Listen Back: Isabel Quintero and Zeke Peña share My Papi Has a Motorcycle

Original Air Date: July 28, 2019

Isabel Quintero (@isabelinpieces) and Zeke Peña (@zpvisual) share MY PAPI HAS A MOTORCYCLE. The story is based on memories from Isabel’s childhood, but it’s also more than that. The story centers on Daisy, her father, and their nightly tradition of riding on Papi’s motorcycle through the neighborhood and town. We take in a lot as we ride along with Daisy and Papi. We see the construction site where Papi and his coworkers have labored all day. We take in the citrus iconography throughout town, nodding to the importance of the crop to the town. We see how the city is changing at the hands of gentrification. We recall historic car races on the very paths that take Daisy and Papi through town. Isabel and Zeke talk throughout our conversation about asking if what is being written or illustrated is serving a memory or serving the story. I think you’ll find it’s the right amount of both at play here that makes this picture book so exceptional.

Listen along:

ABOUT THE BOOK:

A celebration of the love between a father and daughter, and of a vibrant immigrant neighborhood, by an award-winning author and illustrator duo.

When Daisy Ramona zooms around her neighborhood with her papi on his motorcycle, she sees the people and places she's always known. She also sees a community that is rapidly changing around her.

But as the sun sets purple-blue-gold behind Daisy Ramona and her papi, she knows that the love she feels will always be there.

With vivid illustrations and text bursting with heart, My Papi Has a Motorcycle is a young girl's love letter to her hardworking dad and to memories of home that we hold close in the midst of change.

SHOW NOTES:

• Learn more about Isabel Quintero at https://laisabelquintero.com/  

• Learn more about Zeke Peña at http://zpvisual.com/