The word “authentic” has been thrown around more and more as publishers continue to expand their Spanish-language and bilingual offerings for the one in four children nationwide who are Latino and the more than 43 million Americans speaking Spanish at home. “‘Authentic Latin American’ is like a catchphrase,” says Catalina Holguín, director of the Colombia-based digital library platform MakeMake. “But I feel that sometimes people don’t understand what that means.”

Often, “authentic” is used mostly to indicate that a title was originally written in Spanish, but Holguín wants readers to think beyond that. “Of course, it means that the books are correct in terms of the grammar and the spelling, but a book is not just for developing proficiency in spelling,” she says. “What’s important is the book as a window into a worldview from whoever wrote it or wherever it comes from, and that it actually represents a lived experience and a living culture.”

Holguín is tapping into something that Noam Chomsky, the “father of modern linguistics,” articulated: “A language is not just words. It’s a culture, a tradition, a unification of a community, a whole history that creates what a community is. It’s all embodied in a language.”

Because language is inextricably linked to culture, every original Spanish-language book published makes Latinx culture more accessible to young readers. And many of the publishers featured here select titles with specific Latinx-related content to amplify that benefit, like books centering a father-daughter relationship in machismo culture, Diego Velazquez’s famous “Las Meninas” painting, a Peruvian cornworm, the flora and fauna of Mexico, or Guillermo del Toro.

Read on for a diverse array of new titles to help round out and enrich the cultural relevance of your Spanish-language collection this fall.

Editorial Flamboyant

Editorial Flamboyant is based in Barcelona, Spain’s center of children’s publishing. “There’s a very strong school of illustration in the city and a lot of illustrators from Catalonia who work with publishers around Europe and around the world,” explains Publisher Clara Jubete Baseiria. Flamboyant publishes children’s literature for toddlers through age 12 in Spanish and Catalan, specializing in picture books.

¡Es mio! (It’s Mine!) by Klara Persson, illustrated by Charlotte Ramel, February 2025, ISBN 9788410090576, for children ages 3 and up, is translated from Swedish and available in English as well as Spanish. When Sally learns Nico is coming for a visit, she begins to worry about sharing. Her mother tells her to put the things she doesn’t want to share into the wardrobe. Sally starts with a few toys, but one by one, everything—including the bathtub, her mom, and even Nico—ends up inside the wardrobe! “It’s a funny story,” Baseiria says. “It makes kids realize that sometimes they are being silly not sharing with others.”

In De camino a la fiesta (On the Way to the Party) by Meritxell Martí, illustrated by Anna Aparicio, February 2025, ISBN 9788410090545, a Spanish-language original, all the animals are going to a party. But along the way, there’s a broken bridge, then a river to cross, and so on. For each obstacle, a different animal steps up with a solution. The beaver makes a bridge. The frog demonstrates how to jump rocks across the river. “They each have their moment,” Baseiria says. “This story is trying to say that no leader knows how to do everything. In the best groups, each person has different qualities to use in difficult moments.”

Amaia Arrazola is a Barcelona-based writer and illustrator. Her new book Buenas noches, Simón (Goodnight, Simon), March 2025, ISBN 9788410090613, for ages 3 and up, is about Melvin the bat’s fear of nighttime. Simón the chameleon talks up all the wonders of the night—the stars, the moon, dreams—but Melvin isn’t convinced. Bruna the owl then tells Melvin about all the animals she knows who prefer nighttime to daytime. Finally, Melvin realizes he’s not alone at night. “It’s about going to bed, about fear of darkness and how even if we think that we are going to be alone when everything is dark, we are never alone,” Baseiria says.

Lectorum Publications

Founded as a Spanish-language bookstore in New York in 1960, Lectorum pivoted to a distribution business by the end of the decade. It has since grown to be the largest Spanish-language book importer and distributor in the country, offering over 25,000 titles from more than 500 domestic and foreign publishers to public schools, libraries, universities, and bookstores.

Of the 600 new titles Lectorum adds to its catalog each year, approximately one-third come from domestic publishers, while the majority are imported from Spain and Latin America. Lectorum publishes about 10 Spanish translations of English-language bestsellers each year itself. And the company offers ebooks via the digital library platform MakeMake (also featured in this section).

