Martin De Porres : The Rose in the Desert

2013 Pura Belpre Award for Illustration

As the illegitimate son of a Spanish nobleman and a former slave, Martin de Porres was born into extreme poverty. Even so, his mother begged the church fathers to allow him into the priesthood. Instead, Martin was accepted as a servant boy. But soon, the young man was performing miracles. Rumors began to fly around the city of a strange mulatto boy with healing hands, who gave first to the people of the barrios. Martin continued to serve in the church, until he was finally received by the Dominican Order, no longer called the worthless son of a slave, but rather a saint and the rose in the desert.

Review(s):
"With images of surpassing beauty and power and a text both simple and lyrical, Diaz and Schmidt tell the life of the first black saint of the Americas . . . A visual--and, it must be said, spiritual--delight."--Kirkus   "Schmidt's telling, touching in its simplicity, is well matched with Diaz's exceptional artwork, which is bold and referential in equal parts."--Booklist, starred review   "An artful and reverent portrait of a lesser-known figure."--School Library Journal   "Diaz's visualization of this story is magnificent."--Horn Book

Bank Street Children’s Best Books of the Year, Pura Belpré Award

ISBN:  9780547612188