All Around Us

American Indian Youth Literature Award Honor - American Indian Library Association
Pura Belpré Illustrator Award Honor - American Library Association (ALA)

This gorgeous picture book--winner of the Pura Belpré Illustrator Honor and American Indian Youth Literature Award Picture Book Honor--celebrates the circles that surround us, in the sky, the earth, our neighborhoods, ourselves ... if we just dare to look for them.

Grandpa says circles are all around us. He points to the rainbow that rises high in the sky after a thundercloud has come. "Can you see" That's only half the circle. The rest of it is down below, in the earth." He and his granddaughter meditate on gardens and seeds, on circles seen and unseen, inside and outside us, on where our bodies come from and where they return to. They share and create family traditions in this stunning exploration of the cycles of life and nature.

This award-winning, mind-bending, heart-opening book marked the impressive debut of Xelena González and Adriana M. Garcia as picture book creators.

Xelena González practices the healing arts through creative writing and movement, centering self-love in her multidisciplinary workshops for all ages. Award-winning author of the picture books Of the Sun, Remembering, Where Wonder Grows, and All Around Us, she is also the creator of Lotería Remedios, a guidebook of positive affirmations, self-reflections, plant remedies, and animal medicine, based on the time-honored Lotería card deck. Visit her website at XELENA.SPACE or online @xfactor.live.

Adriana M. Garcia creates visual art, paints murals, and illustrates books. She is the recipient of a Pura Belpré Illustrator Award for Where Wonder Grows and a Pura Belpré Illustrator Honor for All Around Us and Remembering--all picture books by Xelena González. She most recently illustrated For a Girl Becoming by Joy Harjo. Adriana uses color medicine to uplift, celebrate, and remember impactful events, ideas, and people. She aims to reflect the strength, dignity, and vibrancy of her Chicana/ Mestiza community. Garcia lives in San Antonio, Texas, with her partner and two dogs, and you can find her online at adrianamjgarcia.com.