In this post, we feature author Lupe Ruiz-Flores, whose previous titles include Alicia’s Fruity Drinks / Las aguas frescas de Alicia, which was selected for the Tejas Star Reading List. You can hear her speak about her new picture book, Piece by Piece: Ernestine’s Gift for President Roosevelt, illustrated by Anna López Real, and try her “invitation to imagine” activity. You’ll also find other resources to explore. Thanks for joining us, and let us know what you think in the comments below!
Piece by Piece: Ernestine’s Gift for President Roosevelt
- Written by Lupe Ruiz-Flores and illustrated by Anna López Real
- Published by Millbrook Press, an imprint of Lerner Publishing Group
- Release date: September 5, 2023
During the Great Depression, Ernestine Guerrero and her family didn’t have much. The Mexican American teen was so grateful for the government food aid that they received in San Antonio, Texas, that she wanted to personally thank President Roosevelt. But how? After seeing the plans for a very difficult woodworking project, she decided she would make it herself and send it to the president. Piece by piece, she built the complicated clock case by reusing materials available to her, and her gift remains on display in the Roosevelt Presidential Library to this day. With stunning illustrations from Anna López Real, this picture book tells the inspiring true story of a girl who proved that if you look closely, treasure can be found in unexpected places.
Explore Piece by Piece: Ernestine’s Gift for President Roosevelt
Listen to Lupe Ruiz-Flores talking with TeachingBooks about creating Piece by Piece: Ernestine’s Gift for President Roosevelt. You can click the player below or experience the recording on TeachingBooks, where you can read along as you listen, and also translate the text to another language.
- Listen to Lupe Ruiz-Flores pronounce her name.
- Sample the e-book of Piece by Piece: Ernestine’s Gift for President Roosevelt on OverDrive.
- Explore TeachingBooks’ collection of activities and resources for Piece by Piece: Ernestine’s Gift for President Roosevelt.
Invitation to Imagine
TeachingBooks asks each author or illustrator on our Virtual Book Tour to share a writing prompt, a drawing exercise, or just an interesting question to spark curiosity and creativity. Enjoy the following activity contributed by Lupe Ruiz-Flores.
Imagination Activity with Lupe Ruiz-Flores
Whether at home or at school, look around you. What sparks your imagination? Is it the flower on the teacher’s desk? The bug crawling on the sidewalk? The shell at the beach? The smell of books at the library? The ants forming an ant hill? The air balloon in the sky? You’d be surprised what treasures can be found in unexpected places. Write about something you see and make up a story about it.
Finish This Sentence . . . with Lupe Ruiz-Flores
As part of our Virtual Book Tour, TeachingBooks asks authors and illustrators to complete short sentence prompts. Enjoy Lupe Ruiz-Flores’s response.
“A surprising thing that helps me work is…”
A surprising thing that helps me work is watching the busy squirrels running back and forth on my fence from the window in my office. If they are that busy, I need to get to work as well.
“You may not know that I…”
You may not know that I was an aerospace engineering technician before I became a writer. I worked for the Department of Defense.
More Connections to Lupe Ruiz-Flores and Piece by Piece: Ernestine’s Gift for President Roosevelt
- Discover books like Piece by Piece: Ernestine’s Gift for President Roosevelt on TeachingBooks.
- Lerner’s page about Piece by Piece: Ernestine’s Gift for President Roosevelt, written by Lupe Ruiz-Flores and illustrated by Anna López Real.
- Buy Piece by Piece: Ernestine’s Gift for President Roosevelt, written by Lupe Ruiz-Flores and illustrated by Anna López Real.
All text and images are courtesy of Lupe Ruiz-Flores, Anna López Real, and Lerner Publishing Group and may not be used without expressed written consent.
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