Digging for Words: José Alberto Gutiérrez and the Library He Built

by Angela Burke Kunkel, Paola Escobar (Illustrator)

Overview

A gorgeous and inspiring picture book based on the life of José Alberto Gutiérrez, a garbage collector in Bogotá, Colombia who started a library with a single discarded book found on his route.

In the city of Bogata, in the barrio of La Nueva Gloria, there live two Joses. One is a boy who dreams of Saturdays— that's the day he gets to visit Paradise, the library. The second Jose is a garbage collector. From dusk until dawn, he scans the sidewalks as he drives, squinting in the dim light, searching household trash for hidden treasure . . . books! Some are stacked in neat piles, as if waiting for José́. Others take a bit more digging. Ever since he found his first book, Anna Karenina, years earlier, he's been collecting books—thick ones and thin ones, worn ones and almost new ones— to add to the collection in his home. And on Saturdays, kids like little Jose run to the steps of Paradise to discover a world filled with books and wonder.

With an evocative text by a debut author, and rich, stunning illustrations from an up-and-coming Colombian illustrator, here is a celebration of perseverance, community, and the power of books.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781984892638
Publisher:	Random House Children's Books
Publication date:	09/08/2020
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	218,035
Product dimensions:	9.10(w) x 11.20(h) x 0.50(d)
Lexile:	AD730L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

ANGELA BURKE KUNKEL is a school librarian who lives with her husband, two children, and two rescue pups on the banks of Otter Creek in Vermont. Digging for Words is her debut. Visit her on the web at angelakunkel.com and on Twitter @angkunkel.

PAOLA ESCOBAR grew up traveling from town to town in Bogota, Colombia. She has published with SM Spain, Planeta, Norma, and more. Paola is the illustrator of Planting Stories: The Life of Librarian and Storyteller Pura Belpré, an Indie Pick called "a must-have for all libraries" in a School Library Journal starred review. She lives with her husband and dog, Flora. Follow her on Instagram @paoesco8ar.

Editorial Reviews

08/10/2020

Spotlighting José Alberto Gutiérrez, who founded the first library in his Bogotá barrio by rescuing books from the trash, this moving tale details the power and pleasure of books, with a portion of the proceeds benefitting Gutiérrez’s foundation, La Fuerza de las Palabras. Employing the present tense, Kunkel absorbs readers with graceful prose that seamlessly incorporates Spanish, centering two Josés: one is a child who loves the library, one is the nighttime garbage collector who established it. With its small text size and elevated diction, the prose may initially intimidate, but paragraphs prove engaging (“The day stretches out/ before him, like the streets,/ like the hills”). Stylized digital illustrations by Escobar richly enhance the nonfiction narrative, and an author’s note offers more about Gutiérrez as well as selected online sources. Ages 4–8. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

An American Library Association Notable Book
A Kirkus Best Picture Book of 2020
A Junior Library Guild Selection

"The inspiring story of a man who believes in the power of books and the importance of community." —Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review

“An inviting and generous story that will be a pleasure to read aloud.” —School Library Journal, Starred Review

"This amiable picture book offers children glimpses of Colombia as well as a role model who values books and enjoys sharing them with others…. Simultaneously published in a Spanish edition, Rescatando Palabras." —Booklist

From the Publisher

08/14/2020

PreS-Gr 2—This is a story of literacy and two Josés, both look forward to Saturday. On that day, the older José, a garbage collector who carefully gathers books that have been discarded, will open the doors to his collection and share it with the children of their barrio, including the young boy, José. The lyrical text weaves together the daily routines of both Josés, showing elements of their day in Bogotá, Colombia, and the scenes that play out in their imaginations when they discover a new world inside a book. The digitally painted illustrations capture the joy of anticipation and discovery as well as loving details of the barrio of La Nueva Gloria, where there was no library until 2000. An author's note expands on the true story that inspired this book, as well as suggesting sources for more information about Gutiérrez. An inviting and generous story that will be a pleasure to read aloud. VERDICT Recommended, particularly for fans of books such as Anika A. Denise's Planting Stories, also illustrated by Escobar, and as a city-set complement to Jeanette Winter's Biblioburro.—Amanda Foulk, Sacramento P.L.

School Library Journal

★ 2020-06-16
The story of José Alberto Gutiérrez, a garbage collector who built a library for his neighborhood in the city of Bogotá, Colombia, out of books he collected on his route through the wealthier neighborhoods of the city.

Proving the old saying that one person’s trash is another person’s treasure, Gutiérrez searched “the household trash for hidden treasure…books!” Caught up in the first book he found long ago—Anna Karenina, by Leo Tolstoy—and read over and over again and realizing the strength to be found in words, he eventually created a library out of his findings. In parallel, the book tells the story of a fictional boy, also named José, who counts the days until it is Saturday, when he and the other children in the neighborhood can enter Paradise—Gutiérrez’s library. Illustrator Escobar beautifully captures the distinctive architecture of a working-class neighborhood in Bogotá as well as its multiethnic and varied inhabitants. Readers will be transported through the artwork into the settings of some of the books mentioned, from the ballrooms of faraway Russia through “the magical village” of Macondo, with its yellow butterflies, and on to Treasure Island and the Little Prince’s planet. In the aftermatter, readers learn that today Gutiérrez also directs a foundation he created that “provides reading materials to schools, organizations, and libraries across Colombia.”

The inspiring story of a man who believes in the power of books and the importance of community. (Picture book/biography. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews