The Alfaguara Children’s Book Publishers and the Santillana Group are delighted to congratulate Dinorah Coronado’s “Rebecca Up At Bat” which has won the "Aurora Tavárez Belliard" National Children’s Literature Prize for 2008. Ms. Coronada, a Dominican writer living in New York, publishes with Alfaguara Infantil (Alfaguara Children’s Books).

These entertaining stories project values such as the healthy dedication to sports, in this case baseball, female leadership, family devotion, organization and learning responsibility from a young age.

The Jury recognized this book as it “presents stories written in an entertaining and flowing style with children as defined, creative and proactive characters with whom readers can identify and feel an intimacy. As part of the charming narrative there is a stupendous collection of values and attitudes connected to life and society in today’s Dominican Republic.” Writers and children’s literature specialists Jenny Montero, Mayra Navarro and Luis Martín Gómez made up the jury.

The book contains three stories. In the first, “Rebecca Up At Bat,” the little girl confronts an important challenge: to hit a homerun for her baseball team so they’ll win the championship they’re playing in New York with girls from other countries. Her father and mother have trained her well. In the other story, “Anita the Forgetful One,” the protagonist discovers what to do so she will not forget her homework. In the third story, “Speedy Jose,” the main character is run aground at sea where he learns to obey and not to be so reckless.

These entertaining stories project values such as the healthy dedication to sports, in this case baseball, female leadership, family devotion, organization and learning responsibility from a young age. They are a tribute to children’s creativity as they search for solutions to life’s daily problems. The illustrations were done by Alejandro Gómez of the Eureka! Workshop.

DINORAH CORONADO is a teacher, psychologist, playwright, novelist and children’s author. Her winning book underscores how family connections help children reach their goals and how creative children can be when facing difficulties. Coronado is from La Vega but currently resides in New York where she directs the Coronado Theater.

Dinorah began teaching children and later changed careers to become a psychologist, writer, playwright and actress without ever cutting her links to children through her theater. As a writer, she has done narrative, poetry and essays. Her published work includes “Between Two Worlds” (novel), “The Children’s Soul” (poetry and children’s theater), “Bosquilandia 1 and Interiors” (bilingual poetry). In addition, she has written various theater pieces that have been staged. Among her plays are Minverva and Manolo, Gabriela Mistral and The Bonanza Twins. “Rebecca Up at Bat and Two More Stories” was her first book for Alfaguara Infantil Publishing.