ASPIRE Center pilot project awardee, Ana Ruiz Morillo, Found & Director of Training to Impact, LLC, developed the first of a series of bilingual Spanish/English children’s books to provide evidence-based strategies to reduce exposure and health impacts of wildfire smoke and air pollution in vulnerable Latinx communities. The first book, Superheroés del Planeta (Superheroes of the Planet): Un Libro de Acción Climática Para Niños en Español e Inglés is a bilingual picture book (print and digital format) about climate action, where Latinx characters discuss wildfire smoke, air pollution impacts, and resilience.

The book is designed for children ages 5 – 12 years old and also seeks to engage parents, as the book will facilitate culturally appropriate communication between parents and their children on health-related topics. The project has conducted extensive outreach for the book to more than 20 community events, including the Educate Ya and Viva Salem health fairs, Oregon libraries, schools and after school programs, local migrant school programs, and conferences. They collaborated with Community Health Workers who were integral outreach ambassadors, taking the book out on their home visits, to book and health fairs, and to share with their partner organizations. Notably, the book was shared at Storytime during the first Oregon Latino Book Fair, and presented during the 2024 National Migrant Education Conference.

The next step is to complete the digital website that will host the book, certificate, and educational content in Spanish and English.