“Activities with Adventures in the City of Stories”
In Adventure in the City of Stories, cousins Siggy, Camila, and Jorge travel back in time to save historical artifacts: puppets made by librarian and author Pura Belpré. After reading Adventure in the City of Stories, try these creative activities and writing prompts!
- Learn more about the historical figures in the book: While visiting the year 1930 in their magic time-travel boat, the cousins meet literary luminaries who shaped the field of children’s literature. The book’s extensive backmatter includes lots of suggestions for further reading. You might want to start with these picture book biographies: My Name is Gabriela by Monica Brown, Miss Moore Thought Otherwise by Jan Pinborough, The Man Who Built a Library by Carole Boston Weatherford, and Planting Stories by Anika Aldamuy Denise.
- Make a puppet: Librarians like Pura Belpré were famous for their dramatizations of literature and folktales, including pantomimes and puppet shows. Belpré even organized a club of kids to make their own puppets! Try using materials like brown paper bags, toilet paper tubes, popsicle sticks, pipe cleaners, brads, and of course paper, paint, and crayons to fashion your own puppet inspired by literature or folklore.
- Put your puppet in a museum: Imagine it’s a hundred years in the future. What makes your puppet special? Why would someone want to preserve it for history? Use a cardboard box and either saran wrap or the top of a plastic takeout container to put your puppet in a display case. If you’re working with a class or homeschool group, make a museum with all your displays!
- Write the wall text for your exhibit: If your puppet were really in a museum display case, what would the wall text say? Tell museum visitors who made your puppet and in what year. Describe the materials you used. Explain why the puppet is important and what visitors can learn from looking at the puppet.
- Find the portal: Look around your museum. A portal is a door to a different world–a magical or historical universe separate from ours–and in fiction portals are often found in ordinary places. The rabbit hole from Alice in Wonderland and the wardrobe from The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe are both examples of portals. In Adventure in the City of Stories, the cousins’ aunt has a large clay pot that acts as a portal. If there were a portal in your classroom, bedroom, or wherever your museum is located, what would it be? How would kids “activate” the portal and reach another world? Have fun writing about your portal!
- Share your project with the author!: I love when teachers and parents tell me about the creative activities kids have done with my books, and I always welcome pictures of student work. Educators can contact me through my website.
Adventure in the City of Stories
Author: Emma Otheguy
Illustrator: Poly Bernatene
Published July 21st, 2026 by Atheneum Books for Young Readers
About the Book: Cousins Jorge, Camila, and Siggy never imagined that dusty old puppets and a mysterious book would launch them into a time-traveling adventure. But when they discover their aunt has treasures belonging to Pura Belpré, the trailblazing Latina librarian and storyteller, they’re transported back to 1930s New York City. Their mission? Race against time to return Pura’s puppets and a signed first edition of her book, proving their aunt isn’t a thief.
The past is full of danger, though. A powerful woman will stop at nothing to steal the book, the cousins’ nosy neighbor is snooping around, and the hardship of the Great Depression is all around them. Luckily Jorge, Camila, and Siggy meet Antonia, a fierce Puerto Rican girl fighting injustice against her community.
The cousins will need courage, quick thinking, and a little help from history to protect Pura Belpré’s legacy, clear their aunt’s name, and make it back home. Can they pull it off before time runs out?
About the Author: Emma Otheguy is the author of several books for young readers, including the picture books A Sled for Gabo and Martina Has Too Many Tías, the bilingual picture book Martí’s Song for Freedom, and the middle grade novels Sofía Acosta Makes a Scene, Cousins in the Time of Magic, Silver Meadows Summer, and, with Adam Gidwitz, The Madre de Aguas of Cuba, part of the Unicorn Rescue Society series. Visit her at EmmaOtheguy.com.
Educators, a READING GROUP GUIDE can be found on the book’s Simon & Schuster webpage HERE!
Thank you, Emma, for these fun activities to implement with your book!
