Memorias de Un Abedul (Memories of a Birch Tree)

Awarded at the 2022 Moonbeam Children's Awards GOLD medal - Winner of the 2023 Independent Publisher Book Awards. Moving to a new city can be a heartbreaking experience, but also an opportunity to grow. This Birch Tree will realize that even in the darkest spots, one can shine brighter than ever. The day they took me out of my home and loaded me onto a truck changed everything. I went from living surrounded by nature, with my brothers, to ending up girdled by towering buildings in a polluted, noisy city. I was homesick. Accepting that change was extremely difficult, but then I started to realize that the city was not that bad after all. A friendly gardener took care of me. He watered my soil, gave me fertilizer, and trimmed my dry branches so that a pair of finches could nest in them. I began to feel very useful, as I gave people my shade, my oxygen, and my gently-flavored seeds. I soon understood that hope and love could manifest anywhere in the world, so I decided to put down roots. A story that invites us to see adversities as opportunities, and to trust that changes, despite surprising us, can help us grow. Ganador de la medalla de oro en los premios Moonbeam Children's Book Awards. Mudarse de ciudad puede ser una experiencia angustiosa, pero también es una oportunidad para crecer. Este abedul se dará cuenta que aunque uno se encuentre en uno de los momentos más oscuros, uno puede brillar más que nunca. El día que me sacaron de casa y me transportaron en camión a la ciudad lo cambió todo. Pasé de vivir rodeado de naturaleza, con mis hermanos, a acabar rodeado de edificios altísimos en una ciudad llena de contaminación. Aceptar ese cambio me costó mucho, pero pronto me di cuenta de que la ciudad también tenía su parte positiva. Un amable jardinero se ocupó de mí. Abonó mi suelo con ricos nutrientes, me suministró agua y me cortó las ramas secas para que pareja de jilgueros construyese su nido en mí. Empecé a sentirme muy útil para las personas al darles mi sombra, mi oxígeno y mis frutos, y entonces entendí que la esperanza y el amor se podían manifestar en cualquier lugar del mundo, así que decidí echar raíces. Una historia que nos invita a contemplar las adversidades como oportunidades, y a confiar en que los cambios, a pesar de sorprendernos, pueden ayudarnos a crecer.

The award-winning illustrator Blanca Millán was born in Galicia, Spain, in 1991. Since she was little she was attracted to the art world, filling the walls of the house with small drawings with waxes. She studied Fine Arts at the School of Pontevedra, Spain, and then a Master's degree in Picture Books at the Vigo University. Over the last three years, she has published more than twenty picture books by the Spanish and American markets.