Mami's Magic Words

Gibberish meets Alma and How She Got Her Name in a celebration of language and how the words we use connect us with the people we love most!
Words are like magia—magic!
When her Spanish teacher asks the class to share the words that spark the most magic for them, Karena knows exactly what’s at the top of her list:
¡Poloché!
But when she’s told that it’s not a real word, she’s thrown for a loop. Her mami said it just that morning, whispered under her breath like a spell to make every wrinkle in Karena’s shirt disappear. So begins her mission to prove that there is more to language than what can be found in a dictionary. After all, her mami’s words are full of love and memory—what could be more magical than that?
Kiara Valdez’s singular text and Richy Sánchez Ayala’s vibrant illustrations celebrate the different ways that families keep language alive by bringing their own history and traditions to the table.

Kiara Valdez is an Afro-Dominican writer and graphic novel editor from New York City (shout out to Washington Heights). She graduated from Williams College with a double major in English Literature and Japanese, and spends her free time reading, writing, and enjoying a long list of other hobbies she can't keep up with. She writes graphic novels, pictures books, and story books that include titles such as Dear Dad (with Jay Jay Patton and Markia Jenai), Marvel's Little Groot, Big Feelings and We Are Groot (both with Wendy Tan), and Mami's Magic Words (with Richy Sánchez Ayala).
Richy Sánchez Ayala was born in the Dominican Republic. He has learned to appreciate his beloved slice of paradise but also to seek out new horizons. He works in fine art, illustration, visual development and animation; regardless of what he's working on, the child in him always manages to sneak in. He currently lives in San Francisco.