Abuelita’s Gift: Interview + Giveaway!

In Abuelita’s Gift: A Día de Muertos Story, written by Mariana Ríos Ramírez and illustrated by Sara Palacios, Julieta is excited for Abuelita’s spirit to visit on Día de Muertos. She is determined to find the perfect gift to honor Abuelita and to show how much she misses her. However, her ideas fail one by one and Julieta grows worried. It is only when Julieta embraces the memories she once shared with her abuelita, that she realizes the perfect gift comes from the heart. An uplifting story about both life and death, family, and the threads that connect us, long after we are gone.

Today, author Mariana Ríos Ramírez joins Picture Book Builders to talk about her latest picture book, plus you have a chance to win your very own copy!

Sara: Welcome, Mariana! Abuelita’s Gift is a story of the pain of missing a loved one and not only the comfort in remembering them, but the joy in remembering them. I would love for you to share why you wanted to show both of these experiences and how you achieved this balance in your main character?

Mariana: In México, Día de Muertos is about honoring and remembering our loved ones who are no longer with us, while celebrating their lives with joy instead of sadness. This is what makes this unique tradition more fascinating to me and why I wanted to share the culture and folklore around this celebration.

In the story, Julieta misses her Abuelita, who recently passed away. However, Julieta is also excited because on Día de Muertos she’ll get to honor Abuelita’s spirit and show her how much she loves her. With that goal in mind, and by recalling the special moments they shared together, Julieta comes up with different ideas that in the end just don’t work out. These failed attempts become really frustrating and disappointing for Julieta, since she doesn’t want to let Abuelita down. 

Through this whole process, Julieta finds comfort in the joyful memories she shared with Abuelita, but the pain of not having Abuelita in her life is also very real. Julieta longs for the connection they used to have, and she really wants to make Abuelita happy during her Día de Muertos visit. It’s only when Julieta realizes what is it that brought the biggest smile to Abuelita’s face, that she’s able to find a unique way of honoring Abuelita. However, what makes this more heartwarming is that the gift ends up not being only for her beloved grandma but also for herself. By finding the perfect gift within her, Julieta feels the connection with Abuelita is restored. By the end, Julieta understands that the love she and Abuelita shared lives on forever, which becomes a source of joy and comfort for Julieta as well.

[all art by Sara Palacios]

Sara: How beautiful! The Spanish edition of this book, El regalo de abuelita, was simultaneously released with Abuelita’s Gift. Can you talk about your experience in translating your book and having the English and Spanish versions published together?

Mariana: The decision to have a Spanish edition of Abuelita’s Gift came after we were done working on the English edition, it was not something that was considered from the beginning. Gianna Lakenauth, my editor, shared the news with me and asked if I would like to translate Abuelita’s Gift, since my first language is Spanish. I felt very honored and thankful for the opportunity and also really happy that my book about a beloved Mexican tradition would also be released in my own language. 

Translating to Spanish didn’t take long, but it was a bit more complicated than I had thought. I realized it was not just a matter of finding the right words in Spanish, but I also had to make sure that children could understand them and that they had a nice sound and easy flow. I had spent a long time trying to find the perfect words in English while editing, and sometimes there are words or phrases that are just not translated to Spanish exactly the same. So as I looked for the right words in Spanish, I learned it was a matter of keeping the essence of the meaning and feeling in the sentences included in the English version, and not just worrying about translating exactly word by word. 

Translating the book was a very interesting and special process for me, since I had the valuable support of my husband and family members who read my translation and provided relevant feedback. I’m so grateful for their time and assistance with this task, as it has become a dear memory in the journey to publication with this book. 

Sara: What a fascinating experience and very appropriate that the Spanish and English versions were published together. I would love to learn more about the back matter of this book. In addition to a glossary and author’s note, there is also a full spread on “Ofrenda Elements” with illustrations and descriptions. I found this a very illuminating component to the book. Was this part of early drafts or something that came about later in the process?

Mariana: The “Ofrenda Elements” graphic is something that I wanted to include in the book since I drafted it. After Abuelita’s Gift was acquired, I was so happy that my editor recognized the value of adding this information in the book for all those readers who may want to know more about Día de Muertos. 

Abuelita’s Gift is mainly a story about the love between Julieta and Abuelita. Although it revolves around Día de Muertos and we get to see how the family embraces the tradition, the text in the story doesn’t explain what each element in the ofrenda means; we just see how Julieta’s family gets ready to honor their ancestors. This is because the importance of the plot relies on Julieta’s search for the perfect gift to honor Abuelita, not so much on explaining the details of how Día de Muertos is celebrated. For this reason, including back matter on the book was so important to me, since it would allow me to go deeper into the meaning of the celebration and also the elements that make it so unique. 

Sara: Your note explains that Día de Muertos traditions and customs can vary region to region and family to family. Would you like to share with readers a Día de Muertos custom or tradition that is particularly meaningful to the way you celebrate? 

Mariana: What I love most about celebrating Día de Muertos with my family is setting up our ofrenda, because we do it together. We’ve been adding decorations and mementos every year. I like that my children already know which mementos go with each photo of our loved ones. We like talking about them as we place the pictures on the ofrenda and I love being able to share the memories I have about my grandparents and great grandma with my kids. It’s a way of bringing that love and feelings to the present so that my children get to know a bit more about the relatives they never got to meet in person. 

Some other traditions we have is playing the soundtrack of the Disney movie Coco as we set up the ofrenda, watching the movie during this season, and enjoying traditional pan de muerto. 

I hope you are currently enjoying all of these things during this year’s festivities. Thank you, Mariana, for joining us and sharing about your newest book! Mariana is generously offering one Picture Book Builders reader a signed copy of Abuelita’s Gift or El regalo de abuelita with bookmark and stickers – USA only. Please comment below by November 30th to enter.

And congratulations to Angie Quantrell, winner of Mixed-Up Mooncakes!

Mariana Ríos Ramírez is a Mexican children’s book author who loves sharing elements of her culture, language, and traditions through her stories. Besides writing, Mariana loves photography, traveling, and spending time with family and friends. She currently resides in Anderson, South Carolina with her husband, two kids, and a Chihuahua dog named Rogers. 

www.marianariosramirez.com