After snuggling into bed each night, Alicia listens for the big voices of the tiny coquíes that live all around Puerto Rico and sing her to sleep. Ko-kee, ko-kee, the little frogs call. Ko-kee, ko-kee.

Después de acurrucarse en la cama cada noche, Alicia escucha las formidables voces de los diminutos coquíes que viven en todo Puerto Rico y le cantan para que se duerma. Co-quí, co-quí cantan las ranitas. Co-quí, co-quí.

Springfield City Library will host award-winning author Lesléa Newman for a bilingual (English/Spanish) storytime on Wednesday, May 7 at 4pm at Springfield City Library. Kids will hear the story Alicia and the Hurricane: A Story of Puerto Rico / Alicia y el huracán: Un cuento de Puerto Rico, which offers a tender look at the resilience of people whose lives have been disrupted by a natural disaster, and I Can Be...Me!, a joyful picture book celebrating children’s freedom to express themselves through play.

Following the storytime, kids will be invited to participate in a frog-themed craft activity!

​​This Mass Kids Lit Fest event is presented in partnership with the Massachusetts Center for the Book. For a full schedule, please visit https://www.makidslitfest.org/.

Lesléa Newman has created 87 books for readers of all ages including the children’s books, Alicia and the Hurricane: A Story of Puerto Rico, The Babka Sisters, I Can Be….ME!, Joyful Song: A Naming Story, and Ketzel, The Cat Who Composed. Her literary awards include two National Jewish Book Awards, two American Library Association Stonewall Honors, a poetry fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Massachusetts Book Award. From 2008 - 2010, she served as the poet laureate of Northampton, MA.