Kathleen Contreras

Dr. Kathleen Contreras is a bilingual children's author and teacher educator teaching at California State University, Channel Islands in the School of Education and the Chicano Studies Department. Learn more about her work at her website.

Books by This Author

Braids/Trencitas

Grandmother braiding girl's hair
Illustrated by: Margaret Lindmark
Age Level: 6-9
Language: Spanish (Bilingual Eng/Sp)

Meet Abuela and Isabela, who tell each other stories while Abuela braids and unbraids Isabela's hair every day. When Isabela discovers Abuela can't read, she finds a wonderful way to help her grandmother. Lovely illustrations bring Isabela and Abuela to life in this heartwarming book about the importance of passing down traditions across generations.

Harvesting Friends / Cosechando Amigos

Illustrated by: Gary Undercuffler
Age Level: 6-9

Young Lupe loves helping her mother with their salsa garden full of tomatoes, chile peppers, onions, garlic and cilantro. But one summer day, she sees that the biggest, juiciest tomatoes have disappeared! Who could have taken them?  Including easy-to-make recipes, this bilingual picture book for children ages 4-8 will have them clamoring for a garden of their own to plant and harvest. Along the way, young readers and the adults in their lives too will learn that coming together as a community will enable them to harvest more than just vegetables.

Sweet Memories /Dulces recuerdos

Illustration of a boy and his grandfather choosing fruit at a market
Illustrated by: Margaret Lindmark
Age Level: 6-9
Language: Spanish (Bilingual Eng/Sp)

Kathleen Contreras follows up her debut picture book Braids/Trencitas with a loving portrait of a young boy and his grandfather, who share memories and their love of paletas, the delicious popsicles that originated in Michoacan, Mexico.