Alma and her mother hugging each other, next to the words "I squeeze my mommy/Appachurro a mi mami."
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Juana Martinez-Neal, Illustration for Alma and Her Family / Alma y su familia (Candlewick). © 2023 Juana Martinez-Neal. Reproduced by permission of the publisher, Candlewick Press, Somerville, MA.

Special Storytime: Juana Martinez-Neal

Artists & Authors
For Families
-
Reading Library

Free with Museum admission

Join award-winning author-illustrator Juana Martinez-Neal as she reads from her joy-filled bilingual board books, Alma and Her Family/Alma y su familia and Alma, Head to Toe/Alma, de pies a cabeza, featuring the beloved star of the Caldecott Honor Book Alma and How She Got Her Name. Through gentle illustrations exuding whimsy and warmth, and words and simple phrases in English and Spanish, little ones will love to getting to know Alma. Following the readings Juana Martinez-Neal will do a live drawing demonstration.

Book signing to follow program. Can’t make the event? You may reserve signed books online.

Activity Kit for Alma’s Words/Las Palabras de Alma
Who You'll Meet
Juana Martinez-Neal

Juana Martinez-Neal

Juana Martinez-Neal is the daughter and granddaughter of painters. She is the recipient of the 2019 Caldecott Honor for Alma and How She Got Her Name (Candlewick Press), her debut picture book as author-illustrator. She is also a New York Times bestselling illustrator recipient of the 2020 Robert F. Sibert Medal for Fry Bread: A Native American Story (Roaring Brook) and the 2018 Pura Belpré Medal for Illustration for La Princesa and the Pea (Putnam). Juana was born in Lima, the capital of Peru, and now lives in Connecticut, with her husband and three children.

Artist website
Explore Further
Illustration of children with hands in air.
Current Exhibition

Alphabet Soup: How Picture Books Are Made, From A to Z

January 13 - June 2, 2024

From woodblocks to pixels.

Visit the shop

In the Bookshop

A girl smiles wearing pink striped pants and white t-shirt.

Alma and How She Got Her Name

A girl in pink striped pants holds a series of family photos on a ribbon like a banner

Alma and Her Family

A girl stands smiling with arms and legs outstretched mimicking a flying bird.

Alma, Head to Toe

A woman holds a bowl of fry bread in one arm and a baby eating fry bread in the other.

Fry Bread

A bearded fisherman sits in a boat beached on the shore with a young girl wearing glasses.

Swashby and the Sea

A child with dark hair and red face paint looks up at a blue butterfly.

Zonia's Rain Forest