#NuevasPáginas: Changing POVs with Tacos!
Featuring Eliza Kinkz, author of ‘Mistaco’
Hi Book Franz,
How are you holding up?
In case you missed my previous issues or are new here, before we jump into a new author interview/book feature, I want to check in on you. I also like to see this as my weekly reminder to check in with myself. So please feel free to reply out loud to yourself, reply in the comments, or you can always feel free to reply to this email, too. I truly believe community sustains, and I’m grateful to be able to be in community with you here. See it as your moment to vent to strangers on the internet in a safe space, or just to me (via email).
Today’s issue is extra special, not only because it’s been a while since the last one, but because my kid was/is very impressed by the featured author. We have read the book featured in this issue multiple times. It’s one of our favorite books of the year. It’s helped us have a lot of great conversations about making mistakes—especially about not being embarrassed by them, but instead sharing them and owning up to them. They say books find you when you need them the most, and I would say that MISTACO is one of those books. Even before reading it, one thing that frequently would come up in my sessions with my therapist is learning how to accept/let go of the mistakes I’ve made. I love doing this thing where I spiral and spiral and spiral about a mistake or something I said, which felt like a mistake! So, through this picture book and chats with my son, it feels like the universe is gifting me a chance to practice giving myself more grace.
I hope you enjoy this interview as much as I did! I’m looking forward to catching up with you soon.
In bookish love,
#NuevasPáginas is a space that aims to amplify and spotlight Hispanic/Latine/x authors with newly published books. The goal is to connect readers to their next favorite Hispanic/Latine/x authored book through a mini casual get-to-know-the-book-and-author interview. So please help me connect to more readers. So that together we can continue to build the love/support of Latine literature!
Without further ado…our special guest author for today’s Nuevas Pagina issue is…. author of ‘Mistaco’……
Could you tell me a bit about where this photo was taken? Is it special to your book in some way?
This photo was taken at Nixta Taqueria!
I was eating a taco before I performed a story time for my book Mistaco. The especial de la casa that day was a 'weenie n’ egg taco' in honor of my Lita, who always made a big bag of them to go for us!
ALSO, I am sitting in front of the cardboard Taco Truck I made! Such a labor of love that truck, but it has brought so much happiness to so many kids, AND ADULTS.
Tell me about your book without telling me about your book - share any literary inspirations behind your book! If there are none, the gap you wanted to fill in the literary canon with your book
So with MISTACO, I hope I’m succeeding in making a book that has just as much funny as it does heart. THIS is a tall order as I think humor is one of the hardest acts to pull off in any medium.
Especially when you are also attempting at the same time to change a POV on something that is largely accepted.
That making a mistake is a bad thing.
BUT, if you put it inside a taco, suddenly it becomes a good thing! (Unless you are putting an old granola bar you left out on the counter for 3 weeks inside a taco. Then it becomes a mistake allllllll over again.)
AND on top of the humor, heart, changing a POV…I am also adding Spanglish. AND SAYING IT IS OK, AND ACTUALLY AWESOME TO USE SPANGLISH!
So apparently I am trying to fill all the gaps! YOU ARE WELCOME, LITERARY CANON!
Did you always know you wanted to write a book?
Honestly it seemed like an impossible dream as a kid, but then I had no hesitation jumping into it after I HAD my first kid.
I guess pushing a baby out of your body will make you think you can take on anything!
What was something you learned while writing your book?
To keep trying the story in new ways!
As I tend to think that any version I write is the best thing ever written in the history of writing stuff down.
Woahhhhh….did I just write that?
Genius,,,..let’s just end WRITE there.
If a book was a home, where would your home be?
Arnold Lobel’s Frog and Toad books. They are just so cozy, and I know there will be a comfy bed for me to hide under the covers in.
Also Toad, and I can totally be anxious together over if Frog will invite us to get ice cream
If your book was a famous musician who would it be and why?
Charro as she definitely has the spirit, sparkly outfits, and facial expressions to fully capture my illustrations.
What comfort food could a reader pair with your book?
Beef Stroganoff…JUST KIDDING! TACOS, of course!!!
In what ways has access (or little to no access) to Hispanic/Latinx/e literature defined you as a writer?
Having access to Tejana cultura changed my perspective of the world.
The colors of my Abuelita’s house, the hand painted signs at the local taqueria, and seeing a wild assortment of knick knacks at our local flea market…all have found their way into my illustrations.
Along with all the tales I would hear of my ancestors, or just silly adventures of my family definitely left their mark on my stories.
Sadly though I can not recall any Latine authors growing up, so I am very excited for kids to grow up with me! AND all the other amazing Latine authors there are these days!
Where can readers keep up with your work? (Feel free to include any social media accounts that you'd like readers to follow)
Join my Substack for my newsletter, or find me on instagram, or blue sky posting ridiculous things like future dream homes.
Thank you to Eliza Kinkz for taking the time to chat with me about her book! Please please make sure you purchase a copy (or request your local library carry a copy) #SupportLatinxLit!
Eliza Kinkz is a Tejana artist who never stopped viewing the world through the bright colors of her crayons, AND she even ate a few, too! She's illustrated many hilarious picture books, including Papá's Magical Water-Jug Clock by Jesús Trejo which won the Pura Belpré Illustration Honor, and was the 2022 James Marshall Fellow. All her ridiculous scribbles burst straight from her heart, which is overflowing with joy. . .and probably a few crayon pieces. Eliza lives in Austin, Texas, with her family and her one true love, a huge bowl of queso.
Mistaco is her author-illustrator debut, and you can spill all the frijoles to her at ElizaKinkz.com.
Synopsis for Mistaco: A chaotically funny debut picture book about a girl who's had a terrible day full of mistakes and finds that making mistacos could be a delicious solution.
After an awful day at school (including a tragic but plausibly deniable mishap with a pudding cup), Izzy wants to be left alone. But it's Friday, and that means making tortillas with Lito.
As the mistakes pile up, they come tumbling out of Izzy—and Lito surprises her by saying everyone makes mistakes, and if she makes a tortilla out of her mistakes, he will EAT it.
"Mmmm. . .spicy! And boogery! With a hint of courage. My favorite taco EVER!"
Suddenly, the whole family is confessing and getting mistakes off their chests with a feast of mistacos! A delightfully silly picture book for fans of Dragons Love Tacos and The Book of Mistakes. Includes instructions on how to make and enjoy your own mistacos!
Trying really hard not to loose hope- inmigrant mexican mom of a trans firts generation hije. I am so afraid for our future! Really trying hard to ve in spaces like this! Gracias Lupita por crear comunidad!
I'm thankful to be in community with you too ❤️ Un abrazo ❤️