September means new backpacks and football kickoff and pumpkin spice everything (*insert eyeroll), but mid-month, September becomes Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15 – October 15). So we put together some of our very favorite children’s books, middle grade books, and YA books honoring Hispanic heritage.
Because there’s often no better way to honor any wonderful, diverse, complex, inspiring culture than to dive into some books about it with our kids.
Whether your own heritage is Hispanic, or you want to know more about the lives of your friends, neighbors and colleagues, or some of the incredible historic Hispanic figures who have impacted our lives today, we think these books are a terrific start. Because we all want to raise more compassionate, understanding, worldly children who see the beauty and the contributions people from all cultures and backgrounds.
– Kate, with Liz
– Updated for 2023 –
This post contains affiliate links and some purchases may generate a small commission that helps support our work at no additional cost to you. Than you for your support!
Hispanic Heritage Month Books for Children
Carmela Full of Wishes
by Matt de la Peña and Christian Robinson
I am a superfan of Matt de la Peña‘s writing, not only because his work is lyrically stunning, but because he respects young readers by tackling hard issues head on, albeit with whimsy and care. His picture book for young readers, Carmela Full of Wishes, is no exception and is a terrific children’s book for Hispanic Heritage Month. Here he’s paired up again with the brilliant illustrator Christian Robinson to create a moving and meaningful tribute to dreamers. Read this book. I say that emphatically!
Related: The simple difference between Latino and Hispanic, in one clever cartoon
Dreamers
by Yuyi Morales
I must admit that Dreamers, by award-winning author and illustrator Yuyi Morales, is a staggering read. It is based on the author’s own experience coming to the US from Mexico with her infant son, the type of story that’s been on the news so much lately. Even though Morales left behind everything she owned, she still brought so much with her — what an extraordinary lesson for kids. I love that this book honors the dream and the contribution that immigrants like Morales bring to America, and is especially timely with DACA back in the courts again in 2023 (sigh). A Spanish-language edition is also available.
Related: 7 parent bloggers share their own immigrant and refugee stories, and they’re wonderful.
The Color of Your Skin
by Desirée Acevedo and Silvia Álvarez
Now that we all (hopefully) know that “colorblind” is not a realistic way to see the world, you’ll love the 2021 children’s book,The Color of Your Skin. The charming story addresses and celebrates diversity from the perspective of Vega, a young artist who can’t live without her array of multi-colored pencils. When a classmate asks her to pass the “skin-colored pencil,” she has to think about about why such a thing would even exist and what it can possibly mean. Acevedo’s terrific story, accompanied by beautifully evocative illustrations from Silvia Álvarez, will open up so many terrific conversations around race and diversity with our younger readers.
Señora Sensana
by Ashlee Campbell, Duncan Campbell, April Evelyn Cooper
Written in uptempo English-Spanglish verse (with a glossary for those who need a little translation help), Señora Sensana is a charming modern adaptation of the beloved Spanish-language nursery rhyme, Sana Sana Colita de Rana, bringing to life the poetry of the language with a fun new character That would be Señora Sensana, a Peruvian elder and Mary Poppins-esque caregiver, who lives in a high-rise apartment with a fantastical llama. Kids will enjoy learning about each of the colorful characters she encounters in her community, and how each of their unique problems are addressed with healing magic.
Especially cool: The authors are a father-daughter team. Who among us has not considered writing a children’s book with our kids (or our parents) one day?
La Princess and the Pea
by Susan Middleton Elya and Juana Martinez-Neal
This charming retelling of the classic fairytale, La Princesa and the Pea by Susan Middleton Elya and Juana Martinez-Neal, reimagines the story as set in Peru. The illustrations are mesmerizing, with a folksy charm that won Martinez-Neal the 2018 Pura Belpré Medal for outstanding illustration in a children’s book celebrating the Latino cultural experience. For an introduction to Latino culture (which largely comprises Hispanic culture) plus some basic Spanish vocabulary for Hispanic Heritage Month, this is a great picture book for early readers.
The Chupacabra Ate the Candleabra
by Marc Tyler Nobleman and Ana Aranda
Typically, the chupacabra legend is a fairly terrifying one; just Google images of the chupacabra (without your kids nearby) and you’ll see what I mean. But don’t fear the title The Chupacabra Ate the Candleabra by Marc Tyler Nobleman and Ana Aranda! It serves up a silly, zany twist on the classic Mexican legend to introduce kids to another aspect of Hispanic lore during Hispanic Heritage Month with a picture book, and kids will just love it.
