SUNFLOWERS / GIRASOLES Wins the Texas Institute of Letters Literary Award

The Texas Institute of Letters announced Gwendolyn Zepeda’s bilingual picture book Sunflowers / Girasoles as the winner of the Austin Public Library Friends Foundation Award for Best Children's Book.

TIL was founded in 1936 to recognize literary achievement and to promote interest in Texas literature. Authors must have lived in Texas for at least two years or their works must relate to the state.

Sunflowers / Girasoles is a charming bilingual picture book about the simple joys of gardening and time spent with loved ones.  Kirkus Reviews calls it “a pleasing and effective multicultural offering.” The tender relationship between grandparent and grandchild is illuminated with warm illustrations by Alisha Gambino and an inspiring theme about sowing seeds of joy in the lives of others.

GWENDOLYN ZEPEDA is the author of the highly-acclaimed children’s book Growing Up with Tamales / Los tamales de Ana (Piñata Books, 2008); a collection of short prose for adults, To the Last Man I Slept with and All the Jerks Just Like Him (Arte Público Press, 2004); and two novels, Houston, We Have a Problema (Grand Central, 2009) and Lone Star Legend (Grand Central, 2010).  A third bilingual children’s book, I Kick the Ball / Pateo la bola, is forthcoming from Piñata Books in 2011.  She has written and illustrated her award-winning Web site, www.gwenworld.com, since 1997. Gwen resides in Houston with her husband and three sons.