Biblioburro: A True Story from Columbia by Jeanette Winter
Review by: Chris Singer
About the author:
Jeanette Winter is the acclaimed author/illustrator of many highly-regarded picture books, including Bibloburro, Nasreen’s Secret School, The Librarian of Basra: A True Story from Iraq; Mama: A True Story in which a Baby Hippo Loses his Mama During a Tsunami, but Finds a New Home, and a New Mama; and Wangari’s Trees of Peace: A True Story from Africa. She lives with her husband, artist Roger Winter, in New York.
About the book:
Luis loves to read, but soon his house in Colombia is so full of books there’s barely room for the family. What to do? Then he comes up with the perfect solution–a traveling library! He buys two donkeys–Alfa and Beto–and travels with them throughout the land, bringing books and reading to the children in faraway villages.
My take on the book:
This is such an inspiring and beautiful book about sharing one’s passions and joys with others who have never had the opportunity to experience such a thing. Luis loves his books so much that soon is house is filled with them. His wife, Diana, grumbles about this and asks if they are to eat books with their rice. Luis gets the idea to load his burros with books so he can share them with those who have none.
I love how simple and easy flowing the story is. It’s perfect for a read aloud and I think the book’s message that not all children have the same access to books will be accessible to even younger, preschool-age children. The illustrations are bright and colorful and remind me of the artwork you see in folktales.
I fell in love with this book as it reminded me of my times in Uganda where I passed out books to orphan children in a remote village. It’s a very powerful feeling to share something you are passionate about with others who have never had such an opportunity. The kids I met had few possessions except for some clothes, a school uniform and maybe a few photos or drawings. I can still picture the faces of excitement and joy at receiving their books. I imagine that is the feeling Luis gets every time he travels with his biblioburro to the villages in the hills of Columbia.
This is based on a true story. See below to learn more about Luis Soriana and his “Biblioburro.”
More about Luis Soriana:
This is based on the true story of Luis Soriana, who started the “biblioburro” in 2000. He traveled to villages near his home in La Gloria, Columbia, with a collection of 70 books. That collection has grown to over 4,800 books. Every weekend, at least 300 people look forward to Luis’ biblioburro.