For many a Texan, a bad day can be made just a little bit better with a taco or two. That idea is wonderfully explored and illustrated in a new children’s book by a Texan with a special place in her heart for queso.
Author Eliza Kinkz joined the Standard with more about “Mistaco: A Tale of Tragedy Y Tortillas.”
This transcript has been edited lightly for clarity:
Texas Standard: Many a parent has dreamed about writing a book like this. Tell us a little bit about the origin story for this one.
Eliza Kinkz: Growing up, we would go visit my grandparents in San Antonio, Texas, and a visit involved making tortillas. And I could not roll a round tortilla to save my life. I think they would have been more round if I sat on them, honestly.
And so my Lito, which is grandfather in Spanish, he would be like, “don’t worry, I will eat those mistakes.” Which really, he was just trying to get away with eating as many tortillas as he could.
But that always stayed with me, because it made me feel so good, him saying that, you know? It’s like immediately accepting the mistakes; he would take care of them for me.
And I was drawing that later on in my sketchbook, now as a children’s book illustrator, later on in life. And I had a friend tell me that would make a good story, which usually that’s all you need is that push, right?
You know, I thought that you were gonna begin with the idea of this being a way to sort of get into how we can learn to cope with, you know, making mistakes that we all make.
But at the same time, you began with a taco, and I love where you took that story. And that’s one of the wonderful things about kids’ books is that you can implant this wonderful message right in the middle of all the fun, and this is a fun book to read
Oh, yeah. I mean, I think that’s sometimes that can be sad about picture books right now, is they can be a little messagey sometimes, right? But if you can have it be the fun, you just want to have a really fun story.
But bringing in mistakes – it’s like folding it into the taco. It’s like, the egg is not so special, right? But then when you have the tortilla around it, you’re like, oh my God, you get so excited. You’re like, I’m gonna get a taco.
I mean, it’s so warm and fluffy. All of us have memories of that as a kid in Texas right? Our favorite Mexican restaurant that would have those fluffy tortillas that we were like, oh I hope they bring more to the table.
The illustrations are a big part of the joy of this book, but I’m wondering if maybe you can read the page where Izzy finally confesses why her day was so bad, because that’s kind of a fun little point there.
This is the ultimate kid confession. It’s just like one of those days when you’re a kid when everything just slam, slam, slam, like it’s like all on top of one another –like a taco, right? Back to that.
So Izzy has just had the worst of days, and she’s been keeping it from her parents while making tortillas … it feels like mistake on top of mistake on top of mistake. And then so finally she just burst into tears, which is honestly, that’s what happens in life. Even as adults, like sometimes you’ve just been trying to hold it all together, and then it all falls apart and then you have to tell everything.
And so here she is. This is Izzy:
At school, I stuffed seven chicken nuggets in my mouth cause I wanted to go play. But then my amiga told a flamingo joke, and I spit nuggets everywhere.
I went to clean up, but I slipped and a chocolate pudding cup got stuck to my butt. I tried to get it off, but slipped again, and my finger got caught up my nose. And now everyone calls me chicken lickin puddin pickin.
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Mistaco is such a great word. Did the idea begin from that, or was it actually from an experience you had in the kitchen?
So it began with a seedling of that memory – and it’s like we keep going back to the taco, but it’s folding it in, right? – and so I love Spanglish, because my dad, after many generations, Spanglish is what happens, because it’s how you hold on to cultura here in Texas.
And I just was like, this is a Spanglish word begging to happen, right? Sharing your mistakes over a taco. Mistaco. And it’s also like “my taco.”
It’s great that Izzy’s family actually laughs at her mistake, but not at Izzy. I think that’s kind of an important point that comes out in this book, because a lot of kids feel kind of bottled up, like they have to own the mistake, and it’s part of them.
I can’t tell you how many days were completely ruined – and I’m talking about in the mind of the child – when something has happened and something else happened, and now my day is destroyed and this has hurt me in some permanent way. You know what I mean? This is a serious thing for a little kid.
Oh yes, it’s so serious. I mean, I was one of those kids that would just keep my mistakes inside and then I would get a stomachache, right? Because you’re just holding all that in.
But I love that this book is giving families really an opportunity to find a fun way to share their mistakes together. Because as a kid, you sometimes think adults make no mistakes. You think adults are like these perfect beings.
Since we’re talking about tacos, may I ask: What’s your favorite?
Oh my goodness. I feel like that’s such a loaded question here in Texas. I think if I get a really good freshly made flour tortilla – but it has to be so freshly made; it’s hard to find. I think in San Antonio you have much better luck.
Uh-oh, she’s weighing in on the debate: San Antonio vs. Austin.
Oh my god. I’ve had so many almost battles at library conventions over this thing in Texas. Texas librarians, they are very serious about where to get their tacos.
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