Alma Flor Ada has built a rich and varied career as a scholar of Spanish literature, a prolific translator, a bilingual educator, a world traveler, and an award winning author of over thirty books for children. In all of her work, she draws on the rich cultural history, language, and landscape of her native Cuba to address traditional and contemporary themes of identity, cultural understanding, ideals of love and honor and the value of community. Her facility in both English and Spanish has allowed her to act as a liaison between cultures.

Besides being a children’s book author Alma Flor Ada is a professor at the University of San Francisco and director of the Center for Multicultural Literature for Children and Young Adults.  She is the founder and first editor-in-chief of the Journal of the National Association for Bilingual Education. She is a member of the advisory board of Loose Leaf Public Radio Programs and of the National Television Workshop.

Her books have garnered many awards. In 1987, Encaje de piedra, won the Marta Salotti Gold Medal. The Gold Coin won the 1991 Christopher Award and was also selected a Notable Children’s Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies.  In 1997, she was the recipient of both an Aesop Accolade from the American Folklore Association for Mediopollito/Half-Chicken and a Gold Medal from the National Association of Parenting Publications for The Lizard and the Sun/ La Lagartija y el sol.  In 1998, Gathering the Sun received the Once Upon a World Award; and in 2000, Under the Royal Palms: A Childhood in Cuba was honored by the American Library Association with the Pura Belpre Award.

Visit her website here.