May MOSS Kids Book Club
Kara Cecchi- May 8
- 8 min read
And our May pick is...
May Pick -- Mistaco!
A chaotically funny debut picture book about a girl who's had a terrible day full of mistakes and finds that making mistacos could be a delicious solution.
After an awful day at school (including a tragic but plausibly deniable mishap with a pudding cup), Izzy wants to be left alone. But it's Friday, and that means making tortillas with Lito. As the mistakes pile up, they come tumbling out of Izzy—and Lito surprises her by saying everyone makes mistakes, and if she makes a tortilla out of her mistakes, he will EAT it.
"Mmmm. . .spicy! And boogery! With a hint of courage. My favorite taco EVER!"
Suddenly, the whole family is confessing and getting mistakes off their chests with a feast of mistacos! The back matter includes instructions on how to make and enjoy your own mistacos.
Meet Our Creator:
Author/Illustrator: Eliza Kinkz
Eliza Kinkz is a Tejana illustrator/author who still views the world through the bright colors of her crayon box. Recently, she illustrated Goldies Guide to Grandchilding, Papá's Magical Water Jug Clock, & the follow-up picture book, Mamá's Magnificent Dancing Plantitas. In 2022 she was awarded the James Marshall Fellowship, and ate one of the best muffins of her life. She has worked on various TV Shows for Nickelodeon and Adult Swim, in addition to her own animated films, and one time she was politely asked to stop playing George Lucas's piano at Skywalker Ranch. She lives in Austin, TX with her family, two cats, and possibly another dead fish by the time you read this. You can explore more of Eliza's work on her website, at https://www.elizakinkz.com/
Below you will find our monthly craft; printable activity sheets; and our community outreach activity where we will understand that everyone has bad days full of mistakes & a delicious solution for dealing with them. For more books to read this month, don't forget to check out our supplemental book list:
We really hope you enjoy this month of book club as we continue to keep our nationwide book club free & accessible for all. Each book is intentionally handpicked with each activity and outreach curated to engage and enrich our youth's experiences. Through these diverse and inclusive reads, working and playing together, and giving back to their own community, we hope to instill empathy, understanding, & kindness in our kids.
Let's Craft: make your own mistaco!
Everyone makes mistakes. Sometimes those mistakes can lead us into a spiral of a bad day. It's normal. But sometimes, even as adults, we forget that. We fall into the spiral of shame. We hide inside the darkness of depression. Or sometimes, we get hot and angry and yell. It happens. We chose Mistaco! as our book club pick this month specifically because we want kids who are finishing up their school year to know that it is okay to mess up. It's okay to get a question wrong. We want teachers to know that it's okay if you're burnt out and to let the kids watch a movie instead. We want parents and caregivers to know that it's okay if you forget to send your kid in with a towel for their field day. We all make mistakes, we're human!
We want you to have fun with this activity. Join in with your kids to create your own mistaco. This is a perfect opportunity for kids to see that EVERYONE MAKES MISTAKES. And that it's okay. I even made a mistake while making my own mistaco!! It happens. Let's laugh about it.
Materials:
Coffee filter (we used the "natural" color so they looked more like tortillas when warmed)
Brown construction paper (fearless frijoles), white construction paper (questionable amount of queso), & red construction paper (spill-your-gutsy salsa)
Markers
Glue
Scissors
Modifications:
Easy: Prepare all materials ahead. May need hand over hand assistance to fold & glue.
Moderate: Allow children to create, may need occasional assistance.
Hard: Allow child to create with no modifications.
Instructions:
1. Gather materials. Flatten the coffee filter. This will be the tortilla.
2. Cut out a circle on brown construction paper, about 4in in diameter. This will be the fearless frijoles AND where kids will write their mistake.
*NOTE: For my school visits with younger children, we may pre-prep all the additives to save time.
3. Glue the frijoles onto the tortilla (brown construction paper onto the coffee filter).
4. Fold the tortilla (coffee filter) in half.
5. Cut about 3in long strips of white paper. These will be the questionable amounts of queso.
6. Glue a questionable amount of strips of queso into one side of the tortilla (coffee filter) on top of the frijoles (brown construction paper).
7. Cut out a dollop of red construction paper. This will be the spill-your-gutsy salsa.
8. Glue the spill-your-gutsy salsa (red construction paper) on the same side as the queso (white strips of construction paper), on top of the frijoles (brown construction paper).
9. Now, on the opposite side of the tortilla (coffee filter), the side with just frijoles, have students write their mistake. It could be something they did that made a mess. It could be something they did that was embarrassing. It could be something they did that started off a bad day.
10. When they've finished writing their mistake, have them fold their tortilla in half again to make their taco. Kids can then draw a face for their mistaco. Examples are noted on the endpapers of the book. See below:
*Additional activities: We'll be making our own tortillas with our community for Picture Books on Tap to create & eat our own Mistacos! Another great activity is to have a mistaco dinner party! For dinner, cook up some tacos. Have your kids whisper their mistakes into their tacos and ENJOY. This is a perfect way to bring life to the book with your family.
