In Puerto Rico La Navidades are celebrated from Thanksgiving to las Octavitas (the eight days after Reyes -- aka January 14).

I wanted to celebrate our unique approach to the season by featuring some of the picture books that best capture the spirit of our Navidades Boricuas.

Several of the picture books below need to be purchased directly from the publisher, so it's a good idea to snag these titles ASAP if you'd like to enjoy them this holiday season.

I've also  included below the Sesame Street Holiday CD that features María & Luis singing an aguinaldo (traditional Puerto Rican Christmas Carol).

¡Wepa! ¡Feliz Navidad!

For holiday celebrations beyond Puerto Rico, check 0ut this booklist:

• Picture Books for the Holidays: Thanksgiving through Tres Reyes

ABC Parranda
​by ABC Coquí

​As 2019 came to a close, the earth started shaking and hasn't stopped shaking in Puerto Rico.

My family members are safe, though without power and sleeping outside for fear of their homes collapsing during ongoing aftershocks. 

Please spread awareness and reach out to your politicians in order to keep Puerto Rico front of mind.

Please also support organizations offering relief. Below I share three efforts that my family supports. If you’re able, please give and spread the word. 
Thank you in advance for your continued prayers and attention.

I've hosted two FB Live readings to keep Puerto Rico front of mind as we approach 9/20/18, the one year anniversary of Hurricane María making landfall on the island.

Please watch and share both videos below, and please support Taller Salud.

Read on September 12, 2018 at 10am (PST)

Grateful acknowledgements to VIDA Review for giving this essay a home.

​Join me for two FB Live Readings this month (9/12/18 & 9/19/18).

I'm hosting both readings to keep Puerto Rico front of mind as we approach 9/20, the one year anniversary of Hurricane María making landfall on the island.

If you join live or watch the replay of either reading, I hope you will also support my fundraising campaign on behalf of Puerto Rico's Taller Salud.  

(My campaign has ended, but you can support Taller Salud directly using the link below):

Support for Taller Salud
Suggested Offering $10

On September 12, 2018 at 10am (PST), I read my personal essay:

"Literatura, Música, y (Huracán) Maria: Reflections from the Diaspora."

Click on the essay title above to read the published version and to follow along as I read.

Click on the video image below to watch!

Below that you'll find links to the texts and songs I reference throughout the essay.

Grateful acknowledgements to VIDA Review for giving this essay a home.

​Hola Familia,

I'm wondering...

What's your Hurricane story?

Where were you when Irma and Maria hit?

How did you experience the aftermath of the storms?

What do you think about when you think of Hurricanes Irma and Maria today?

Those are a few of the questions on my mind as September gets underway and the one year anniversaries approach.

If you have a hurricane story, hit reply and share it with me... I'd love to know if and how Puerto Rico is on your mind these days.

I returned from my first post-Maria visit to Puerto Rico a few weeks ago. If you follow me on Facebook or Instagram, you probably saw my photos from the trip (if not, be sure to check them out!).

Here is one of my favorites from an amazing community art project in Yauco called Yaucromatic 2 created by artists and community members working with the nonprofit Arte Para Unir.

Returning to Puerto Rico for the first time since Hurricane Maria is hard to describe. I’ve traveled to Puerto Rico since I was two-months-old, so returning is always so familiar and I always have an amazing time with mi familia...

And yet. Everywhere I looked there were quiet or in-your-face reminders of what happened on the island almost a year ago.  Everyone I spoke with had their own Hurricane María stories to share.

Case in point, when I asked my cousin about her experience with the hurricane, she answered, without skipping a beat, "I'll say this much. My daughters (ages 3 & 5) got over their fear of the dark." 

But also. Our Isla del Encanto is as enchanting as ever. And its gente? As committed to Puerto Rico and its future as ever. Alongside the pain, challenges, and ongoing recovery efforts, there is hope and art and joy and laughter.

As we approach September 6th and September 20th, I hope you’ll join me in thinking about Puerto Rico, amplifying Puerto Rican stories and voices, and supporting organizations leading the way on recovery efforts—recovery efforts that will last for years.