Frida Kahlo and her Animalitos
by Monica Brown and John Parra
As one of the most notable Hispanic women that our kids learn about, it’s not surprising that there’s an abundance of children’s books about Frida Kahlo. In fact, I have multiple biographies an anthologies that include her on my own shelves. But the award-winning 2017 book Frida Kahlo and her Animalitos, by Monica Brown and John Parra begs to be included on a list of great Hispanic Heritage Month books for kids This story sheds light on Frida’s unusual roster of unusual pets, including a monkey, parrot, fawn and even an eagle. For animal-loving kids, this is a terrific read.
Related: The online Diverse Book Finder: A must-bookmark resource for families
All Around Us
Xelena Gonzales and Adriana M. Garcia
Another terrific children’s book for Hispanic Heritage Month is All Around Us by Xelena Gonzales and Adriana M. Garcia. This book is more about nature and our relationship to it, although with a decidedly Hispanic perspective. The art is energetic and alive, inspiring kids to develop an appreciation for both Native and Hispanic values honoring life and nature.
Turning Pages: My Life Story
by Justice Sonya Sotomayor and Lulu Delacre
Hispanic Heritage Month books for children wouldn’t be complete without some modern autobiographies, and we’re so grateful that Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor has brought her story to life in the autobiographical children’s book, Turning Pages: My Life Story (also available in a Spanish-language edition) with lovely illustrations by Lulu Delacre
Born in Puerto Rico, Justice Sotomayor became the first Hispanic SCOTUS justice, and only the third woman ever, after Sandra Day O’Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Her story is an inspiring one as you may have guessed, and this book is a must-add to your home collection. Kids will love discovering the things that inspired her as a young girl with a more complex childhood than you might have known.I also love the description on Lulu and Bean Read about how it inspired the Justice to think more about the life-changing power of books, especially for children.
Hispanic Heritage Month books for YA Readers
I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter
by Erika L. Sánchez
Heartbreaking, inspiring, and also hilarious, I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika L. Sánchez, is a spectacular YA book for Hispanic Heritage Month. It tells the story of Julia, who is anything but perfect. When her sister Olga dies in a tragic accident, her mother doesn’t hesitate to point out Julia’s every failure. But, with the help of her first love, she begins to uncover some of Olga’s secrets and must decide whether she should reveal them and shatter the impressions of her Mexican mother.
It was a National Book Award Finalist, which is huge. Plus it’s been lauded by so many incredible writers we love — Juan Felipe Herrera, a recent US Poet Laureate, called it “a perfect book about imperfection,” and isn’t that a theme that every one of our tweens and teens can relate to? Absolutely.
My Family Divided
by Diane Guerrero with Erica Moroz
The poignant, heartbreaking, and unfortunately timely memoir, My Family Divided by Diane Guerrero with Erica Moroz, recounts Guerrero’s experience as a young girl living in Boston with her happy, loving family. One day, without warning, her undocumented parents were taken from their home and deported. Guerrero went on to become star as Martiza Ramos in the show Orange is the New Black — you may know her as the beautiful, compelling young waitress turned inmate — and this book depicts her difficult but relatable childhood that’s portrayed as both challenging and full of hope.
Related: 6 children’s books to read during Asian and Pacific Island heritage month. Beyond Moana.
Woven in Moonlight: Seize the Night
by Isabel Ibañez
Isabel Ibañez’s 2020 debut novel, Woven in Moonlight, was named one of Time Magazine’s best fantasy books of all time and…wow. Drawing inspiration from Bolivian politics, culture and history, Ibañez — a daughter of Bolivian immigrants herself — has created a fantastical world featuring the heroine Ximena, a decoy stand-in for the Condesa. Her quest for revenge against her people’s conqueror takes a turn when her job demands she must marry him. Add in enchanted relics, ghosts, masked vigilantes, and you can see why kids simply can’t put this book down.
This is a perfect time to pick this one up because Ibañez has just released her follow-up book in the two-part series, Written in Starlight. One reader called it a “South American Tomb Raider,” which sounds just terrific by us!
