By Kiko Martinez / remezcla.com – February 18, 2021
What do Mexican painter Frida Kahlo, Cuban singer Celia Cruz and Mexican mountain climber Viridiana Alvarez have in common? They’re three of the 11 Latinas featured in the new children’s book Courageous History Makers: 11 Women from Latin America who Changed the World .
Written by Naibe Reynoso, Emmy-award winning Mexican American journalist and founder of Latina-owned publishing house Con Todo Press, the new book will be released on March 8, International Women’s Day. The book highlights the incredible lives and careers of Latinas like Khalo, Cruz, Alvarez through rhyming verses.
In Kahlo’s section of the book, Reynoso writes, “Mexican painter Frida Kahlo was an artist whose work reflected Mexican culture and society. Well-known for her self-portraits, she created paintings of a wide variety.”
Other Latinas featured in the book include Guatemalan human rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Rigoberta Menchu and celebrated Ecuadorian pilot Hermelinda Urvina, who was the first woman from South America to earn her pilot’s license. Some of the other Latina subjects in the book come from the fields of art, science, sports, journalism and politics.
Courageous History Makers is the fifth bilingual children’s book written by Reynoso and published by Con Todo Press. Other books in the publisher’s catalog are Be Bold! Be Brave! Chiquitos, Fearless Trailblazers: 11 Latinos who Made U.S. History and How to Fold a Taco.
Reynoso’s first book Be Bold! Be Brave 11 Latinas who made U.S. history won the prize for Best Nonfiction Picture Book at the 2020 International Latino Book Awards.
