Alberto Salas Plays Paka Paka con la Papa tells the inspiring story of real-life Peruvian conservation scientist Alberto Salas, now in his 80s, who identified and conserved more than 60% of the potato (“papa”) collection stored at the International Potato Center in Lima, Peru. His important contributions preserve vital specimens of plant diversity, helping farmers and families around the world.
Paka paka means “hide and seek” in Quechua, an Indigenous language in Peru, and the book illustrates how Salas used many of the games and skills he learned as a child to enhance his plant-collecting superpowers. Sara A. Fajardo’s informative, playful text vividly showcases Salas’ adventures: “Up and down the crooked spine of the Andes goes Alberto, playing an epic game of paka paka con la papa, potato hide-and-seek.” This is both an epic quest and a serious game, and Salas’ ingenuity, determination and spirit sparkle on every page as he uses eagle-eyed observations to map “the potato constellation” while wondering, “How can anyone get lost when the world is so beautiful?” Fajardo seamlessly interweaves Spanish and Quechuan phrases into the text (a glossary appears later) while highlighting the scientist’s plant-finding skills in places that vary from the peak of a remote mountain to the middle of a city zoo.
Both Fajardo and illustrator Juana Martinez-Neal have Peruvian heritage, and both have personally observed Salas’ work, lending extraordinary enthusiasm and authenticity to this book. Martinez-Neal, who received a Caldecott Honor for Alma and How She Got Her Name, depicts Salas as a lovable, balding, ruddy-nosed character who has his head in the clouds in the very best way, while coated in a patina of potato dirt. Earthy browns and sunshine yellows are pronounced throughout, and mixed media collages impart texture and grit on each and every page, whether showing tuber roots intertwining beneath the soil, or Salas delicately wrapping a mountain specimen to transport it to the Potato Center.
This tribute to a contemporary figure will no doubt strike a chord with young readers. Extensive back matter further enriches Salas’ story. Alberto Salas Plays Paka Paka con la Papa is not to be missed, and may have readers gazing at potatoes in an entirely new light.
