Pura Belpré | Puerto Rican Bilingual Librarian

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A tale of storytelling magic and handmade puppets from the Bronx to the Lower East Side! Pura Belpré was the very first Puerto Rican librarian hired by the New York Public Library. She was an advocate for Spanish-speaking communities and was responsible for introducing bilingual story hours, authoring children’s stories in Spanish, and releasing the first book of translated Puerto Rican folktales in the U.S. Ms. Belpré was a visionary whose literary programs kept new generations connected to their Hispanic culture and showed all children that their stories matter!

¡Una historia de magia narrativa y marionetas hechas a mano desde el Bronx hasta el Lower East Side! Pura Belpré fue la primera bibliotecaria puertorriqueña contratada por la Biblioteca Pública de Nueva York. Fue una defensora de las comunidades de habla hispana y fue responsable de introducir horas de cuentos bilingües, escribir cuentos infantiles en español y publicar el primer libro de cuentos populares puertorriqueños traducido en los EE. UU. La Sra. Belpré fue una visionaria cuyos programas literarios mantuvieron conectadas a las nuevas generaciones con su cultura hispana y mostró a todos los niños que sus historias importan!

Get transcripts in Spanish: https://bit.ly/ep42transcript_es

Episode webpage:
https://jonincharacter.com/pura-belpre

Dorktales Storytime Podcast website:
https://jonincharacter.com/dorktales-storytime-podcast/

SPECIAL THANKS: Erika Ludwig voiced the character, Isabella the bear. She is a Spanish-American voice actor from San Francisco. Visit her website: https://www.erikaludwig.com/

CREDITS: This has been a Jonincharacter production. The Hidden Heroes of History episode was written by Molly Murphy. Jonathan and Mr. Redge were performed by Jonathan Cormur. Special thanks to guest actor, Erika Ludwig who voiced Isabella, the bear. Sound recording and production by Jermaine Hamilton at Hamilton Studio Recordings.

CALLING FOR LISTENER SUBMISSIONS BY 9/20/26: Grownups, send us your child's questions, ideas, or drawings of their favorite character or episode for a chance to be featured in our next FanTales zine. Email us at dorktalesstorytime.com and don't forget to include your child's first name and age.

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