Alberto Salas Plays Paka Paka Con La Papa: Join the Quest with Peru's Famed Scientist and Potato Expert

What can a potato do? To Peruvian scientist Alberto Salas, they have the power to change the world. Go on the hunt with Alberto for for wild potatoes before they go extinct in this playful picture book biography, gorgeously illustrated by Caldecott-honoree Juana Martinez-Neal.

High up in the Andes mountains of Peru, agricultural scientist Alberto Salas is on a quest. A quest... for potatoes.

Up and down the Andes mountains he goes, playing an epic game of paka paka con la papa, potato hide and seek. These potatoes are special: they have the power to feed the world.

Alberto doesn't have a second to waste. The climate is changing and Alberto must find each and every one to save them before they go extinct.

The game is on!

Alberto races and peers and prods. Drives and trods and climbs. Will he find the potato he seeks? Will he win the game of paka paka con la papa?

Author Sara Andrea Fajardo's spirited biography about "the godfather of potatoes" is paired with lush art by Caldecott-honoree Juana Martinez-Neal to capture how celebrated scientist Alberto Salas brings joy, curiosity, and fun to his very important, life-changing work.

Author: Sara Andrea Fajardo
Binding Type: Hardcover
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Published: 03/18/2025
Pages: 40
Weight: 1.1lbs
Size: 10.20h x 10.30w x 0.60d
ISBN: 9781250838612

Accelerated Reader:
Reading Level: 3.6
Point Value: 0.5
Interest Level: Lower Grade
Quiz #/Name: 555136 / Alberto Salas Plays Paka Paka Con La Papa: Join the Quest with Peru's Famed Scientist and Potato Exp


Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 12/16/2024
Kirkus Reviews 01/15/2025
School Library Journal 01/31/2025 pg. 1
Booklist 03/01/2025 pg. 90
BookPage 03/01/2025
Horn Book Magazine 07/01/2025 pg. 113
Hornbook Guide to Children 01/01/2025 - Superior,Well Above Average

About the Author

Sara A. Fajardo first discovered the power of words when she was four. Newly arrived in the United States from her native Peru, her English vocabulary consisted of the word "monkey," which she promptly turned into her favorite greeting, "Hola Monkey!" The amused reaction to that phrase started her on a lifelong path of telling stories--first as a photojournalist, then as a multimedia storyteller for humanitarian aid organizations, and now as a writer for children. She grew up in the agricultural community of Salinas, California, and has lived in Finland, Japan, and Kenya. Sara currently resides in the San Francisco Bay Area, with her husband, two children, and very playful cat.

Juana Martinez-Neal is the Peruvian-born daughter and granddaughter of painters. Her debut as an author-illustrator, Alma and How She Got Her Name, was awarded a Caldecott Honor, and Zonia's Rain Forest was named an ALA Top 10 Sustainability-themed Children's Book. She illustrated New York Times bestselling picture book Tomatoes for Neela by Padma Lakshmi; Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story by Kevin Noble Maillard, which won a Robert F. Sibert Medal; and La Princesa and the Pea by Susan M. Elya, for which she won a Pura Belpré Illustrator Award. She also co-illustrated with Molly Idle I Don't Care by Julie Fogliano. Juana Martinez-Neal lives in Connecticut with her family.