Waiting for the Biblioburro

by Monica Brown Narrated by Victoria Villarreal

Overview

Notes From Your Bookseller

Imagine if your library could come to you. This is exactly what happens to young Ana when the whimsical biblioburro comes into her small town. Based on the real biblioburro that traveled across Colombia, Waiting for the Biblioburro is the perfect picture book for the little bibliophile.

Ana loves stories. She often makes them up to help her little brother fall asleep. But in her small village there are only a few books and she has read them all. One morning, Ana wakes up to the clip-clop of hooves, and there before her, is the most wonderful sight: a traveling library resting on the backs of two burros‑all the books a little girl could dream of, with enough stories to encourage her to create one of her own.
 
Inspired by the heroic efforts of real-life librarian Luis Soriano, award-winning picture book creators Monica Brown and John Parra introduce readers to the mobile library that journeys over mountains and through valleys to bring literacy and culture to rural Colombia, and to the children who wait for the BiblioBurro.
 
A portion of the proceeds from sales of this book was donated to Luis Soriano's BiblioBurro program.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

Brown (Side by Side/Lado a lado) and Parra (Gracias/Thanks) gently portray a lifestyle 180 degrees from modern, technology-centric schooling. In rural Colombia, "Ana bathes her little brother and feeds the goats and collects the eggs to sell at the market," all the time longing to be back in her house reading her one and only book. The arrival of a librarian riding a burro brings more books and inspires Ana to write a book of her own. The traveling librarian and his donkeys, Alfa and Beto, are based on a real Colombian biblioburro, also the subject of Jeanette Winter's Biblioburro (2010). Parra's naïve-styled acrylics brim with scenes of country life. A palette of salmon pinks and turquoise and sky blues, painted on board, give the book a rough-hewn, handmade quality and an innocent, childlike appeal (with her wide face, delicate features, and rouged cheeks, Ana even resembles a porcelain doll). In a metafictional ending, readers will notice that the book Ana hands the bibliotecario upon his return is this very book—fitting, as this truly is Ana's story. Ages 4–6. (July)

From the Publisher

Review, School Library Journal, June 1, 2011
"The pleasure and love of reading are joyfully brought forth in this simple, happily rendered tale."

Starred Review, Kirkus Reviews, June 15, 2011
"Parra’s colorful folk-style illustrations of acrylics on board bring Ana’s real and imaginary worlds to life...The book is perfect for read-alouds, with occasional, often onomatopoeic Spanish words such as “quiquiriquí,” “tacatac” and “iii-aah” adding to the fun."

Review, Publishers Weekly, May 9, 2011
"Parra's naïve-styled acrylics brim with scenes of country life. A palette of salmon pinks and turquoise and sky blues, painted on board, give the book a rough-hewn, handmade quality and an innocent, childlike appeal (with her wide face, delicate features, and rouged cheeks, Ana even resembles a porcelain doll). In a metafictional ending, readers will notice that the book Ana hands the bibliotecario upon his return is this very book—fitting, as this truly is Ana's story."

Review, The Horn Book, July/August 2011
“This sample of the impact of traveling librarians on rural children, inspired by a Colombian teacher-librarian, not only celebrates their work but eloquently portrays a matchless way to inspire learning: by feeding the natural hunger for story....Small, brown-faced Ana’s enthusiasm is contagious, and the satisfying denouement, in which she donates her homemade book to the traveling collection, is just right."

School Library Journal

PreS-K—The pleasure and love of reading are joyfully brought forth in this simple, happily rendered tale. Inspired by the work of real-life librarian Luis Soriano Bohórquez, who takes his mobile library into the small villages and rural countryside of Colombia, this story features young Ana. She loves to read, but because her teacher moved away some time ago, she has just one book. Nevertheless, she enjoys it again and again, reading it to her younger brother while also entertaining him with fantastical stories of her own making. Then one exciting day, the Biblioburro stops in her village. The traveling librarian, carrying books on his burros Alfa and Beto, not only leaves books for her but also encourages her to use her vivid imagination to create tales of her own. When he returns some weeks later, Ana presents him with her finished book, which features the two burros. That night she sinks into bed knowing her story will be shared with other children when the Biblioburro arrives in their villages. Brown's tale flows well, and Parra's folkloric-style illustrations are nicely in tune with the book's setting, adding appropriate flavor to the storytelling.—Barbara Elleman, Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art, Amherst, MA

Kirkus Reviews

Inspired by Colombian librarian Luis Soriano Bohórquez, Brown's latest tells of a little girl whose wish comes true when a librarian and two book-laden burros visit her remote village.

Ana loves to read and spends all of her free time either reading alone or to her younger brother. She knows every word of the one book she owns. Although she uses her imagination to create fantastical bedtime tales for her brother, she really wants new books to read. Everything changes when a traveling librarian and his two donkeys, Alfa and Beto, arrive in the village. Besides loaning books to the children until his next visit, the unnamed man also reads them stories and teaches the younger children the alphabet. When Ana suggests that someone write a book about the traveling library, he encourages her to complete this task herself. After she reads her library books, Ana writes her own story for the librarian and gives it to him upon his reappearance—and he makes it part of his biblioburro collection. Parra's colorful folk-style illustrations of acrylics on board bring Ana's real and imaginary worlds to life. This is a child-centered complement to Jeanette Winter'sBiblioburro(2010), which focuses on Soriano.

The book is perfect for read-alouds, with occasional, often onomatopoeic Spanish words such as "quiquiriquí," "tacatac" and "iii-aah" adding to the fun. (author's note, glossary of Spanish terms)(Picture book. 4-8)

Product Details

BN ID:	2940178606407
Publisher:	Penguin Random House
Publication date:	09/20/2022
Edition description:	Unabridged
Age Range:	5 - 8 Years

Read an Excerpt

”Who are you? Who are they?” the children ask.
 
The man says, “I am a librarian, a bibliotecario, and these are my donkeys, Alfa and Beto. Welcome to Biblioburro, my biblioteca.”
 
“But, Señor,” Ana says, “I thought libraries were only in big cities and buildings.”
 
“Not this one,” says the librarian. “This is a moving library.”
 
Then he spreads out his books and invites the children to join him under a tree.

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