Author, educator, and librarian D. H. Figueredo introduces readers to Latin-American culture and history in the picture books When This World Was New and The Road to Santiago. Both books recall events from the author's own life: When This World Was New follows a young boy as he makes the journey with his family from his Caribbean island home to crowded New York City, while in The Road to Santiago the yearly Christmas Eve journey to visit his aunts's house is transformed into an exciting adventure for young Alfredito due to the outbreak of civil war.