• • Title: Alberto Salas plays Paka Paka con la Papa: Join the Search with Peru’s Famed Scientist and Potato Expert
  • Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
  • Release Date: March 18, 2025
  • Author: Sara Andrea Fajardo
  • Illustrator: Juana Martinez-Neal
  • Age Level: 3-8, 40 pages
  • ISBN: 978-1-2508-3861-2

This biographic picture book about Peruvian agronomist Alberto Salas and his hunt for wild potatoes before they go extinct is an ode to conservation and science, gorgeously illustrated by Caldecott-honoree Juana Martinez-Neal.

High up in the Andes mountains of Peru, agricultural scientist Alberto Salas is on a quest. A quest… for potatoes.

Up and down the Andes mountains he goes, playing an epic game of paka paka con la papa, potato hide and seek. These potatoes are special: they have the power to feed the world.

Alberto doesn’t have a second to waste. The climate is changing and Alberto must find each and every one to save them before they go extinct.

The game is on!

Alberto races and peers and prods. Drives and trods and climbs. Will he find the potato he seeks? Will he win the game of paka paka con la papa?

Author Sara Andrea Fajardo’s spirited biography about “the godfather of potatoes” is paired with lush, playful art by Caldecott-honoree Juana Martinez-Neal to capture how celebrated scientist Alberto Salas brings joy, curiosity, and fun to his very important, life-changing work.