¡Mistaco!

K-Gr 3–Part of the award-winning team behind Jesús Trejo’s Papá‘s Magical Water-Jug Clock, Kinkz really lets loose in this one, and that’s saying something. “Mistaco” is the new word for a mistake with tacos, and so, clued in by the subtitle—“A Tale of Tragedy y Tortillas”—readers will be braced to see what comes next. The story opens with lightning aimed at Izzy, who has had a terrible day at school. As the extended family of aunts and uncles, babies and siblings, parents and grandparents make tortillas, Izzy keeps her bad day to herself until it roars out of her like a confession. Lito tells her to put all her mistakes of the day into a taco, and he will eat it, trouncing its power over Izzy. That goes so well that soon the entire family offers up a litany of their own mistacos, all the while filling their bellies with warm food. As irreverent as a graphic novel and with the loose hand-drawn feel of Raúl the Third’s illustrations, this lays out page after page of chaos that charms and inspires chuckles at the same time. The skin colors, the proportion of the faces to bodies, the age range of the members of Izzy’s crew—all add up to an authentically loving Latinx family setting; the storytelling is wry, occasionally sarcastic in a child-friendly way, and moves at a clipped pace. The theatricality of every scene will invite readers closer into the pages till they’ve found every burp, fart, and poop joke, and terrific asides from supporting players.