A Land of Books by Duncan Tonatiuh
A Land of Books: Dreams of Young Mexicah Word Painters is a book I ran across after seeing the news that the author and illustrator Duncan Tonatiuh was named a 2023 Pura Belpré Youth Illustration Honor Book.
Not only do the illustrations in this book look fun to flip through, but the whole story and the history it explains also sounds fascinating. It would make a fantastic adult non-fiction book.
A Land of Books, published by Abrams Books for Young Readers, tells the story and demonstrates just how advanced and progressive the manuscripts and reading culture were in pre-colonial times.
The story follows an Aztec girl as she explains how painted manuscripts are made and how paper is created from plants, and how it’s all folded together to make books.
Evidently, the pre-Columbus civilization has lots of books and cultural records focused on history, community tributes, and rituals. Just digging a little bit into the early history of books from this part of the world is fantastic.
It’s all news to me. Probably news to almost everyone, which is precisely why we need more books like A Land of Books: Dreams of Young Mexicah Word Painters by Duncan Tonatiuh. I’m looking forward to the day I can get my hands on a copy and share it with the children in my life.
What a wonderful gift.