Lectorum also provides Spanish-language collection development, library-binding, cataloging, and processing services to schools and libraries. With an annual catalog containing upwards of 4,000 titles, Lectorum curates collections to meet a school’s or library’s criteria. “Sometimes the teacher or librarian goes through the catalog and makes the selections,” says Alex Correa, president and CEO. “But the majority of teachers say they don’t have the time and trust us to make choices for them.”

From Spanish publisher Libre Albedrio, Guillermo del Toro: el niño que pactó con los monstruos (Guillermo del Toro, the Boy Who Made a Deal with Monsters), written and illustrated by Sol Ruiz, March 2025, ISBN 9788412820089, is an illustrated biography for ages 8–16, covering the childhood and career of the movie director. “This book has a wide appeal for both children and adults,” Correa says. “Even if readers are unfamiliar with del Toro’s movies, they will be impressed at how a timid, scared boy learned not only how to overcome his fear of monsters but to embrace them.”

El tranvía número Flor (The Streetcar Number Flower) by Guia Risari, illustrated by Frederico Delicado Gallego, March 2025, ISBN 9788413433509, is a picture book for ages 6 and up from Spanish publisher Kalandraka. When Omar tells Laura he’s sad and homesick, she takes him on a streetcar with special stops that let him experience a bit of the homeland he misses.

One of Lectorum’s new titles, Siempre hay una primera vez, April 2025, ISBN 9788410260962, is the Spanish publisher Ediciones Maeva’s translation of Dan Santat’s 2023 National Book Award-winning graphic novel, A First Time for Everything. The coming-of-age memoir for readers ages 10 and up tells the story of the author’s middle-school class trip to Europe. Frequently bullied, Dan isn’t looking forward to traveling with his classmates. But a series of first experiences abroad changes his perspective.

The fourth picture book in a series from Spanish publisher Edelvives, El charlatansaurio (The Chattysaurus) by Rachel Bright, illustrated by Chris Chatterton, May 2025, ISBN 9788414061527, is about the importance of listening. A very chatty dinosaur talks so much that he misses the teacher’s warning about a big hole in the road. Will a fall teach him a lesson? For ages 3 and up.

El Hotel Balzaar (The Hotel Balzaar), illustrated by Julia Sarda, July 2025, ISBN 9781646840410, is Lectorum’s translation of the second title in Newbery Medalist Kate DiCamillio’s middle grade chapter book trilogy, “The Norendy Tales.” Marta, whose mother cleans rooms at the Hotel Balzaar, observes all the goings-on in the lobby. One day, a countess checks in and begins telling Marta stories. Taken in by the countess’ tales, Marta begins to wonder if they might contain some clues about her father’s disappearance.

Vista Higher Learning

Boston-based Vista Higher Learning is celebrating its 25th year developing programs for language learners. In 2018, Vista acquired Santillana USA, the largest educational publisher in the Spanish-speaking world. Specializing in K–12 literature, Vista’s 42 new Spanish-language titles this year include a combination of translations and authentic, Spanish-language originals. “We’re very focused on curriculum—what teachers are using in the classroom—and we absolutely focus on choosing books that correspond to that,” says Julie McCool, executive editor of Spanish language arts and reading.

In 2025, Vista published the “Archivos históricos” series, translations of all 10 “History Files” chapter books for grades 5–8. The books, covering a range of important historical events in U.S. history, immerse readers in these events through the experiences of young fictional characters.

In No lo permitiré: la revolución industrial (Not on My Watch: Industrial Revolution) by Brittany Canasi, illustrated by Luca Maggi, July 2025, ISBN 9781669939818, 14-year-old Hope discovers very young children working at her father’s watch factory in New York and begins speaking up for them. “It’s not heavy-handed at all,” McCool says. “It’s a really nice entry point for kids of that age to get a glimpse into what [child labor and the industrial revolution] looked like.”

Los relatos fantásticos de Jenny Gold: la Gran Depresión (Tall Tales of Jenny Gold: Great Depression) by Sue LaNeve, illustrated by Giuliano Aloisi, June 2025, ISBN 9781669939863, follows 13-year-old Jenny, whose family goes from a privileged life in New York City to working on a farm in Colorado after the 1929 Stock Market crash. After discovering “Hooverville” on the outskirts of town, Jenny’s perspective on how much she still has changes.