Remember: We encourage you to request your local library purchase the title for your community to share. It's easy to request. Head to your local library's website. On the site, there will be a "Suggest A Title" tab (see below). Just add the book Mistaco! by Eliza Kinkz & submit. You can even share this blog with them. After reading or listening, we encourage you to please review the books on goodreads, on Amazon, & on your social media platforms. Reviews will help get the word out about these incredible books!
printable activity sheets:
Author/illustrator Eliza Kinkz sent us this fun mistaco worksheet for kids to add their mistakes to as drawings or with words. We've also attached a fun printable to share with kids about how to make their own real mistacos & all about Spanglish that you can also find in the back of the book. Big thanks to Eliza & Kokila Books for sharing these fun resources with us! Check out the printable here. Download the worksheet below:
Community Outreach: share your own mistacos
Now that we know mistakes happen to everyone and that it's okay, let's share them with our community so that we can let others know they're not alone. This can be as simple & easy as you'd like to make it. We'll be going a little overboard because it's who we are. You can have kids, if they feel comfortable, stand up to share their mistaco with the class. You can have each kid write a mistake on a sticky note & hang it on the board. Or you can make a massive mistaco, have the kids feed their mistakes into it, collect them in a basket, & then add them to a board to display at each local meetup and encourage other community members to add their own.
We'll be doing the latter. We're making a big mistaco out of a small sheet of 1/4in plywood, but you can use cardboard, that has a giant open mouth. We'll have our students (& adults during Picture Books on Tap) write out one of their BIGGEST mistakes on a small piece of paper (probably tortilla shaped) & feed it through the mouth of the massive mistaco. We'll have a basket on the backside to collect them. After each MOSS Kids Book Club location, we'll hang them up on our massive cardboard frying pan to show their peers that everyone makes mistakes & maybe, some people have made the same mistake! We want everyone to know that they aren't alone. Sometimes, mistakes happen. Sometimes, you have bad luck, that could turn into a bad day. But it's always better when we share those feelings with others!
This doesn't need to be extravagant. This is a way for us to celebrate & educate with our kids -- to learn that everyone makes mistakes & that everyone has bad days; that it's okay & it can help to share those feelings with someone else. Who knows you may come up with a delicious solution to feel better!
supplemental books:
We're also reading Bilal's Bad Day; The Magical Yet; The Best Bad Day Ever; & Ode to a Bad Day to celebrate & educate on mistakes that tend to ruin our days & how we can turn those days around. There are a few great resources for our supplemental books, check them out below:
Please do not skip the community outreach activities. We truly believe this outreach activity is a vital part of childhood & an opportunity to raise kind kids. Teaching our youth the importance of celebrating & educating & appreciating art within ourselves & our community. To learn the importance of understanding that everyone makes mistakes, that everyone has bad days, & it's okay. To learn kindness, empathy, acceptance, & understanding of others & choose to gift that to our community.
YAY! Another MOSS Kids Book Club pick, craft, printable sheets, and community outreach activity. We would love to see all the mistacos! your kids create. You do not need to share kid's faces. Please be sure to tag us on Instagram @mosskidsbooks & use #mosskidsbookclub. Sharing about MOSS Kids Book Club is a way for your community to learn more about what MOSS Kids has to offer & for them to know about brand new diverse & inclusive books. By doing so, we can reach & help more kids across the country. We'd also love to hear any feedback you may have, please email us at hello@mosskidsbooks.com. We appreciate you all so much for taking the initiative to bring kids together to read diverse books & hopefully learn vital life skills to help make our world a better place.
Don't Forget: We Have Local moss kids book club locations in eastern north Carolina!!
Friday, 05/09 at 1030am: MOSS Kids Book Club at Braswell Memorial Library in Rocky Mount
Saturday, 05/10 at 10am: MOSS Kids Book Club at East Tarboro Eco Garden in Tarboro
Friday, 04/11 at 1030am: MOSS Kids Book Club at Braswell Memorial Library in Rocky Mount
Wednesday, 05/14 at 7pm: Picture Books on Tap at Larema Beverage Co in Rocky Mount
Saturday, 05/31 at 10am: MOSS Kids Book Club with Drag Story Hour at Boxyard RTP
We're continuing our SCHOOL POP-INS! We have plans to visit 4 local elementary schools across two counties bringing our MOSS Kids Book Club right to them & then donating the book to their school library for all to enjoy. We're hoping to expand & add more later this year!
We're continuing Lunch Bunch! We will be popping in every week this month to a local school to read with a small group of third graders, to diversify their bookshelves (they get to keep the books!) & to develop a love for reading. Our Lunch Bunch pick is -- The Kids in Mrs. Z's Class: Rohan Murphy Has A Plan
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