored Nov. 14 at TXST and at the Texas Book Festival in Austin on Nov. 16.
The honorees are Michael Genhart, author, and John Parra, illustrator, of Spanish is the Language of My Family, which was recognized in the works for young readers category; Carmen Tafolla, author of Warrior Girl, recognized in the works for middle readers category; and Pedro Martín, author of Mexikid, recognized in the works for older readers category.
Genhart and Parra will give a presentation 9:30-10:30 a.m. Nov. 14, followed by Tafolla and Martín at 11:15 a.m.-12:15 p.m., both in Evans Auditorium on the TXST San Marcos Campus.
The Rivera Award winners will also attend the Texas Book Festival Nov. 16 in Austin. They will participate in a panel discussion 12:30-1:15 p.m. at the Texas State Library and Archives Commission. For more information, visit www.texasbookfestival.org.
The Tomás Rivera Mexican American Children’s Book Award, established by the College of Education in 1995, is designed to encourage authors, illustrators and publishers to produce books that authentically reflect the lives of Mexican American children and young adults in the United States. The Rivera Award also promotes literacy by promoting high quality children’s and young adult literature, in addition to encouraging authors to write about the Mexican American experience.
Spanish Is the Language of My Family
As a boy prepares for his school’s Spanish spelling bee, he asks his grandmother for help with some of the words he doesn’t know how to spell yet. When she studies with him, she tells him how different things were back when she was a girl and was only allowed to speak English in school. This inspires the boy to study even harder and make his family proud.
Genhart is a licensed clinical psychologist in private practice in San Francisco and Mill Valley, Calif. He is the author of several picture books including Ouch! Moments: When Words Are Used in Hurtful Ways; Peanut Butter & Jellyous; Mac & Geeeez!; Cake & I Scream!; So Many Smarts!; I See You; Love Is Love; Rainbow: A First Book of Pride; Accordionly: Abuelo and Opa Make Music; May Your Life Be Deliciosa and They’re So Flamboyant!
Parra is an award-winning artist and illustrator of children’s books who lives and works in Queens, NY. His titles include Waiting for the Biblioburro; Frida Kahlo and Her Animalitos; Green is a Chile Pepper; Hey Wall: A Story of Art and Community and his author/illustrator debut, Growing an Artist: The Story of a Landscaper and His Son.
Warrior Girl
Celina and her family are bilingual and follow both Mexican and American traditions. Celina revels in her Mexican heritage, but once she starts school it feels like the world wants her to erase that part of her identity. Her gramma is her biggest inspiration, encouraging Celina to build a shield of joy around herself. Of course, it’s not possible to stay in celebration mode when things get dire—like when her dad’s deported and a pandemic hits—but if there is anything Celina’s sure of, it’s that she’ll always live up to her last name: Guerrera, or woman warrior, and that she will use her voice and writing talents to make the world a more beautiful place where all cultures are celebrated.
Tafolla—a three-time Tomás Rivera Book Award winner—served as the 2015 State Poet Laureate of Texas and the former president of the Texas Institute of Letters. An award-winning poet and children’s author, storyteller, performance artist, motivational speaker, scholar and university professor, she is the author of more than 40 books and a professor emeritus of Transformative Children’s Literature at the University of Texas at San Antonio. Her numerous awards and distinctions include the prestigious Américas Award, the designation of first city Poet Laureate of San Antonio, six International Latino Book Awards, two ALA Notable Books, the Art of Peace Award, and the Charlotte Zolotow Award.
Mexikid
In this graphic memoir, Pedro Martín has grown up hearing stories about his abuelito—his legendary crime-fighting grandfather who was once a part of the Mexican Revolution. But that doesn’t mean Pedro is excited at the news that Abuelito is coming to live with his family. After all, Pedro has eight brothers and sisters and the house is crowded enough. Still, Pedro piles into the Winnebago with his family for a road trip to Mexico to bring Abuelito home, and what follows is the trip of a lifetime, one filled with laughs and heartache. Along the way, Pedro finally connects with his Abuelito and learns what it means to grow up and find his grito.
Martín, a former Hallmark artist and the creator of the “Asteroid Andy” cartoon shorts, chronicles his life growing up Mexican American online in a series called Mexikid Stories, which served as the basis for his Rivera Award-winning book. He has won the Newbery Award Honor and both the Pura Belpré Author Award and the Pura Belpré Illustrator Award. The son of an immigrant sharecropper and one of nine kids, Martín spent his childhood in the strawberry fields of the Monterey Bay Area. He grew up with a talent for art and music leading him to earn a graphic design degree at San Jose State University.
About the Tomás Rivera Mexican American Children’s Book Award
The Tomás Rivera Award at Texas State celebrates authors and illustrators dedicated to depicting the values and culture of Mexican Americans. Rivera, who died in 1984, graduated from Texas State with both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees before receiving a Ph.D. from the University of Oklahoma. A Distinguished Alumnus of Texas State, Rivera published his landmark novel in 1971 titled ...y no se lo tragó la tierra/ ...And the Earth Did Not Part. In 1979, Rivera was appointed chancellor of the University of California-Riverside, the first Hispanic chancellor named to the University of California System.
For more information on the Rivera Award, visit the Rivera Award website at www.education.txstate.edu/ci/riverabookaward.