,type=downsize)
In their quest to celebrate Hispanic and Latino heroes who have made remarkable contributions to American culture and have been undeniable forces in shaping its future, Hispanic Star has released another addition to their acclaimed Hispanic Star children's book series, honoring Bad Bunny. The book, co-authored by Claudia Romo Edelman and Ann Dávila Cardinal and illustrated by Alexandra Beguez, tells the story of the King of Latin Trap, who is among the most groundbreaking and iconic Latino stars of modern times.
The engaging, illustrated biography, targeting young readers, encapsulates the life of a Grammy Award-winning global sensation and how he went from being a Benito from the Almirante Sur barrio of Vega Baja, Puerto Rico, to becoming the most streamed artist on several music platforms.
Benito, the oldest of three brothers, grew up in a family that valued music, charity, and being true to oneself—beliefs he carries with him to this day. Following his rise to fame in 2017, Bad Bunny was recognized as the King of Latin Trap and became the first non-English-language act to be Spotify's most-streamed artist of the year, leading the list from 2020 to 2022. Bad Bunny, an emblem of his generation, shows that you can be exactly who you are and follow your passions wherever they lead you.
With the motto "If you can see it, you can be it," Hispanic Star provides a unique perspective on the cultural significance of Bad Bunny's story and the broader goals of the Hispanic Star initiative. During a conversation with HOLA! USA, Claudia Romo Edelman shared why Bad Bunny was chosen for this installment and her commitment to making a difference with the Hispanic Star series.
"We started a series of children's books between Hispanic Star and Macmillan because we understand that our children need role models and inspiration," Romo Edelman told HOLA! "There's only 2% of all the children's books characters that are Latinos. So when we started this partnership with Macmillan, we started representing Latinos. So we thought that Bad Bunny should be the second musical book after Celia Cruz, because of the incredible global impact that reggaeton has has had in the world."
After the team behind the book selected Bad Bunny to star in the seventh installment of the book series, the creative process started, including text and illustrations. But how did this happen? According to one of the authors, it "was incredible." According to Claudia, although Bad Bunny can be very controversial, what people know about him is mainly based on what they read in the press. "But his background is quite extraordinary, so we did a lot of research. We reached out. I have an incredible co-writer, Ann Dávila Cardinal, with illustrations by Alexandra Beguez, so we captured why Bad Bunny is so incredible, his background, and family, who gave him the courage not to be ashamed of of his language and his culture, I think that that was fascinating for us to see."
"We spoke to a number of industry players, and then reached out to his team to make sure that we were portraying him correctly," Romo Edelman revealed. "The process was like [peeling] an onion, and at the end, we got to really feel Bad Bunny could be all of us."
The author also explained that after they got to the story's core, they started with the drawings and the process of choosing illustrators. "There's so many stars to shine. America is made of stars, and Latinos are one of them," Claudia emphasized. "So if you're an illustrator or an author, and you want to co-author with us, there's a process in which Macmillan have a pool of illustrators and a pool of co-writers for different industries, either sports or geography, etc."
In addition to Bad Bunny, the book mentions other stars like Daddy Yankee, Ivy Queen, Vico C, and J Balvin when HOLA! USA asked if they plan to release a book of them, and Claudia said, "There's never going to be enough."
"What we want to make sure that every Latino kid has the right and a chance to be inspired, to have a role model that can open up their dreams, so that we can start dreaming big, and making sure that nothing is going to stop your desire to be either a sports star or a music star or a science star, we want to make sure that we have a variety of people to highlight."
Romo Edelman said the ultimate plan for Hispanic Star is to create "a big collection" so they can pack it in gift boxes and give it to individuals or companies' employees. In these communities, they operate as a present of inspiration and education.
The author also stated that they would present the whole collection to schools and libraries so children could have it handy. "We need to have 30% of the children's books being Latinos. We need to have 30% of the characters of the children's books, of television, of everything being Latino, barely 2% so there's a long way to go for us to be able to be there, but we will," she assures, adding that "we want to be intentional about this age group, seven to 10th grade, because here is when your dreams get developed and no one is telling you to think small or dream small."
Marisa Garcia de Celiz, who is also running the project, joined the conversation to emphasize that "as soon as we're set with entire series, we're going to stack them in as many libraries, schools, districts and households in the country, particularly in Hispanic-concentrated areas, so that we ensure that kids have an opportunity to have a window into the possibilities of the future."
Marisa gave HOLA! USA the exclusive on who will star in the next installment. "Pedro Pascal will be our next book," she proudly said.