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THE TRAVELING TACO Interview with Author Mia Wenjen

ByMaria Wen Adcock
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I’m thrilled to introduce you to The Traveling Taco: The Amazing and Surprising Journey of Many of Your Favorite Foods written by Mia Wenjen and illustrated by Kimberlie Clinthorne-Wong! Published by Red Comet Press, this fun and interesting non-fiction children’s book launched on May 6, 2025. Here’s a description from the publisher:

“An exploration of the history of kids’ favorite foods from around the world!

From pizza to pasta and ice cream to French fries, some of our favorite foods have a surprising history, and many of them have traveled far from where they originated! 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. This fascinating nonfiction book featuring rhyming text takes the reader on travels around the world to celebrate foods, their history, and surprising origins. Join Mia Wenjen for a fact-packed journey of discovery that will make your mouth water as you travel the unexpected road of some of our favorite foods.”

Read on for an exclusive interview with author Mia Wenjen!

What is the book about, and what inspired you to write it?

Mia Wenjen (MW): The Traveling Taco is about food that kids know and love, but probably didn’t realize are immigrants. 

For example, most people understandably think that tacos come from Mexico, BUT the Al Pastor taco is an immigrant from Lebanon! When Lebanese people settled in Puebla, Mexico, they brought their shawarma tradition of roasting stacked meat on a spit with them. However, because they didn’t have access to lamb, their usual meat, they switched to pork and also changed up the seasonings. 

My husband and I love ethnic street food documentaries. When we watched Netflix’s The Taco Chronicles, I learned the origins of the Al Pastor taco, and that sparked me to find more food immigrants. I wanted to combat the rhetoric against immigrants. What better way than through beloved food?

How did you research content for this book?

MW: I usually anchor my nonfiction books around an adult book as reference material. However, since this was an unusual topic, I couldn’t find any books. As such, I used the internet and YouTube to find other food immigrants. 

How did you come up with the title of this book?

MW: I’m usually quite bad at book titles, but this one popped right into my head. The title was originally The Traveling Taco and Other Wandering Food, but my editor switched it up (which is typical for me!). 

You’ve written both fiction and non-fiction children’s books. Do you have a preference, and if so, why?

MW: My editor at Red Comet Press, Mike Yuen-Killick, acquired six of my manuscripts. He told me that they were all non-fiction, which was a surprising revelation for me. One of my books is a Reverso Poem, and Mike said poetry is non-fiction. I would like to write more fiction, but I find nonfiction easier since I can anchor it around something that actually happened and just translate that for kids. 

What level of interaction did you and the illustrator have during the process?

MW: I would say that this was a typical process where I saw full-page spread sketches to comment on, as well as nearly final art. Kimberlie Clinthore-Wong really did an amazing job. I noticed that she really did extensive research! She found a photograph of the actual first Fish and Chips in England, for example, and drew that into the spread!

Ice Cream traveling taco book

Do you have other books or projects coming up?

MW: Fortune Cookies for Everyone, illustrated by Colleen Kong-Savage and published by Red Comet Press and Smithsonian, comes out Fall of 2025. This is the story of who invented the fortune cookie, an American invention.

Barbed Wire Between Us, illustrated by Violeta Encarnación and published by Red Comet Press, comes out in Fall 2026. This is the story of my heart that I worked on for years. It’s about a Japanese grandmother folding origami cranes into the barbed wire fence of an immigrant detention center as she connects with a young South American girl held there. The reverso poem format is a metaphor for how history repeats itself.

Postcards from Malcolm X: How Yuri Kochiyama Became a Civil Rights Activist, illustrated by Keith Henry Brown and published by Red Comet Press, comes out in January 2027. 

A Place to Call Home (new title in the works), illustrated by Mary Atwood and published by Sleeping Bear Press, comes out in Spring 2026. This is about sustainable homes around the world.

Where to Purchase The Traveling Taco

The Traveling Taco is ideal for children aged 5-8 years old. Find it at bookstores and book websites across the nation, including Amazon, Bookshop.org, and more. A Kindle version is available on Amazon as well.

Author’s Bio

Mia Wenjen Headshot

Mia Wenjen blogs at PragmaticMom.com. She is also the co-creator and president of the nonprofit, Read Your World. Her picture books include We Sing From the Heart (Red Comet Press), an Orbis Pictus Recommended Book for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children, a California Eureka Non-Fiction Award Honor Book, and a Junior Library Guild Gold Selection; Food for the Future: Sustainable Farms Around the World (Barefoot Books, 2023); Boxer Baby Battles Bedtime! (Eifrig Publishing, 2024); and Sumo Joe (Lee and Low, 2019).

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