I enjoyed Winter's simple narrative, and her colorful acrylic and ink illustrations, but I did find myself wishing for a little more. This tale of a mobile library and librarian in Colombia reminded me of other, similar stories, from Down Cut Shin Creek: The Pack Horse Librarians of Kentucky, which relates the history of the pioneer mobile library services offered in the Appalachian region during the Great Depression, to My Librarian Is a Camel: How Books Are Brought to Children Around the World, which profiles traveling libraries in thirteen countries. And so he purchased two burros, Alfa and Beto, loaded up his volumes, and set out to bring the printed word to his fellow citizens. A true reader and book collector (and a primary school teacher), Luis longed to share the blessing of his personal library with the people of the isolated villages in his region of Colombia: people who didn't have access to books.

Jeanette Winter, whose non-fiction picture-books about extraordinary people from around the world include such titles as The Librarian of Basra: A True Story from Iraq and Wangari's Trees of Peace: A True Story from Africa, turns to the tale of book-lover and volunteer librarian Luis Soriano in Biblioburro: A True Story from Colombia. The burros are so huggable! The bright colors and art style make these pictures special.ĥ stars for the man and his project, and a solid 4 stars for the book. Young children will enjoy looking at all the details, including the hilariously placed butterflies on almost every page. I could have done without the bandits page but I guess that part is probably realistic and also shows what Luis is willing to go through to get the books to people who will appreciate them. Perhaps “only” 300 people are benefiting, but their lives are vastly improved.

Yes, one person can make a difference, and can turn a “problem” into a wonderful solution. According to the author’s note at the end of the book, this man and his burros started delivering books starting in 2000 when he had 70 books he now has over 4,800 books to share. Luis Soriana and his burros are still acting as a library to areas that would otherwise not have access to books.

Waiting for the biblioburro