HOUSTON, TX June 2019 -This month, two unique picture books receive global recognition from Skipping Stones: An International Multicultural Magazine, an award-winning resource in multicultural and global education that publishes art and original writings in every language and from all ages.
Maya and Annie on Saturdays and Sundays / Los sábados y domingos de Maya y Annie
,
by Gwendolyn Zepeda with illustrations by Thelma Muraida, and Harvesting Friends / Cosechando amigos, by Kathleen Contreras with illustrations by Gary Undercuffler, are recipients of the Skipping Stones Honor Award.
Based o
n
Z
epeda's own experiences,
Maya and Annie on Saturdays and Sundays / Los sábados y
domingos de Maya y Annie
is an engaging bilingual picture book that explores blended fam
ilies from a multicultural perspective, combining Asian and Latino cultural tradition
s.
Kirkus Reviews called it "a lovely multicultural story about a young friendship, celebrating culture and difference."
GWENDOLYN ZEPEDA is the author of four other bilingual picture books for children, including Growing Up with Tamales / Los tamales de Ana (Piñata Books, 2008), a 2009 Charlotte Zolotow Award Highly Commended Title, and Sunflowers / Girasoles (Piñata Books, 2009), winner of the Texas Institute of Letters' Austin Public Library Friends Foundation Award for Best Children's Book. She lives and works in Houston, Texas. THELMA MURAIDA, an accomplished designer and artist, has also illustrated Clara and the Curandera / Clara y la curandera by Monica Brown (Piñata Books, 2011), My Big Sister / Mi hermana mayor by Samuel Caraballo (Piñata Books, 2012) and Cecilia and Miguel Are Best Friends / Cecilia y Miguel son mejores amigos (Piñata Books, 2014) by Diane Gonzales Bertrand. She lives in San Antonio, Texas.
In Harvestin
g Friends / Cosechando amigos, young readers will learn that a community garden can grow more than just vegetables.
According to Kirkus Reviews, this "bilingual tale highlights the importance of compassion, cooperation and companionship." It recently won the 2019 Paterson Prize for Books for Young People and was also named an Honor Book for ANLE's (Academia Norteamericana de la Lengua Española) Campoy-Ada Prize.
KATHLEEN CONTRERAS is a bilingual educator and author of three other children's books that highlight her Mexican roots: Pan Dulce (Scholastic, 1995), Braids / Trencitas (Lectorum, 2009) and Sweet Memories / Dulces recuerdos (Lectorum, 2014). She lives and works in Ventura, California. GARY UNDERCUFFLER is also the illustrator of Francisco's Kites / Las cometas de Francisco (Piñata Books, 2015). He lives in Pennsylvania with his family.
