S1: Hey , San Diego , I'm Andrew Bracken in for Jade Hyneman. Menudo Sunday is a new children's book celebrating family life over family meals. We hear from the San Diego author about the role nostalgia plays in the book , and why she likes to write in Spanglish. This is KPBS Midday Edition. Connecting our communities through conversation. A large Mexican American family gathers for a Sunday meal of fun and family. The main course , the Mexican soup menudo. That's the backdrop of a new bilingual picture book from San Diego author Maria Dolores Aguilar. KPBS Andrew Bowen recently spoke with Maria about the book.
S2: Your previous book was called Barrio Rising , and it was the children's book selection last year for One book , One San Diego. It told the really inspiring story of the community's efforts to create Chicano Park here in San Diego.
S3: But Menudo Sunday is a story of resilience. And what does that mean ? It means experiencing joy of happiness. So Menudo Sunday is an ode to , you know , having a large family gathering together and just finding the joy of everyday , ordinary life.
S2: And the book tells of a weekly family meal.
S3: We used to go to my abuela house on Sundays , and I. I come from a very large Mexican American family. I have over , you know , a dozen cousins , and we would gather together and do all the things they do in this book. You know , we'd make a ruckus in my grandmother's huge yard that she had , and there were so many of us that we would have to eat in shifts at the table. So like , maybe all the grown ups would eat first and then all the kids would eat first next. So it's just , you know , it was such a formative part for me growing up , and it was such a wonderful time to spend with family. And I know I'm not the only one , since there are so many ideas around San Diego. And I was like , this is something that I just want to share with people because I know it's just a wonderful experience.
S2: Family food traditions are so important across all cultures. Of course , for those who may not know what is Menudo and what role does it play in the book ? Yes.
S3: So Menudo is technically a Mexican soup. It's made with beef honeycomb tripe , hominy , which we also call my yeast , and with a red chili base. There's many different types of variations of that they have , like the white menudo in Sinaloa , they have the red menudo that we find more commonly here in the United States. But it's a very um , hearty dish , even though it's technically a soup. And usually you have all the little accoutrements that come with it. Um , cilantro , onion , um , chili , salsa , tortillas. And , I mean , it's it's something that you usually only eat for breakfast. Um , and you usually use it with family. So it's , it's just this , like , wonderful Mexican tradition of getting together on Sundays to have Menudo. Mhm.
S2: Mhm. And this book is subtitled A Spanglish counting book. You often write in Spanglish , you know , a combination of English and Spanish. I'm wondering how you approach writing in these two languages and why.
S3: So I am from National City and , you know , we're like seven miles from the border. And I grew up and I still speak English and Spanish to this day. I don't think there's a day that I go by without speaking Spanish. And so my life is in Spanglish and my writing reflects that. I obviously like sometimes , you know , I have to make sure that non-Spanish speakers would be able to understand the word within the context that we're using , and I work really hard to make sure that they can. But some concepts I feel can only be expressed in Spanglish. And that's just my POV as a writer is writing my experience in Spanglish.
S2: And there was a very helpful glossary at the end of the book as well.
S3: Right. Because we didn't have as many as as my aunts and uncles did. So we could. That's a way to still access this part of our culture. And yeah , and we try to do it in a way that's natural , not in a way that feels forced. And everybody code switches differently. This is the way that it feels okay for me , but it's just an accessible way for kids to just kind of dip their toe in if they don't feel like they're ready for a book that's fully bilingual.
S2: This book , like your past works , features Mexican American characters , often in settings in and around San Diego.
S3: I was born and raised here , and I just love San Diego so much. And growing up , when I read books with Chicano Mexican-American characters , there were always in Los Angeles or Central Valley. I never saw someone in San Diego , which I always thought was kind of weird. Since we're always right on the border , you'd think , you know , there would be an opportunity for , you know , telling stories about , um , Chicano literature there , but it hasn't really been seen. So I am writing what I desperately wanted to see as a child is , you know , my experience on the page.
S2: And accompanying your words are really beautiful , colorful illustrations from Erica mayes. How do the images mesh with your words to tell the story that you wanted to tell in this book.
S3: Erica did such an amazing job on this. Interpreting my words with her pictures , I think that she really shows the joyfulness of the the story through her , her , her pictures. And she also captures a lot of like little funny things when you see the dogs. They have really funny expressions. So it's an amazing thing to work with such a talented illustrator like Erica , who did To The Other Side a few years ago and won an award for that. I just met her. I didn't have any instructions for her. I was like , just do whatever you feel when when you read the text and just whatever your heart , you know it comes to you. Like feel free. Like , I want you to tell your own story through pictures. Mhm.
S2: Mhm. And the book also includes tips at the end for hosting your own Menudo Sunday. Yes.
S3: You can obviously try making menudo yourself , but if you want to take a shortcut , there's like no shortage of restaurants here in San Diego that you can go put an order in and pick it up and invite your loved ones and just , you know , set up a set up a beautiful table scape and dig in.
S2:
S3: Okay.
S2: Okay. You've got the family recipe. So so so describe the soup for us.
S3: So the soup is made with beef honeycomb tripe , hominy and a red chili base. It has different things that you can add on , like cilantro , onion , jalapeno , oregano. Um , you usually eat it with tortillas , but it's just this really rich , delicious soup. And like , now that I'm talking about it , I want some.
S2: Yeah , it sounds good. And earlier you mentioned the importance of enjoying life's tiny moments like a menudo sundae.
S3: And it doesn't have to be like a punitive way. It can just be us coming together and solving a problem.
S2: Yeah , and so talk about that mistake. What's the story ? There's there's a bit of a , a dramatic tension that builds up and. Yeah. Tell me the story of the book. Yes.
S3: Yes. So in the story of the book , the main character kind of sneaks behind her family's back with the dogs at the house , and it ends up breaking her Abuela Esteban's castle , which breaks into a bunch of pieces. And.
S2: And that's the bowl that.
S3: Holds the bowl. Yeah. And so now she has to make it right. And so they , you know , they they clean up the mess and then they run to the corner store and they buy a big bowl of menudo , which is what I do if my mom's not around to cook it. And they come together and they cook it. And , um , it's funny because in the first , first drafts that I had of it , I had her put in time out. And so my editor was like , oh , I don't know about that. And then I thought about that and I was like , no , I don't like that. I don't think I would have my kids go in time out. So let's have everybody work together to fix this problem , right.
S2: And so teaching kids about family working together and forgiveness and yeah , yeah , that's a nice theme. Well , I've been speaking with Maria Dolores Aguilar. She's the author of the new children's book Menudo Sunday , which is out now. Maria will be appearing at KPBS San Diego Book Festival on Saturday , August 23rd. And Maria , thank you so much for being here.
S3: Thank you for having me.
S2: And that's our show for today. I'm your host , Andrew Bowen in for Jade Hindman. Thanks for listening to Midday Edition. Have a great day.