The “Lecturas fáciles” (“Easy Reader”) series includes six readers aimed at language students in grades 6–12. The vocabulary and grammar in the series’ levels 1–3 correspond with years 1–3 in Spanish-language classes. In ¿Qué pinta Velázquez aquí? (What is Velazquez Painting Doing Here?) by Rosana Acquaroni, illustrated by Sólin Sekkur, August 2025, ISBN 9781669944751, a level-2 reader, four teens go to an escape room where each room relates to the famous Velazquez painting “Las Meninas” in a different way. “There are tie-ins to astronomy, history, and obviously art,” McCool says. “These books are all culturally rooted and have beautiful illustrations.”

Sequoia Kids Media

Sequoia Kids Media, the school and library imprint of Chicago-based Phoenix International, turned five this year. Since its inception, the imprint has been responding to market demand by publishing more Spanish-language titles each year. For fall 2025, the imprint has 20 frontlist titles in Spanish, including both licensed and original content. Many of the books are also available in digital formats.

Sequoia’s “Spanish Sunbird Picture Books” series for ages 4–8, August 2023, ISBN 9798765403501, includes three beautifully illustrated stories, translated from English, each with distinct social-emotional themes. In Este libro está de cabeza (This Book Is Upside Down), Penelope Giraffe and Gus Penguin are on different sides of the world. When something looks right side up to one, it looks upside down to the other, visually illustrating differences in point of view. “It’s a really fun read-aloud,” says Casey Griffin, senior marketing manager. “Because the book turns, it’s a lot of topsy-turvy art.” Los unicornios tienen malos modales (Unicorns Have Bad Manners) and Bolitas de masa (Little Dumplings) are the other two titles in the series.

“Mi Primer Busca y Encuentra Series #3” (“First Look and Find Series #3”), August 2025, ISBN 97980765413326, is Sequoia’s latest Spanish-language look-and-find titles for ages 4–8. Lighter on text, these six books aim to build early readers’ confidence, as well as skills like searching, pointing, matching, and comparing. The licensed series includes titles from Baby Einstein, Winnie the Pooh, Disney Baby, Disney Pixar, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, and Gabby’s Dollhouse. “What’s great about these books is kids will gravitate toward them because they already know the characters,” Griffin says.

Co-printed with the English versions, the six new titles in the “Mis Primeros Libros Series #2” (“My First Books Series #2”), August 2025, ISBN 9798765413340, introduce readers ages 3–6 to concepts like the solar system, counting, dinosaurs, and the alphabet through bright illustrations. “Some of them also have a search-and-find feature,” Griffin says. In Mira y busca el abecedario (See and Search the Alphabet), kids can point out E is for elephants, F is for flowers, and so on, on each page.

“They use simple words that are easy to start learning with,” Griffin says. “They’re designed to build that relationship with stories and with books and be a bonding moment for parent and child.”

MakeMake

Colombia-based MakeMake curates a digital library of authentic Spanish-language literature from 80 print publishers around the world and delivers it directly to children’s screens at school, at the library, and at home. “What’s so beautiful and unique about MakeMake is that its collection is made up of books that are originally written in Spanish and produced by real people from many different Latin American countries,” says Director Catalina Holguín. “It’s a cultural experience in a way.”

The platform, specifically designed for schools and libraries, provides unlimited multi-user access to 2,500 ebooks that students can read anywhere and that public libraries can extend to their educational communities as well. New features in 2025 give users the ability to download up to four books at a time for offline reading and to personalize individual user accounts to track reading history and favorites.

This year, the catalog has 40 new interactive titles with read along features and animations, as well as new titles from U.S. publishers Lee & Low Books and Vista Higher Learning (also featured in this section); Spanish publishers Juventud, Libros del Zorro Rojo, and Bang & Mamut; and Argentinian publisher AZ Editora. “These are real books published by real publishers in the print world that we curate and select according to the appropriateness of topics and genre in order to have a diverse, well-balanced collection of titles for pre-K through 12,” Holguín says. “And these books that we sell do not reach the American market in print.”

Institutions across the U.S. subscribe to MakeMake for access to its authentic Latin American children’s literature. A prime example is Utuskuru (Corn Worm), ISBN 9786124851742, published by Puriq Cartonera. The beautiful book is written, illustrated, and handmade by Yesenia Montes Ñaupa, a member of Peru’s indigenous Quechua community. Bilingual with both Spanish and Quechua text, the book tells the story of a worm who loves corn. But Peru’s many varieties of corn keep tempting him. As soon as he starts eating one cob, he always sees another he wants to try more.

