Latin American Heroes in Latinx Picture Books: Toward Transnational Solidarity and Creative Resistance

Abstract:This article highlights the role of Latin American artistic heroes in contemporary Latinx picture books as a way of fostering a sense of transnational solidarity between artists and writers such as Pablo Neruda, José Martí, Juana Inés de la Cruz, and Diego Rivera and diasporic Latinx young readers in the US. Our article underscores how these creative heroes position art and writing as vehicles for resistance, thus showcasing how creative acts can promote social justice. Young readers, in these ways, are entreated to utilize their own creative gifts to forge a better path for themselves and their communities. These forms of transnational solidarity, we believe, allow young readers to imagine a hemisphere held together by a common cause toward justice and equity for all.