A land of books : dreams of young Mexihcah word painters
(Book)

Includes glossary of Nahuatl words, author's note, and bibliographical references.

Illustrations and text describe how the Mixtecs create painted manuscripts, or codices, that reflect their way of life and document their history, science, land tenure, tribute, and sacred rituals.

A young Aztec girl tells her little brother how their parents create beautifully painted manuscripts, or codices. She explains to him how paper is made from local plants and how the long paper is folded into a book. Her parents and others paint the codices to tell the story of their people's way of life, documenting their history, science, tributes, and sacred rituals. The author-illustrator's lyrical prose and eyecatching illustration style, inspired by the pre-Columbian codices, tell the story of how - contrary to the historical narrative that European colonizers bestowed "civilization" and knowledge to the Americas - the Aztec and their neighbors in the Valley of Mexico painted books and records long before Columbus arrived, and continued doing so among their Nahua-speaking descendants for generations after the Spanish Conquest. -- Description from Amazon.com.

Ages 4 to 8.,Abrams Books for Young Readers.

Grades PreS-3.

Pura Belpré Youth Illustration Honor Book, 2023.

Horn Book Fanfare List, 2023.

Bulletin Blue Ribbons Awards, Nonfiction, 2022.

CSMCL. Best Books, 2022.