6th Annual Mock Pura Belpré Awards
REFORMA Oregon’s 6th Annual Mock Pura Belpré Awards, co-hosted by the Deschutes Public Library, were held virtually for the first year ever on Thursday, October 22, 2020 through Zoom and YouTube Live.
9 outstanding books were chosen by the book selection committee as contender’s for this year’s Mock Awards. A huge thank you from the committee co-chairs to Star K, Alice V, Jennifer F, Gabriela P, Pia A, for their efforts in this process. Librarians from across Oregon gathered at 10am on October 22 to discuss the books nominated for two hours. At the end, the 35 or so attendees chose one winner for both the author and illustrator categories, Freedom, We Sing by Amyra Leon, illustrated by Molly Mendoza. One honor book in the author category, and two honor books in the illustrator category, were also chosen. All nominees, honorees, and winners are pictured below.
9 outstanding books were chosen by the book selection committee as contender’s for this year’s Mock Awards. A huge thank you from the committee co-chairs to Star K, Alice V, Jennifer F, Gabriela P, Pia A, for their efforts in this process. Librarians from across Oregon gathered at 10am on October 22 to discuss the books nominated for two hours. At the end, the 35 or so attendees chose one winner for both the author and illustrator categories, Freedom, We Sing by Amyra Leon, illustrated by Molly Mendoza. One honor book in the author category, and two honor books in the illustrator category, were also chosen. All nominees, honorees, and winners are pictured below.
NOMINEES
WINNERS
We were uncertain how this program would work in a COVID-19 context, but the virtual platform for this year’s awards brought a lot of positive change to the Mock Awards, including a YouTube Livestream and recording of the featured speaker, 2020 Pura Belpré Illustrator Honoree Zeke Peña. For the first time, the event co-chairs also created a storytelling and image-making workshop to engage with Pura Belpre’s work and legacy, the nominated books, and the featured speaker’s work, with students throughout Deschutes County. Carly and Rodrigo visited 6 middle school classes and 4 high school classes in promotion of this year’s event. After all the work leading up to the big day, Zeke’s presentation about his artistic practice, process, and work, especially as it related to the creation of his honored book Mi Papi tiene una moto/My Papi Has a Motorcycle, was attended and enjoyed by some 37 librarians, more than 130 students, and dozens of community members from Deschutes County and beyond. With the recording available to view on Deschutes Public Library’s YouTube page, folks will continue to be able to enjoy his illuminating and invigorating presentation.