Virginia Walton Pilegard, of Wishon, accepted the prestigious Latino Literacy award for Best Educational Children’s Picture Book– Bilingual, at the ILBA Awards Ceremony in San Francisco on June 27.
Grandfather Ratoncito Pérez and the Apprentice Tooth Fairy is illustrated by Fiona Hodgetts, Wolverhampton, England, and translated by Maria Cassandra Nah Ayuso, Fresno.
Pilegard’s winning entry spins a tale of the courtly Hispanic tooth mouse, Ratoncito Pérez, and his grandson Miguel, who offer help to a young tooth fairy when her first flight ends in a disaster of broken net and spilled pennies.
Including a brief history of the tooth mouse and a hands-on craft, the book enriches mathematics learning by helping students recognize and count U.S. coins.
Pilegard, author of eight previous mathematical adventures set in medieval China (Pelican Publishing Company), chose to add the flavor of Mexico to her latest children’s picture book.
Published under Pilegard’s own imprint, Goat Mountain Books, Grandfather Ratoncito Pérez and the Apprentice Tooth Fairy is available locally at Branches Books and Gifts in Oakhurst, and Petunia’s Place in Fresno.