Did your kids love Disney’s Coco as much as ours? Of course they did! Kids love stories of magic and mysticism, and the middle-grade book Lotería, by Karla Arenas Valenti with illustrations by Dana Sanmar delivers on the theme so wonderfully. It focuses on an 11 year-old girl named Clara in Oaxaca City, Mexico, her missing cousin, and how the Lotería card game might — or might not — help her find him. Mythical, magical kingdoms? Cards with meaningful icons like scorpions and blood-red roses? Your tweens will be hooked.
Lucky Broken Girl
by Ruth Behar
The Pura Belpre Award-winner Lucky Broken Girl is based on the true story of author Ruth Behar’s childhood, growing up as a young Jewish-Cuban immigrant in 1960’s NYC. Just as she starts to get comfortable in her new life, navigating English and getting to know her new friends and neighbors, she experiences an unimaginable accident that leaves her homebound. But she discovers that even in the very worst moments of our lives, there can be a lot of beauty. With blurbs from other authors we love like Jacqueline Woodson (Brown Girl Dreaming) and Marjorie Agosín (I Lived on Butterfly Hill), it’s definitely a worthwhile read even beyond Hispanic Heritage Month.
Barely Floating
by Lilliam Rivera
A brand new middle-grade book for Hispanic Heritage Month 2023, Barely Floating by Pura Belpré honoree Lilliam Rivera explores the universal struggle between internal and external acceptance, and what it means to belong. Natalia de la Cruz Rivera y Santiago is an incredibly relatable 12-year-old who dreams of becoming a synchronized swimmer, but is dissuaded by her parents, an activist and a professor, who would prefer her to find a path less concerned with outward appearances. It combines themes around family, friendship, adolescence and body image, and will be a relatable read for so many of our tweens and young teens.
We Light Up the Sky
by Lilliam Rivera
Your YA readers into dystopian fiction too? Watching Invasion on Apple TV+? Then they’ll love Lilliam Rivera’s 2021 novel, We Light Up the Sky, which is all about an alien invasion in a post-Covid world, from the perspective of 3 Latinx teens in Los Angeles. One of the most compelling blurbs comes from author Zoraida Córdova, who describes “an unflinching look at a Los Angeles that already feels dystopian to marginalized communities,” as it examines the question: aAre aliens from outers space our biggest problem, or are our fellow humans? We love that we can help teens process some very real, relatable, modern-day challenges in our society within the genre of sci-fi dystopia.
The First Rule of Punk
by Celia C. Pérez
Hispanic Heritage Month books aren’t just for younger kids, and they’re not just for this month either; we’ve shared The First Rule of Punk by Celia Pérez several times here, because of its quirky, true-to-herself heroine who is such an empowering example for our own girls. This is a book about so many relatable issues for our tweens and young teens — surviving at a new school, living through a parents’ separation, not quite fitting in, and yes, being Hispanic. We think any middle-school kid will love it.
The Go-Between
by Veronica Chambers
If you binged Jane the Virgin or you’re looking for a made-for-teens alternative to Crazy Rich Asians or Joy Ride, try The Go-Between by Afro-Latina author Veronica Chambers. This best-selling author sure knows how to spin a tale! In this book, Cammi’s mom is a famous telenovela star and her dad is the go-to voice over talent for all the big movies. She seems to live a charmed life — but the stereotypes she embraced when her family moves from Mexico City to LA make her start questioning everything.
It’s a great lesson that money doesn’t always equal privilege, and even kids who seem to “have it all” have their issues too.
Related: Empowering tweens and teens with books: author Helena Dahlgren
The Epic Fail of Arturo Zamora
by Pablo Cartaya
Set among Miami’s vibrant Hispanic culture, The Epic Fail of Arturo Zamora by Pablo Cartaya is a true family story that’s so wonderful for Hispanic Heritage Month. Arturo works at his grandmother’s restaurant, plays basketball, and falls for Carmen, a poetry lover. But their family business is threatened by gentrification, and Arturo has to learn to fight for what he believes in most. It should offer plenty of opportunities for great family discussions when your kid has finished it. Plus, it’s a Pure Belpré Award winner like some of the others here, which is always a sure sign of a winning book.
Do you have other favorite children’s books or YA books that are great reads for HIspanic Heritage Month and beyond? We’d love to hear them! Just leave them in comments.
