In the vein of Vashti Harrison’s bestselling LITTLE LEADERS series, comes the debut children’s book, LATINITAS: Celebrating 40 Big Dreamers by Juliet Menéndez, a beautifully illustrated collection of short biographies featuring 40 influential Latinas and how they became the women we celebrate today. In this collection, Juliet Menéndez explores the first small steps that set the Latinitas off on their journeys. With gorgeous, hand-painted illustrations, Menéndez shines a spotlight on the power of childhood dreams.
We had the pleasure of chatting to Juliet about Latinitas, book recommendations, her love of writing and art, and much more!
Hi, Juliet! Tell our readers a bit about yourself!
As you can probably tell from my name, I am bi-cultural. My mother is Irish American and my father is Guatemalan. I grew up between the United States and Guatemala and, like many bi-cultural children, never really felt that I belonged in either place.
When I became a public school teacher, I didn’t want my bilingual students to ever feel like they had to choose between their cultures and identities. I always tried to make sure the books and resources I used celebrated their different backgrounds. But I could see that there were far fewer resources than the ones my students deserved and decided I wanted to help grow the collection by making books myself.
I went to Paris (my sister is a filmmaker there) to study illustration and design, worked on learning how to write, and now, my first book LATINITAS: Celebrating 40 Big Dreamers is coming out February 23!
Quick lightning round! Tell us the first book you ever remember reading, the one that made you want to become an author, and one that you can’t stop thinking about!
First Book: Frog and Toad are Friends, by Arnold Lobel
One that made me want to become an author: Waiting for the Biblioburro, written by Monica Brown and illustrated by John Parra
The one I can’t stop thinking about: Half of a Yellow Sun, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
When did you first discover your love for writing and art?
My family is full of art and artists. My grandmother was a poet, my grandfather was a painter, my father is an architect, my mother is an art enthusiast who lined all of our walls with bookcases full of art books from all over the world, and I have aunts, uncles, and cousins on both sides of my family who are musicians, photographers, designers, and filmmakers. So, I have been surrounded by art and art materials for as long as I can remember.
Writing is a little bit different. I think, in some ways, it all started in kindergarten. I remember that my teacher asked children in the class that could read to pair up with those who were still learning and, thinking that I knew how, I raised my hand. I picked up the book we were supposed to be reading and, based on the pictures, told an elaborate story to my partner. My partner was so excited to share what we had been “reading” about, that she was the first to raise her hand and share. I learned that I did not, in fact, know how to read, but that I very much liked being a storyteller.
Your debut children’s book, Latinitas: Celebrating 40 Big Dreamers, is out February 23rd 2021! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
Moving, inspiring, colorful, playful, and fun.
Now tell us a little more! What can readers expect?
Readers can expect to find stories about Latinas from all over the United States and Latin America, from many different backgrounds and ethnicities and get an insight into the childhood experiences that set them off on their journeys as well as some highlights from their careers.
They can also expect to see illustrations of each Latinita as a little girl, with colors that might remind them of the painted storefronts, restaurantitos, and street murals of Latin America and Latinx neighborhoods in the United States (or so I hope).
What inspired you to create this collection?
The idea for Latinitas came to me back in 2014 while working up in Inwood and Spanish Harlem as an art teacher. My students, at the time, were mainly Dominican, Puerto Rican, and Mexican, but when I would walk through the halls of their schools, the posters on the walls were of people like Einstein, Picasso, and Benjamin Franklin. There weren’t posters of anyone who looked like my students or came from similar backgrounds.
So, I started researching Latinx history trying to come up with ideas for men and women to include, but I kept noticing that something very important was missing: women! And when I did find them, they were being relegated to footnotes. If there was anything that was going to bring out the feminist in me, it was that. So, I decided to dedicate this project to celebrating Latina women.
The more I found out, the more I realized that posters weren’t going to be enough. I knew these stories needed to be told and that is when Latinitas became a book.
With the collection featuring 40 influential Latinas, what was it like pulling together information about such incredible women?
I was constantly running home (highly caffeinated) from the coffee shop where I went to work every morning to wake up my partner and tell him a new amazing story about a Latina I was so excited to find.
I approached the research a bit like a scavenger hunt which included going to libraries, tracking down books online that were often out of print and difficult to find, figuring out how to ship anything I found, tracking down people who I thought might have access to materials, watching old film reels and documentaries, reading academic articles, and reviewing online sources like newspapers from web archives.
Not only did you write Latinitas, but you also illustrated it! Can you tell us a bit about your creative process? And if it’s not too difficult to choose, do you have any favourite illustrations within the collection?
As you can probably tell from my answer above, I am all about research. Before creating any of the drawings, I researched typical clothes for the time period, hairstyles, cultural symbols from the different countries and communities, and the type of flora and fauna in the region. I know the illustrations look super simple, but I really like to include one or two details that tie the Latinitas to their communities and their cultures, if possible.
From there, I would brainstorm ways to show a symbolic representation of their profession to pair with what I knew of their childhood activities and once I found an idea I liked, I would create tons of sketches in pencil until I felt like the symbols were simple enough to be understood and that there was some element of playfulness that children could relate to. Then, I would pick out the colors, put on a podcast or audiobook and get to work painting with my watercolors.
I am sorry, I really can’t pick a favorite. I love them all! But I will say that there was one illustration that was personally meaningful. I worked particularly hard on Nobel Peace Prize laureate Dr. Rigoberta Menchú Tum’s illustration–she is the only Latinita I included from Guatemala and I really wanted the illustration to look like her. I reached out to Dr. Menchú Tum before the book was published to see if she had any comments on the profile and illustration. She was incredibly generous in offering some feedback about the profile and I teared up when the director of her foundation, Aury Cuxé, told me later that she loved the illustration. It meant everything.
What do you hope your readers take away from reading Latinitas?
The book represents the Latinitas in chronological order and I did this so that readers can get a sense of their place in this larger historical context. I want readers to know that they have a place in this story, too. I want them to feel a sense of purpose knowing that their ancestors, the Latinas who are making contributions now, and their own communities are counting on them to bring their talents to the table.
What’s next for you?
I have some fun projects in the works that I am excited about. I am currently working on illustrating two books: one by April Pulley Sayre and one by Margarita Engle. I am also working on my first picture book that I am both writing and illustrating.
Lastly, are you currently reading anything and do you have any book recommendations for our readers?
I just started reading, The Vanishing Half, by Brit Bennett (which is pretty amazing so far) and would highly recommend the last book I read, The Undocumented Americans, by Karla Cornejo Villavicencio.
