Book Review News!

“A helpful tool for talking about the emotions that surround special events. Isabel’s inner world is vividly illustrated, with brightly colored art swirling around her in a style reminiscent of papel picado, visually expressing her hopes and worries. A robust bilingual reader’s note provides guidance for adults, offering activities to support children’s emotional development, and includes a recipe for Mexican buñuelos. A sweet, realistic story of family, culture, and emotional resilience.”–School Library Journal

Book Award News

🎉 Exciting News! 🎉
I’m honored to share that ABUELA’S LETTER has been awarded the NCTE Charlotte Huck Recommended Award!
The NCTE Charlotte Huck Award® for Outstanding Fiction for Children recognizes books that have the power to transform children’s lives by inviting compassion, imagination, and wonder. To see Abuela’s Letter included among such remarkable stories is an incredible honor.
Thank you to everyone who has supported this book’s journey. Whether you’re a reader, bookseller, librarian, or teacher, your love for stories like ABUELA’S LETTER makes all the difference.
If you’d like to learn more, you can check out the complete list of awardees here.
✨Let’s celebrate stories that transform children’s lives!✨📚

Abuela’s Letter Book Launch Event

The book launch for ABUELA’S LETTER was an unforgettable celebration of love, loss, and the power of storytelling. A huge thank you to BookPeople for hosting such a beautiful event and to everyone who came out to show support for the big day! 💛
Special thanks to my wonderful conversation partner, Jennifer Hill-Flores, for your insights and heart and to Alejandra Ruiz for sharing your artistic journey all the way from Colombia. It was such a gift to have you all there.
A huge thank you to Mi Tradición Bakery for the delicious Mexican pastries that added a sweet touch to the celebration!🥐🌸
To my family, friends, and readers–your support lifts me up and keeps me going. Here’s to all the ways we connect through stories and journey together. 📚❤️

Author & Editor Interview

Exciting news! I had the pleasure of being interviewed by Gayleen Rabakukk alongside Kristine Enderle (my editor at Magination Press) for Cynsations. We discussed the journey behind my upcoming picture book, Abuela’s Letter (publishing on October 15th) and I’m thrilled to share the article with you all. Check it out here.

 

Texas Book Festival 2022

I’m thrilled to be a featured author at the Texas Book Festival 2022! Hope to see you there!

Author Debbie Zapata

Sunday, Nov. 6 @3 p.m.

30 minute storytime and activity event, followed by a book signing

The Texas Book Festival

Read Me a Story Tent

Congress Avenue

Austin, TX

Summer Storytime at Pease Park:

UP AND ADAM Book Cover

–

Kingsbury Commons, 1100 Kingsbury Street, Austin, TX, 78703 (map)

Google Calendar  ICS

Join us at the Outdoor Plaza in Kingsbury Commons as Debbie Zapata reads her children’s book, UP AND ADAM! This is an uplifting story about a boy with Down syndrome who helps his neighbors in the aftermath of a storm. BookPeople will be in attendance to sell copies of the book and this event will be a fun and inclusive experience for readers of all ages. In addition to the book reading, we will have a fun activity or two for the kids in the audience.

REGISTRATION WILL BE AVAILABLE IN LATE MARCH

https://peasepark.org/events/2021/6/9/upandadam