Welcome, Mia Wenjen!
She’s a longtime member of Multicultural Kid Blogs, the co-creator and President of nonprofit Read Your World, and an author. Her newest picture book, The Traveling Taco: The Amazing and Surprising Journey of Many of Your Favorite Foods, just came out. It is illustrated by Kimberlie Clinthorne-Wong and published by Red Comet Press. This rhyming picture book is for ages 5 and up.
She is hosting a 2 signed book giveaway to 2 winners of The Traveling Taco. Please use the Rafflecopter at the bottom to enter!
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you click through and make a purchase, Multicultural Kid Blogs receives a small commission at no extra cost to you.
What inspired you to write The Traveling Taco?
I had watched the Taco Chronicles on Netflix because I love ethnic food and food TV shows. The episode on the Al Pastor taco started me down the path of this book. I learned that Lebanese immigrants to Mexico, specifically Puebla, arrived they adapted their schwarma tradition for more readily available Mexican products. Instead of lamb, they used pork. The spice mixture was switched up a bit as well.
I was blown away that tacos, which to me — and I’m from California — are quintessentially Mexican, also have a variety from the Middle East.
“Food as Immigrants” is such a fascinating idea!
I wanted to push back against the narrative that immigrants are somehow threatening. We enjoy so many favors and types of food because food cultures have traveled, mixed, and morphed. You can’t hate immigrants if you love their food!
Which food immigrant will readers be most surprised by?
I think it would be fish and chips. Most people think of the U.K. in terms of a food that defines a nation. Fish and chips actually come from Portugal! Portugese Jews fleeing the Portugese Inquisition found their way to England, where lard was commonly used for frying. Because lard wasn’t kosher, the Portuguese Jews used more expensive oil instead, which tasted better. Thomas Jefferson, who traveled to France during the Revolutionary War seeking allies, also went to England where he tried “fish fried in the Jewish manner.”
Chips, a.k.a. French fries, are also not from France! They originated in Belgium. Belgium and France both wanted UNESCO recognition, but Belgium won this accolade and now can claim “Belgium fries” as a national cultural treasure.
What do you hope readers will take away from The Traveling Taco?
I hope readers will find a connection between their favorite foods and a place on a globe. I hope it inspires them to learn about the world and try all kinds of different foods. Food is such a wonderful gateway to new cultures and experiences.
What’s next for you?
I have two more picture books coming out in the fall. A Place to Call Home is about sustainable homes. Mary Atwood is the illustrator, and Tilbury Press is the publisher.
Barbed Wire Between Us is the story of my heart that I worked on for years. Violeta Encarnación is the illustrator, and Red Comet Press is the publisher. It’s about a Japanese grandmother offering hope to a girl in an immigrant detention center as she reflects on her own WWII internment experience. The reverso poem structure is a metaphor for how history is repeating itself. It’s set in Fort Sill, Oklahoma, where Geronino and the Apache were also detained without due process of law. Fort Sill also housed Japanese Internment Concentration camps and is currently a location for an immigrant detention center.
2 Signed Book Giveaway of The Traveling Taco
Enter to win 1 of 2 signed books of The Traveling Taco. Please use the Rafflecopter below to enter. She can only mail to U.S. and A.F.O. addresses.
My books:
Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me
We Sing from the Heart: How the Slants® Took Their Fight for Free Speech to the Supreme Court
- ALSC Notable Children’s Book
- Orbis Pictus Recommended Book for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children
- California Eureka Non-Fiction Award Honor Book
- Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People Winner (from National Council for the Social Studies and Children’s Book Council)
- Junior Library Guild Gold Selection
Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me
Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me
Amazon / Barefoot Books / Signed or Inscribed by Me
Food for the Future: Sustainable Farms Around the World
- ⭐ Starred review from School Library Journal!
- Junior Library Guild Gold selection
- Massachusetts Book Award Long List
- dPICTUS 100 Outstanding Picture Books of 2023
- Chicago Library’s Best of the Best
- 2023 INDIES Book of the Year Awards Finalist
- Green Earth Book Award Long List
- Nautilus Silver Winner, Nonfiction Children’s Picture Book
- Sunshine State Young Readers Award Orange Blossom List for Nonfiction
- Imagination Soup’s 35 Best Nonfiction Books of 2023 for Kids
Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me
Bank Street College’s The Best Children’s Books of the Year
Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me
Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me
Leanna
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