Pockets of Love

by Yamile Saied Méndez, Sara Palacios (Illustrator)

Overview

Sweet or savory.

Fried or baked.

Little pockets filled with love and a taste from home.

Grandma Monona always made the best empanadas for Mami’s birthday. But this year Monona is in heaven and Mami is sad. Her birthday won’t be the same without Monona.

Star and Sebi know they need a special birthday surprise to cheer up Mami. Maybe they can make Mami Monona’s empanadas themselves! But will they be able to capture the same magic as Monona’s empanadas if they don’t know her secret ingredient?

From Yamile Saied Méndez (acclaimed author of Where Are You From? and What Will You Be?) and Sara Palacios comes a moving and heartfelt picture book about the ways in which we carry those we’ve lost with us always—in pockets of love. 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780063234970
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	09/03/2024
Pages:	40
Product dimensions:	8.60(w) x 10.20(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Yamile Saied Méndez is the author of many books for young readers and adults, including the award-winning picture books Where Are You From? and What Will You Be? She was born and raised in Rosario, Argentina, and now lives in a lovely valley surrounded by mountains in Utah with her husband, five children, two dogs, and a majestic cat. She’s a graduate of Voices of Our Nations and the Vermont College of Fine Arts MFA writing for children and young adults program. She’s always trying new empanada recipes. Connect with her at yamilemendez.com.

Sara Palacios is the recipient of the 2012 Pura Belpré Illustrator Honor for her work on Marisol McDonald Doesn't Match/Marisol McDonald no combina. A native of Mexico, Sara earned BFA and MFA degrees in illustration from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. She works with a variety of media such as collage, ink, and digital artwork.

Editorial Reviews

09/09/2024

Two Latinx-cued siblings attempting to follow a family empanada recipe worry that they’re missing a key ingredient in this tender intergenerational story. After Grandma Monona’s death, young Sebi and Star miss their world-traveling grandmother. But “Mami misses Monona the most.” For Mami’s birthday—her first without Monona—the siblings plan to make empanadas, just like their grandmother did each year. The children contemplate the “secret ingredient” on Monona’s recipe card, shopping with Papi at the market. There, they tell their plans to Doña Rita, who explains how each country has its own version of the food—“little pockets filled with love and a taste from home.” Méndez sensitively emphasizes legacy alongside loss: the children pick flowers from the pots Monona planted, play her favorite song while cooking, and compare their empanada-crimping styles to hers. Palacios’s warm-hued illustrations—mustard yellow, avocado green, and terra cotta—portray cozy comfort throughout this story about love folded into a family’s favorite dish. An empanada recipe concludes. Ages 4–8. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

"Cozy illustrations feel like a big hug, full of delicious details such as examples of other cuisines from around the world. The heartwarming tale beautifully depicts how love and tradition can create new memories, even in the face of loss... A celebration of family, culture, and the healing power of homemade empanadas."—Kirkus — Kirkus Reviews

"A heartwarming story reassuring readers that cooking cherished family recipes preserves precious memories while creating new ones." — School Library Journal

"Pura Belpré winner Méndez deals with death and loss sensitively and gently, showing children how to celebrate life and remember those no longer with us. A wonderful two-page spread, depicting and naming “pocket” foods from around the world, highlights cultural commonalities and the pleasure of sharing good food. In delicate, cheerful multimedia illustrations, Palacios (herself a Pura Belpré Honor Book winner) scatters musical notes, stars, hearts, and flowers, concretely illustrating the characters’ feelings and emotions." — Booklist

"A heartfelt story about the ways in which we express affection to our loved ones, and the ways in which we carry on the legacy of our departed." — Latinx in Publishing

"Méndez sensitively emphasizes legacy alongside loss: the children pick flowers from the pots Monona planted, play her favorite song while cooking, and compare their empanada-crimping styles to hers. Palacios’s warm-hued illustrations—mustard yellow, avocado green, and terra cotta—portray cozy comfort throughout this story about love folded into a family’s favorite dish."—Publishers Weekly — Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher

07/19/2024

PreS-Gr 2—Following the death of a deeply loved family member, Argentinian author Mendez shows how preparing a favorite family recipe can provide healing. It is Mami's first birthday since the death of her mother, Monona. Even though her son Sebi, daughter Star, and husband bring her breakfast, cards, and flowers in bed on her birthday, they know Mami is still sad because her mother is in heaven. As a surprise, Sebi suggests that they make grandma Monona's empanada recipe for dinner while Mami is at work. Even though the grandmother's empanada recipe calls for a "generous shake of my secret ingredient," the three decide to prepare the recipe anyway. While at the market gathering supplies, Sebi and Star learn that empanadas are one of the "pockets of love" prepared around the world. From dumplings to turnovers, pasteles to egg rolls, "pockets of love" can be sweet or savory, fried or baked, but they always have a filling wrapped with dough as well as "love and a taste from home." Mami is delighted with the surprise dinner and informs her family that love is, and always was, the secret ingredient. From the cozy, colorful home to the bustling downtown market, the cheerful illustrations show a supportive, brown-skinned family that embraces their heritage. Spanish phrases are sprinkled throughout, and the end notes include the recipes for empanada dough and beef picadillo filling. VERDICT A heartwarming story reassuring readers that cooking cherished family recipes preserves precious memories while creating new ones.—Sally A. James

School Library Journal

2024-06-15
It’s Mami’s first birthday without Grandma Monona.

Sebi and Star want to help Mami have a wonderful day, even though they all miss Monona, who’s recently died. Younger sibling Sebi suggests they make empanadas for Mami while she’s at work, just like Grandma Monona used to do. The kids and Papi crack open the recipe box and get started but are stumped when the recipe reads “a pinch of this” and “a dash of that” and then refers to a mysterious “secret ingredient.” Hoping that a shopping trip will inspire them, they walk to the market. A friendly neighbor calls the empanadas “pockets of love” and explains to Star that every country has its own version of a stuffed-dough comfort food. Even though the form and filling differ, they’re all “filled with love and a taste from home.” The family members finish their shopping and start cooking, and Mami’s delighted by the homemade empanadas. The family realizes that the secret ingredient was love all along. Cozy illustrations feel like a big hug, full of delicious details such as examples of other cuisines from around the world. The heartwarming tale beautifully depicts how love and tradition can create new memories, even in the face of loss. Sebi and Star, as well as their family and most neighbors, have brown skin and brown hair; the use of Spanish cues the family as Latine.

A celebration of family, culture, and the healing power of homemade empanadas. (author’s note, recipes)(Picture book. 5-9)

Kirkus Reviews