“The moral of the story, which represents a traditional tale from the Quechuas, is that this worm ends up starving to death because he is always looking for something better, he can never settle for what he already has,” Holguín says.

Charlesbridge Publishing

Massachusetts-based Charlesbridge Publishing has been publishing fiction and nonfiction for young readers since 1989 and Spanish-language titles for nearly as long. Its 16 new Spanish titles in 2025 make up nearly a quarter of its frontlist and include titles published simultaneously with English-language editions, bilingual titles, and backlist translations. Assistant Editor Natalia Vázquez Torres says that Charlesbridge prioritizes backlist titles from Latinx creators, with content related to Latinx culture, or covering topics that fill a gap for translation.

The “No es…” (“Not a…”) series by Claudia Guadalupe Martínez, illustrated by Laura Gonzalez, is about natural science topics of Mexican origin. The third title in the series, No es un perro (Not a Dog), June 2025, ISBN 9781623544928, is about the Mexican prairie dog. Readers ages 3–7 will discover the life cycle of the rodent (not a canine) and the role it plays in the ecosystem. Other titles in the “No es…” series include No es un frijol (Not a Bean), April 2024, ISBN 9781623544829, about the Mexican jumping bean, and No es un monstruo (Not a Monster), April 2024, ISBN 9781623544836, about the axolotl.

A bilingual title for ages 3–6, El Tesoro de bayas de Beto (Beto’s Berry Treasure) by Jenny Lacika, illustrated by Addy Rivera Sonda, translated by Carlos E. Calvo, June 2025, ISBN 9781623544492, is from the “Storytelling Math” series. Beto wants to play tea party, but his sister Cora wants to play pirates. To get her on board, Beto makes a map for her to follow to his tea party. “When his map doesn’t work, Beto has to think a bit more logically to get her to his destination,” says Donna Spurlock, director of marketing. Through trial and error, he succeeds.

Las maneras en que papi dice te quiero (Ways Papi Says I Love You) by Delia Ruiz, illustrated by Carlos Vélez Aguilera, translated by Delia Ruiz, ISBN 9781632892768, is a picture book for readers ages 3–7. It will publish simultaneously in Spanish and English in March 2026. “It’s about the relationship between a daughter and a father, who doesn’t ever tell her ‘I love you’ but shows it in so many ways. It’s a beautiful story that a lot of people can relate to, not just Latinx people,” says Torres.

Chesapeake Press

Managing Editor Marie Daley founded Chesapeake Press in 2020 to “save American democracy one kid at a time.” “There is a real lack of civic education in America,” says Daley, a former Capitol Hill journalist. “As a journalist, I was explaining government to grownups, and the company [Chesapeake] explains it to kids.” Chesapeake Press creates civics curriculum–adjacent fiction and nonfiction materials for grades K–8.

Its “Fina Mendoza” series for kids in grades 2–7 by Kitty Felde, follows Fina, a 10-year-old girl from Southern California, who moves to Washington, D.C. with her father and big sister, Gabby, after their mother’s death. Chesapeake has released a Spanish translation by Jorge Flores González of each of the series’ three novels. Teachers’ guides are also available for each title.

In the first book, Bienvenida a Washington Fina Mendoza (Welcome to Washington Fina Mendoza), July 2023, ISBN 9781737097860, Fina gets an after-school job walking the dogs belonging to members of Congress. “There’s an old legend that there’s a cat, the demon cat of Capitol Hill, that haunts the Capitol building. And if it sees you, you are cursed with bad luck the rest of your life,” Daley says. “Fina thinks she’s seen the cat and decides to investigate.” The book introduces kids to the U.S. capital and how Congress works through Fina’s eyes.

In book two, Estado de la unión: Un misterio de Fina Mendoza (State of the Union: A Fina Mendoza Mystery), August 2024, ISBN 9781737097877, Fina’s father is asked to deliver the rebuttal speech to the State of the Union address in Spanish. When a bird poops on the president’s head mid-speech, Fina wants to find the bird before the secret service kills it. The book covers the State of the Union, the rebuttal speech, the architecture of the Capitol, and that of Congress.

Book three, Serpiente en el césped (Snake in the Grass), September 2025, ISBN 9798989493463, takes place at a congressional baseball game and the practices for it. Somebody is putting snakes in the gym bags and trash cans of members of Congress, and Fina tries to find out who’s doing it. “It’s about how foolish and childish partisanship can be,” Daley says. At least two more novels are planned for the series.

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