Childrens books for Hispanic Heritage Month (especially for October)

There is a confluence of different things here. 

One factor is that while I was reading various picture books for Halloween, I ran into several that were Spanish language or by Hispanic authors.

Please remember that Hispanic Heritage Month runs from September 15th through October 15th, so the last half of it is very much Halloween-adjacent.

In addition, what I am working on now for that reading is going through all of the winners of the Américas award, the Pura Belpré awards and the Tomás Rivera awards. 

There is a fair amount of overlap, but that's a lot of books. It's a good idea to get them out of the way, and more than half of them are ghostly.

Not ghostly:

The Night of Las Posadas by Tomie dePaola

DePaola comes up with a lot of holiday stuff, generally retelling legends and folklore. I generally find that I like other versions of the same story better.

My Name Is Celia: The Life Of Celia Cruz / Me Llamo Celia: La Vida de Celia Cruz by Monica Brown and Rafael López

Solid introduction to Cruz with a lot of energy in the art.
 
Bravo, Chico Canta! Bravo by Pat Mora, Libby Martinez, and Amelia Lau Carlling

Pretty fun, but I thought it was a little too wordy.

Ghostly

The House, The Ghost, and Me/La casa, la fantasma, y yo by Tessa B.H. Ruiz and Eliza Morena

Better illustrated than written, as there was a kind of weird rhythm to the story.     

El susto de los fantasmas by Alma Flor Ada and Vivi Escrivá

I am pretty fond of Alma Flor Ada. This is a cute story with a twist. 

Cheech and the Spooky Ghost Bus by Cheech Marin and Orlando L. Ramirez

This is probably my favorite. I am not even sure it is the best, but c'mon! It's Cheech! 

La Llorona Can't Scare Me/La Llorona no me asunta by Xavier Garza 

Once again there is a connection between ghosts and luchadores that I don't quite understand, but this is probably a good book for bedtime rituals and fear of the dark.

Prietita and the Ghost Woman by Gloria Anzaldúa and Maya Christina González

Okay, if Cheech's book is not my favorite, then it is this one. You have a great author/illustrator combination in a story that reclaims La Llorona and is essentially a coming of age story. Excellent work. 

Related posts:

https://sporkful.blogspot.com/2025/12/ghostly-childrens-picture-books.html  

https://sporkful.blogspot.com/2025/10/spotlight-on-jose-carlos-andres.html 

https://sporkful.blogspot.com/2024/12/cuentos-hispanic-heritage-month.html 

https://sporkful.blogspot.com/2018/07/childrens-books-pura-belpre-award.html