In his striking author-illustrator debut, Zeke Peña offers an immersive and fantastical look at his hometown of El Paso, where the sun reigns over the vast desert and shapes all that it touches.

Where the rock wall ends, the desert beyond begins.

The desert is home to unique fauna and flora that have adapted to thrive under the intense sun, making it an endless landscape for two curious siblings to roam free. Old discarded tires, gnarled nopal trees that beg to be climbed, enormous rocks that demonstrate how to sit still and listen. Rain brings a welcome reprieve from the heat, followed by the mud slowly drying out on their skin, cracking like clay, until it's hard to tell where the kids end and the desert begins.

Sundust is the author-illustrator debut from the acclaimed illustrator of My Papi Has a Motorcycle; it celebrates the bonds that develop between a person and their hometown through spare, lyrical text and dazzling desert landscapes.
Zeke Peña is a cartoonist and illustrator from El Paso, Texas. He studied art history at the University of Texas at Austin and is self-taught in illustration and painting. He has published work with VICE.com, Latino USA, The Believer Magazine, The Nib, Penguin Random House, Holt/Macmillan, and Cinco Puntos Press. He received the Boston Globe– Horn Book Award for a graphic biography he illustrated titled Photographic: The Life of Graciela Iturbide and the Pura Belpré Illustration Honor for My Papi Has a Motorcycle. You can see more of his work at ZPVisual.com.
additional book photo
additional book photo
additional book photo
additional book photo
additional book photo

About

In his striking author-illustrator debut, Zeke Peña offers an immersive and fantastical look at his hometown of El Paso, where the sun reigns over the vast desert and shapes all that it touches.

Where the rock wall ends, the desert beyond begins.

The desert is home to unique fauna and flora that have adapted to thrive under the intense sun, making it an endless landscape for two curious siblings to roam free. Old discarded tires, gnarled nopal trees that beg to be climbed, enormous rocks that demonstrate how to sit still and listen. Rain brings a welcome reprieve from the heat, followed by the mud slowly drying out on their skin, cracking like clay, until it's hard to tell where the kids end and the desert begins.

Sundust is the author-illustrator debut from the acclaimed illustrator of My Papi Has a Motorcycle; it celebrates the bonds that develop between a person and their hometown through spare, lyrical text and dazzling desert landscapes.

Author

Zeke Peña is a cartoonist and illustrator from El Paso, Texas. He studied art history at the University of Texas at Austin and is self-taught in illustration and painting. He has published work with VICE.com, Latino USA, The Believer Magazine, The Nib, Penguin Random House, Holt/Macmillan, and Cinco Puntos Press. He received the Boston Globe– Horn Book Award for a graphic biography he illustrated titled Photographic: The Life of Graciela Iturbide and the Pura Belpré Illustration Honor for My Papi Has a Motorcycle. You can see more of his work at ZPVisual.com.

Photos

additional book photo
additional book photo
additional book photo
additional book photo
additional book photo

Reading with Purpose Summit Event

On Monday, June 10th, Penguin Random House Education and DK Learning co-hosted a Reading with Purpose Summit Event in collaboration with Molly Ness, PhD. The event took place at Penguin Random House’s NYC headquarters and included sessions featuring leading education experts and a lunchtime author panel. The in-person professional learning event was built to show

Read more

2024 Elementary School Collection

The Penguin Random House Education Elementary School Collection features outstanding fiction, nonfiction, and picture books from Penguin Young Reader’s, Random House Children’s, DK, and Grupo Editorial, as well as children’s publishers distributed by Penguin Random House. Explore online or download this valuable resource to discover great books in specific topic areas such as: Leveled Readers,

Read more

DK Learning Phonic Books Sampler Request

Thank you for your interest in DK Learning | Phonic Books. To download the DK Learning | Phonic Books sampler with four complete readers, please click here and complete the form. Once your information is successfully submitted, a link to download the sampler will be provided on the confirmation screen.   Click here to learn

Read more

PRH Education Translanguaging Collections

Translanguaging is a communicative practice of bilinguals and multilinguals, that is, it is a practice whereby bilinguals and multilinguals use their entire linguistic repertoire to communicate and make meaning (García, 2009; García, Ibarra Johnson, & Seltzer, 2017)   It is through that lens that we have partnered with teacher educators and bilingual education experts, Drs.

Read more