Winner of the 2018 International Latino Book Awards
“In this beautiful gem about a girl who wants to learn to read, letters burst forth from imagery done in cut-paper collage and a rainbow of color, each page telling its own story with a quiet, understated voice.” — B.C. (New York Times)
The war is over and little Ayobami can finally go to school. Everyone is extremely happy, and joy is all over the town. The children are excited to go to school and have a great time, but Ayobami is so impatient that she cannot wait for the other kids and decides to go to class alone.
To keep her from getting lost, Ayobami’s father builds a paper boat and pushes it out into the river, telling her, "If you follow it downstream, you will arrive at the schoolhouse.” But when the ship sinks, Ayobami must find another way to school through the winding paths of the jungle.
With only the help of a paper and a spent pencil, Ayobami sets off on an exciting journey with a fundamental objective: to learn to read and write. Will the wild animals from the jungle allow her to reach her destination safely?
María del Pilar López Ávila (Cartagena, Spain 1969) is an award-winning writer of children’s stories. Her passion for children's literature began when she was very young, and at the age of nine, she was already writing children's stories. In December 2010, she was awarded the third position in the Joaquín Sama Awards for Educational Innovation in the category “A More Civic and Caring Cchool,” for the project entitled, “Use of Waste Materials.” She has published Ayobami and the Names of Animals (2017), winner of the International Latino Book Awards in 2018, and The Kite of Dreams (2019) with Cuento de Luz.
Ávila is married and the mother of 3 children. She has a Ph.D. in Veterinary Medicine, currently working as a Biology and Geology teacher at a high school in Cáceres. She is also the director of the Teatro Paraíso.
Mar Azabal is a graduate in Geography, specializing in Administration and archive conservation. Her real dream was to create stories through drawing and illustration. She currently lives in Toledo, Spain, and spends her time teaching illustration courses for children, creating stories and enjoying
raising her little child. In 2018, he illustrated the picture book Ayobami and the Names of the Animals (Cuento de luz, 2018), which won the Silver Medal at the 2018 Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards and Gold Medal at the International Latino Book Awards.
