Proud to Be Latino: Food/Comida

by Ashley Marie Mireles, Edith Valle (Illustrator)

Overview

Did you know that there are over 5000 types of potatoes sold in South America? Or that in Honduras, a song about conch soup reached the Billboard Top 100 Charts? 

Latino culture spans Southern and Central America as well as the Caribbean, but often when we think of Latino foods, we think tacos, burritos, and other common Mexican dishes. Proud to Be Latino: Food/Comida teaches children how different Latino countries use similar ingredients to create unique regional dishes.

The dishes and their descriptions are given in both English and Spanish, and parents will enjoy the sidebars with additional fun facts about Latino food and culture. This bilingual board book takes the reader beyond a basic language primer and dives deep into the heart of Latino culture . . . which is the food, of course! 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781641701549
Publisher:	Familius
Publication date:	09/01/2019
Edition description:	Bilingual
Pages:	20
Sales rank:	326,823
Product dimensions:	7.90(w) x 7.90(h) x 0.70(d)
Age Range:	3 - 5 Years

About the Author

Ashley Marie Mireles is an author and publishing professional living in California’s Central Valley. She is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators as well as the co-chair of IBPA’s DEI Committee and currently serves on the IBPA Board of Directors. She has published over ten children’s books including 100 First Words for Little Californians, O is for Ocean, S is for Snow, Rock Legends Who Changed the World, and Little Fingers Ballet. As a child'she could be found in the local library or participating in the Young Author’s Fair. It was this early love of books that lead her to her career in publishing. Ashley hopes that the books she helps to create, write, sell, and promote, will bring happiness to readers everywhere. She currently lives with her partner and their two rescue dogs in a home full of books!

Edith Valle is an artist based in Austin, Texas. She graduated with a BA in graphic design from St. Edward's University in 2016. She illustrates projects such as marketing campaigns, branding, and posters for local nonprofit organizations.

Editorial Reviews

"Food is often portrayed in literature as integral to Latino cultures, but drawing the connections among foods across those countries is refreshing and rare... Visually appealing and sure to pique the appetite of readers of varying ages. Recommended."

- Jessica Agudelo, New York Public Library, School Library Journal

"Proud to Be Latino: Food/Comida by author Ashley Marie Mireles and illustrator Edith Valle is an ideal and unreservedly recommended addition to family, daycare center, preschool, kindergarten, and elementary school board book collections." 
- Midwest Book Review 

From the Publisher

09/20/2019

PreS-Gr 1-Much like a menu, this book highlights the featured foods by category, from crops like corn and plantains, pairings like rice and beans, to major food groups like meats and seafood, with brief, upbeat descriptions of their importance to Latino cuisine. English and Spanish text mirror one another on each colorful spread, surrounded by digital illustrations of the fare from different countries that exemplify the category, like mangú, pupusas, and tacu tacu. Fascinating tidbits of information are included that connect the popularity of certain dishes or foods with the historical or geographic characteristics of Latin American nations ("Seafood dishes are a result of 31,000 miles of coastline"). Food is often portrayed in literature as integral to Latino cultures, but drawing the connections among foods across those countries is refreshing and rare. Notably, the countries of origin for the dishes are not included, a result, perhaps, of the limiting board book format. VERDICT Visually appealing and sure to pique the appetite of readers of varying ages. Recommended.-Jessica Agudelo, New York Public Library

School Library Journal

2019-09-24
A board-book introduction to the different foods of Latin America.

Attractive and colorful illustrations present foods from different Latin American countries alongside text that mentions differences and commonalities. Double-page spreads present the information in English on the left-hand side and Spanish on the right. Unfortunately, there is a mistake in the Spanish on almost every page. An article that does not match its noun: "un gran comida." Nouns that do not match their adjectives: "papas fritos," "algunas salsa." Plain old proofreading mistakes: "hoja de lurel" (for "hoja de laurel"), "pasterlería" (for "pastelería"), "coco caliente" (presumably for "cocoa caliente," which is more commonly known as "chocolate caliente" but in any event has nothing to do with coconuts). (The power of proofreading should never be underestimated.) Some might make readers laugh if they weren't so awful: "la región de Andrés" for "la región andina." And the final blow comes with the use of the word "Latino." This term is a uniquely United States construct to refer to people from Latin America living in the United States. Cacao may have been used as currency on Latin American trade routes, but it was not used on "Latino trade routes." Moreover, people are described by their demonyms, so Pablo Neruda is not a "Latino poet," he is a Chilean poet.

It is hard to be "Proud to be Latino" when so many mistakes abound. (Board book. 4-6)

Kirkus Reviews