A debut author and an award-winning illustrator unite to craft an entirely bilingual ode to the amor, courage, and memories we carry from one generation to the next, from one country to another.

We worked and worked
juntos
para realizar el sueño
Nuestra familia . . .
nos superamos
as individuals
and
together

Mamá tells her children a story that began when their papá was a niño, not far from here. Their abuelitas told stories of their antepasados, and their abuelo, a blacksmith, taught their papá how to make art from earth and fire. When abuelo died, papá took all those lessons to heart and crossed la frontera to el norte to follow his sueños. There, he worked and overcame barriers, known to many immigrants alike, to forge his own obra maestra: a familia and a future in which anything is possible. Debut author Nydia Armendia-Sánchez relays a story of immigration, creativity, and comunidad through a translanguage text that moves naturally from English to español and back in a manner that will be familiar to many second and third generations of Latine families—and evocative to immigrant families of any heritage. Brilliantly brought to life by Devon Holzwarth’s rich, imaginative illustrations, this warm abrazo of a book features a glossary of Spanish words.

Nydia Armendia-Sánchez is a children’s book author and a We Need Diverse Books Walter Grant finalist. She strives for inclusivity and diversity in all her creative endeavors and draws inspiration for her libros from her children as well as her Guatemalan and Basque heritage. Not Far from Here is her first book. Nydia Armendia-Sánchez lives in California.

Devon Holzwarth is the author-illustrator of Found You and the illustrator of Everywhere with You by Carlie Sorosiak, Papa, Daddy, and Riley by Seamus Kirst, and Listen: How Evelyn Glennie, a Deaf Girl, Changed Percussion by Shannon Stocker, a Schneider Family Book Award winner. She grew up in Panama with the jungle as her garden and parrots and iguanas as pets. Devon Holzwarth currently lives in Germany.