We’re so happy to have Mia Wenjen back on the blog today to celebrate the recent release of THE TRAVELING TACO: The Amazing and Surprising Journey of Many of Your Favorite Foods, illustrated by Kimberlie Clinthorne-Wong (Red Comet Press).
Readers may bemember celebrating her nonfiction pb We Sing from the Heart: How the Slants® Took Their Fight for Free Speech to the Supreme Court, illustrated by Victor Bizar Gomez (Red Comet Press), earlier posts about BOXER BABY BATTLES BEDTIME and Asian AAPI Heritage Month and /or her Thanksgiving post about FOOD FOR THE FUTURE: Sustainable Farms Around the World. Or you may know her as Pragmaticmom and all the wonderful things she does to support diverse children’s books.
Today it’s all about our favorite foods from around the world, and what will surely become one of our favorite books as well.
Warning: You might need a snack after this.
“Did you know many well-known dishes are food immigrants?
The Al Pastor Taco traveled from Lebanon to Puebla, Mexico… French fries originated in Belgium… And pasta arrived in Italy long before Marco Polo visited China.” —Red Comet Press
Let’s ask some questions!
Inspiration
Q 1. What was the inspiration for this clever journey of foods?
Mia Wenjen: This is my subversive way to combat racism and bias against immigrants. If you like their food, how can you not love immigrants?
Mia Wenjen: It all started with the NetFlix documentary on tacos, The Taco Chronicles. When I realized that the Al Pastor taco came from Lebanon via their shawarma, it got my mind racing. What other foods are immigrants? Because … food doesn’t travel by itself!
Favorites and Surprises
Q 2. What was one of the most surprising discoveries you made in creating this book?
Mia Wenjen: I was blown away that the iconic British fish and chips are from the Portuguese Jews who were fleeing the Portuguese Inquisition.
You never really hear about the Portuguese Inquisition; it’s always the Spanish Inquisition. They didn’t fry their fish in lard because it wasn’t kosher. Instead, they used more expensive oil. Thomas Jefferson visited England during his travels to get support for the American Revolutionaries, and he ate fish “fried in the Jewish manner.”
Q 3. What’s your favorite food of those featured in the book?
Mia Wenjen: I grew up in Southern California, so I love tacos. Any kind! Al pastor is definitely a favorite. I also am known to steal French Fries from anyone sitting near me. Jerk chicken is also a favorite; I’m still looking for a good recipe for that to make it at home.
Q 4. What surprises did illustrator Kimberlie Clinthorne-Wong bring to your story?
Mia Wenjen: She did an incredible amount of research to get everything just right! For example, she found a photo of the original fish and chip restaurant in England, Mailin (established in 1860!). I also love how she portrayed the figures in historical clothing and/or accurate ethic attire. It really helps to convey the message that these foods are immigrants.
Q 5. What’s your favorite spread?
Mia Wenjen: I would have to say the Jerk Chicken spread. It was the hardest spread to get right. It’s tough to make brown food look appealing, especially if it’s cooked underground. We went back and forth several times with ideas. Her final artwork is visually stunning. She really captured the natural beauty of Jamaica!
YUM!
Q 6. How did you go about choosing the foods featured in the book? Were there any others that you had to cut?
Mia Wenjen: I would say that it was more of a struggle to find food that traveled from every continent (except Antarctica) that kids could actually relate to.
Apple pie got cut – it’s not American in origin! It came from England!
Q 7. How will you be celebrating the launch of this book? (Please tell me there is food involved!)
Mia Wenjen: I’m going to be making some of the food at home and adding it as an activity for my book. For example, I’m going to make ice cream in a bag in honor of Augustus Jackson:
Augustus Jackson, a free Black man and presidential chef for James Monroe, John Quincy Adams, and Andrew Jackson, invented the modern method of making ice cream in 1830, using salt mixed with ice to lower and control the temperature.
What’s next?
Q 8. What’s next for you? Any projects you can share?
Mia Wenjen: Yes! Thanks for asking…
Fortune Cookies for Everyone, illustrated by Colleen Kong-Savage and published by Red Comet Press and Smithsonian, comes out October 21, 2025. It’s the story about who invented the fortune cookie that takes readers through a mock trial and WWII Japanese Internment camp.
Barbed Wire Between Us, illustrated by Violeta Encarnacion, and published by Red Comet Press comes out in 2026. This is a reverso poem depicting a Japanese American grandmother standing outside an immigrant detention center as she reflects on the similarities of these two experiences. The reverso structure is a metaphor for the how history repeats itself.
A Place to Call Home, illustrated by Mary Atwood, and published by Sleeping Bear Press comes out in 2026. It is rhyming picture book about different types of sustainable homes around the world.
Postcards from Malcolm X, illustrated by Keith Henry Brown, and published by Red Comet Press comes out in 2027. This is the story of Yuri Kochiyama journey to becomoing Civil Rights Activist and the role Malcolm X played in her life.
We can’t wait to celebrate these on the blog, Mia!
Many delicious thanks to Mia Wenjen for joining us and sharing this fascinating book.
To learn more about Mia and her books and projects, check out these links:
PragmaticMom blog: https://www.pragmaticmom.com/
Mia Wenjen Website: https://miawenjen.com/
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Next up on the blog:
We chat with Molly Golden about her nonfiction picture book,
No One Told Sandra Day O’Connor What to Do:
The First Woman to Serve on the United States Supreme Court
Illus. Julia Breckenreid (Sleeping Bear Press)
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