I’m supporting Taller Salud and hope you will join me by supporting my campaign on behalf of Taller Salud today.

Read all about this campaign and learn more about Taller Salud by clicking here. And keep an eye out online and in your inbox for updates about the campaign throughout the month.

Thank you in advance for sharing your stories with me and for showing Taller Salud and Puerto Rico some love 🙏🏽 

Abrazos fuertes,

Li Yun

PS Before you go, please Read More below for publication, blog, and event updates.

UPDATED WITH ADDITIONAL RESOURCES ON 8/29/18
​
​Hola Mi Gente,

I hope your July was as fruitful and fun as mine has been.

As you read this I am on vacation in Puerto Rico!

(I was very good and wrote and scheduled this newsletter BEFORE leaving for my vacay! Yay!).

Welcome back! Today I share the third post in the Spend Your Summer with Puerto Rico series, featuring my newest addiction: podcasts!

In case you missed them, check out:

Part 1: Spend Your Summer with Puerto Rico: Book Recommendations
​
Part 2: Spend You Summer with Picture Book Recommendations

This is the second of the three part series: Spend Your Summer with Puerto Rico.

In case you missed it, check out Part 1: Book Recommendations.

Today's edition of Spend Your Summer with Puerto Rico turns its attention towards my youngest audience and to the adults who love them.

As I've mentioned before, I love picture books and I've collected them for years--long before I became a mother myself.
​
My ever growing picture book collection focuses on stories from underrepresented communities in general, but one of the most robust sections is, unsurprisingly, the one containing picture books about Puerto Rico and Puerto Ricans.

The list below features some of my son's and my favorites. They should be on your list for any of the comelibritos in your life--especially the Puerto Rican ones.

Can't spend YOUR summer in Puerto Rico?

Then let me bring a little Puerto Rico into your summer in the best way I know how--through books!

This month's blog series, Spend Your Summer with Puerto Rico, is inspired in part by my summers in Puerto Rico. I talk a little about those summer visits here.

Today's post--the first of a three part series-- features some of the books on my summer reading list.
​
I hope you get inspired to add Puerto Rico books onto your list!

Hello Familia, Friends, and Fans,

Today is June 1st: the official start of hurricane season.​

Last September two major hurricanes--Irma and María--devastated Puerto Rico, impacting the lives of Puerto Ricans on the island and throughout the diaspora, my family and myself included.

Today marks DAY 254 since Hurricane María made landfall.

There are still Puerto Ricans without power. Recent studies estimate that as many as 5,740 Puerto Ricans died as a result of the hurricane (though the government continues to report only 64 deaths as the official death count).

As we approach this September 20th, I've been thinking a lot about last fall.

In the immediate aftermath of the hurricane, people kept asking me, "What can I do?" "How can I help?"

Preoccupied with helping my own family and friends, I did not have quick or easy answers for people. There are still no easy answers because the island continues to face complex challenges.

But today I can offer you three concrete ways to help:

1. You can LEARN more about Puerto Rico, its people, literature, history, and current state of affairs. Read below to get your free resource guide.

2. You can GIVE $25 or $50 to Puerto Rico's Taller Salud--a feminist non-profit health organization serving communities in the northeast part of the island since 1979 that mobilized quickly after the storms. Read more about them and my fundraising campaign below.

3. You can SHARE the resource guide, what you learn from the guide, and the fundraising campaign. Educators can also TEACH using some of the materials they find in the resource guide.

In each of those ways you can help ensure that Puerto Rico--its contributions and its needs--are not forgotten or ignored.

I'm here to make it easy for you to complete all three steps.

Read the rest of this newsletter to learn more.

In the Newsletter:
- READINGS & RESOURCES
- BOOK CLUB?
- SUPPORT PUERTO RICO'S TALLER SALUD
- MY POST HURRICANE MARÍA REFLECTIONS

Thank you as always for your friendship and support.

En Solidaridad,

Li Yun

P.S. To get this newsletter in your inbox, sign up here.