Philadelphia, PA – At Taller Puertorriqueño, author Milterí Tucker Concepción turned storytime to a dance-filled celebration of the cultural impact of Bomba.
Reading from her bilingual children’s book Bomba Puertorriqueña, Tucker Concepción invited children and families into the world of bomba through music, movement, and language. Accompanied by live drumming, she moved around the room, read closely with children, and encouraged them to join in.
The event was part of Julia de Burgos Bookstore’s Hora de Cuentos, or Saturday Story Time, a recurring series that brings families together for Spanish-focused and bilingual children’s book readings. The bookstore is part of Taller Puertorriqueño, a North Philadelphia cultural institution dedicated to preserving and promoting Puerto Rican arts and culture.
That larger context gave Saturday’s event added meaning. It was about creating a space where Latino children and families could see their culture reflected to them.
Originally from Ponce, Puerto Rico, Tucker Concepción said the idea for Bomba Puertorriqueña came from noticing something missing.
“What inspired me to create the book was that there were no books on bomba for children,” she said. “I traveled a lot of the Caribbean as a dancer, and I would see books on the culture and music, and dance. I went back home to Puerto Rico, and I didn’t see anything on bomba. So, if you don’t see it, you create it.”
She said she wanted to make something interactive and tangible, a book that could introduce children to bomba’s history, family traditions, and cultural elements in a way children could connect with.
For Tucker Concepción, making the book bilingual was essential.
“It is important because for those that are in the diaspora, it is a reconnection to the motherland,” she said. “En Puerto Rico hablamos español.”
She said many children and families are reconnecting with Spanish in different ways, and she wanted the book to be something families could read together.
“This is literacy, to have something that they can also read in Spanish and practice their Spanish at home with their families,” she said.
That intention was visible throughout the event. Tucker Concepción bent down to the children’s eye level, invited them to play instruments, and encouraged them to move with the beat of the drum.
“Bomba for me represents ancestry and connection with our African roots,” she said. “When you hear the rhythm, when you dance, it is a form of expression that connects you to everything that makes you who you are.”
In that way, Tucker Concepción offered a bridge connecting children to Puerto Rican heritage, African diasporic roots, and the living rhythm of bomba.
Her visit was one chapter in Julia de Burgos Bookstore’s ongoing Hora de Cuentos series at Taller Puertorriqueño, where future storytimes will keep welcoming families back into the store to discover more bilingual and Spanish-centered children’s books.
In a city where cultural spaces matter deeply, that kind of continuity helps turn storytime into something lasting; a place where language and identity can be shared across generations.
