Young Josefina gives up sweets for Lent and then learns how to make her Dominican family’s traditional Easter dessert.
Like all kids, Josefina loves to eat sweets. She loves warm chocolate chip cookies right out of the oven, cupcakes and candy! One night, while eating a piece of flan, Mami asks her to consider giving up sweets for Lent, the 40 days leading up to Easter. “That’s impossible!” Josefina says. When Mami promises to teach her how to make her favorite dessert, habichuelas con dulce, she agrees to give it a try.
Josefina can’t wait to end her fast and eat the delicious sweet cream beans, her family’s traditional Easter dessert. While she and her mom, tías and abuela prepare the dish, they dance to merengue music and tell stories about life back in the Dominican Republic. The kitchen fills with the aromatic smells of cinnamon and sugar, but it’s the feelings of love and happiness Josefina will never forget. On Easter Sunday, when the family eats the special dessert she prepared, the girl’s grandmother proclaims, “It’s the best pot of habichuelas con dulce I’ve tasted in my life!”
This heart-warming, bilingual picture book for children shares a universal story all kids can relate to—learning about one’s culture through food, music and family stories—while focusing on a cultural tradition specific to the Dominican Republic. As a bonus, the book includes the recipe for this special dessert—in both English and Spanish!
BIO
Jasminne Mendez is a Dominican-American poet, playwright, translator and award winning author of several books for children and adults. She is the author of two hybrid memoirs, Island of Dreams (Floricanto Press) and Night-Blooming Jasmin(n)e: Personal Essays and Poetry (Arte Público Press). Her second YA memoir, Islands Apart: Becoming Dominican American (Arte Público Press) is forthcoming in Summer 2022 and her debut poetry collection, City Without Altar, was a finalist for the Noemi Press Book Award for Poetry and will be released in August 2022. As a translator she has translated Amanda Gorman’s best-selling Change Sings into the Spanish edition La canción del cambio and has translated librettos for The Houston Grand Opera. Her debut middle grade book Anina del Mar Jumps In (Dial) is a novel in verse about a young girl diagnosed with Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis and is set to release in 2023. Her debut picture book Josefina’s Habichuelas (Arte Público Press), was released last year. For all publishing inquiries please contact her literary agent Stefanie Sanchez Von Bortsel at Full Circle Literary. For events, performances, reading or writing workshops please contact her speaking agency The Speakeasy Project.
REVIEWS
"Presented in both English and Spanish (via Espinosa’s translation), the author’s text forgoes flair for simple earnestness in a manner that highlights the book’s themes. Likewise, De Vita’s cozy pictures provide plenty of ideal images of family, with a diverse range of skin tones from light brown to dark brown. A stirring author’s note and a recipe for habichuelas con dulce wrap up a pretty sweet tale. A delicious treat." -- Kirkus Reviews
A wonderful choice for picture book collections that focuses on traditions, family, and dedication to one's goals. --Selenia Paz, School Library Journal
[H] Pinata Books / October 31, 2021
0.35" H x 11.23" L x 8.87" W (0.89 lbs) 32 pages