# 36- A Library for Juana: The World of Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz

A Library for Juana:

The World of Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz (2002)

Pat Mora

Illustrated by Beatriz Vidal

After appreciating the poetry of Sor Juana as a college student, I was ecstatic to find this book. Mora tells the story of the inquisitive Juana as a child, always reading and questioning her world.

On the first page, young Juana is pictured surrounded by books, with images from her books floating above her. Like many picture biographies, the story tells an overview of the poet’s life. Juana “cared more about her books than her looks,” as a child, spending her time reading and writing plays, songs, riddles, and rhymes. Mora includes a glossary of Spanish terms and an author’s note with additional information.

Vidal does an excellent job of portraying this artist’s life in a bright palette using watercolor and gouache. The book mentions that the technique is similar to that used for illuminated manuscripts more than 100 years ago, a detail that gives more authenticity to the story and links it with the time period. Illustrations are framed by a white border, portraying the story of the social world that surrounded Sor Juana. One full page spread, also on the back cover, shows a crowd in a marketplace or plaza full of movement and vendors selling everything from fruits and vegetables to calla lilies. Another page shows Juana as a young woman, seated at a tremendous round table with male scholars who asked her questions to prove her intelligence. The pages with text alternate from verso to recto and include elegantly drawn vignettes that add to the narrative.

This is an important story that brings up issues of justice. Though Sor Juana’s poems may be difficult for children to interpret, Pat Mora and Beatriz Vidal have created a biography that younger readers can appreciate.