Author’s book is first featured in library puppet series

For Lorain author Raquel M. Ortiz, children’s books are a platform for exploring cultural traditions and community.

Her bilingual book, “Sofi and the Magic, Musical Mural / Sofi y el magico mural musical,” is one of the many books featured as a part of Cleveland Public Library’s puppet play series.

The play will take place at the Julia de Burgos Cultural Arts Center, 2800 Archwood Ave. in Cleveland, on Jan. 5 in celebration of Three Kings’ Day on Jan. 6.

The puppets for the show were made in Columbus and “actually look like real Muppets,” Ortiz said.

“It’s very surreal; it’s very gratifying,” she said. “To be a children’s book author is cool, but to know this book is being used in this way is very rewarding.”

The book, published in 2015, was incorporated in the New York City’s District 14 Schools in 2016 as a part of a unit on diversity, was chosen for the 201617 Tejas Star Reading List and landed second place for the Best Educational Children’s Picture Book from the International Latino Book Awards.

A sequel to the book, “Sofi Paints Her Dreams / Sofi pinta sus suenos,” is projected to be published in April 2019.

As a cultural anthropologist, Ortiz said she often studied murals to deepen her connection and understanding

of her Puerto Rican heritage.

By imagining what a child may see in a mural, Ortiz said she became inspired to write a book from a youngster’s point of view.

In the book, Sofi runs an errand to the store down the street when she is invited to dance by a vejigante (a folkloric character in Puerto Rican festival celebrations) in a mural.

She is sucked into the mural’s world in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico, experiencing both the country’s culture and a growing fear of her new vejigante friend.

Pieces of Puerto Rican songs also are integrated into the story, which Ortiz said makes the story more engaging.

“It’s a more dynamic reading,” she said. “By teaching children and adults what music means, you’re inviting them into a new culture. Music and arts are very accessible.”

The opportunity to participate in the puppet show arose when Melanie Guzman McCarter, library assistant for Cleveland Public Library’s Main Branch, suggested Ortiz’s book be adapted into a puppet play.

“She felt that this was a good story that would connect the Puerto Rican community in Cleveland, and be a good first book to bring to life,” Ortiz said.

SUBMITTED A sneak preview of the characters in the Cleveland Public Library’s first puppet series featuring “Sofi and the Magical, Musical Mural,” written by Raquel M. Ortiz, hosted at the main branch’s Louis Stokes Wing, 325 Superior Ave. in Cleveland.