A Picture Book Celebrating NYC Food Vendor Families

Summary

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Podcast Summary

Podcast: All Of It (WNYC)
Episode: A Picture Book Celebrating NYC Food Vendor Families
Date: June 26, 2024
Host: Tiffany Hansen (in for Alison Stewart)
Guest: Karina N. Gonzalez, author of "Churro Stand"

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Overview

This episode spotlights Karina N. Gonzalez and her new bilingual picture book, Churro Stand, which centers on the vibrant world of NYC street food vendors and family, seen through the eyes of a young Latina girl. The conversation delves into Gonzalez's inspirations, the cultural and personal significance behind the story, its Spanish-language edition, the collaborative art process, and the book’s call to action promoting street vendor advocacy.

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Main Discussion Points & Insights

1. Inspiration Behind Churro Stand

• Personal and Observational Roots
  Karina Gonzalez describes how her mother’s tireless work ethic inspired the story, as well as a specific moment seeing a mother and daughter selling churros in a Brooklyn subway:

  “In that moment, I saw my mom and me and I felt so connected to this stranger and her baby… I thought about all the times that I accompanied my mother to work on holidays and weekends... because she wanted to help me attend private school and to pay for my beloved dance classes.”
  — Karina Gonzalez [02:08]

• Recognizing NYC Street Vendors
  She highlights the parallel she saw between her family and the many ambitious immigrant families working as street vendors across the city.

2. Characters & Family Representation

• Protagonists
  The story centers around Lucia, her mother (Mommy/Mama), and her older brother, Santiago (“Santi”):

  “And Lucia also has an older brother in the story named Santiago—Santi for short.”
  — Karina Gonzalez [03:33]

3. Transition from Speech Pathologist to Author

• Natural Progression
  Gonzalez, a school-based speech language pathologist, explains how her daily work with children using picture books led her to authoring her own stories:

  “It felt so natural… I saw my students’ eyes light up when they saw this book [about families like theirs]… it’s really important that children not only see themselves in picture books, but see their experiences...”
  — Karina Gonzalez [03:53]

• First Book Roots
  She recounted the impact of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico on her students and how that experience helped inspire her debut book, The Coquís Still Sing.

4. Bilingual Edition & Linguistic Representation

• Why Spanish Matters
  Gonzalez stresses the importance of children having access to books in their home language and dispelling myths around bilingualism:

  “There’s still that myth that families hear that they shouldn’t speak in their home language—that they should speak in English. And that’s a myth. And I want to encourage parents, families, educators to introduce picture books in the languages of the child as well.”
  — Karina Gonzalez [05:03]

5. Portraying NYC Vendor Culture for All Readers

• Illustrating Diversity
  The guest praises illustrator Crystal Quilez for authentically capturing NYC’s neighborhoods and diversity so that even children outside the city can connect:

  “We see people of all different walks of life, all different cultures and races. And I think it’s important for children, no matter if they’re from Wisconsin or California or from New York State, to see that diversity.”
  — Karina Gonzalez [06:11]

6. Live Reading

• Book Excerpt + Sensory Details
  Gonzalez reads an evocative passage from Churro Stand, painting a picture of family, food, and the city’s rhythms:

  “The scent of buttery vanilla swirls through our kitchen. Cinnamon sugar coats my fingertips. Crunch, pop, sizzle... Each churro is made with love and destined for a hungry belly. Her hands move quickly like a magician, her ladle a magic wand.”
  — Karina Gonzalez [06:44–08:29]

7. The Art of Collaboration

• Author-Illustrator Synergy
  The creative partnership with illustrator Crystal Quilez flourished through mutual understanding and shared backgrounds:

  “Crystal and I, we work really well together. We are very collaborative in our picture book process. And I feel like she understands the purpose to why I write... her illustrations, they make me very emotional. And I’ve cried when I’ve seen the first drafts.”
  — Karina Gonzalez [08:55]

8. Social Impact and Call to Action

• Highlighting Street Vendor Advocacy
  Gonzalez integrates a call to action in the book, connecting young readers and families with the real-world issues faced by vendors, referencing The Street Vendor Project and the 20,000-person waiting list for NYC vendor permits:

  “I believe picture books can be tools for social change and raising awareness in our communities. And that’s why whenever I write a picture book, I think it’s really important to have a call to action—to take the book to another place and to talk about how this book relates to our realities today.”
  — Karina Gonzalez [10:18]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the Street Vendor Inspiration:

  “Street Vendors of New York City really inspired this story and also my hard working parents, particularly my mother, Marixa.”
  — Karina Gonzalez [02:08]

• On Children's Representation:

  “It’s really important that children not only see themselves in picture books, but see their experiences.”
  — Karina Gonzalez [03:53]

• On the Culturally Rich Illustrations:

  "I told Crystal that I was thinking of a dreamy, kind of dessert-like palette... It makes you think of everything sweet and delicious. Including churros."
  — Karina Gonzalez [09:58]

• On Social Justice Through Children’s Lit:

  “Picture books can be tools for social change and raising awareness in our communities.”
  — Karina Gonzalez [10:18]

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Key Timestamps

• 01:11 - Episode opening; summer reading recommendations intro
• 01:41 - Author introduction and genesis of Churro Stand
• 02:08 - Personal story and inspiration
• 03:33 - Introduction of book’s main characters
• 03:53 - How speech pathology led to writing for children
• 05:00 - Importance of a Spanish edition
• 06:11 - Discussing vendor culture illustration for broad audiences
• 06:44–08:29 - Live read-aloud excerpt from the book
• 08:55 - Behind the art and author-illustrator collaboration
• 10:18 - The book’s “call to action” and broader advocacy
• 11:14 - Closing remarks and thanks

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Conclusion

Karina N. Gonzalez’s Churro Stand represents a heartfelt tribute to the resiliency and warmth of NYC’s street vendor families, weaving together personal heritage, linguistic pride, and social advocacy into a vibrant picture book. The episode demonstrates how Gonzalez's lived experience, professional perspective, and creative collaboration combine to create literature that resonates with children from all backgrounds while advancing cultural representation and fostering community awareness.

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Transcript

[McDonald's Customer]

I' ma put you on, nephew. All right, unc.

[Karina Gonzalez]

Welcome to McDonald's. Can I take your order, miss?

[McDonald's Customer]

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[Tiffany Hansen]

This is all of it. I'm Tiffany Hansen in for Alison Stewart. Although summer officially began last week, of course, with the solstice, for a lot of kids, summer starts at the end of school today. Today is the last day of classes for New City Public schools. And so in honor of that, we are sharing some of our favorite new kids books that we think might be a good add to the summer reading list. First, we have Karina Gonzalez, author of the book Churro Stand. The story follows a young Latina girl named Santi. Did I say that right?

[Karina Gonzalez]

Karina Lucia.

[Tiffany Hansen]

Okay. Who heads with her mom to work one day. The mother is a street vendor selling churros in Union Square. After the first day is. Well, it's a little unsuccessful at first, but there's bad weather, storms, but it does turn around. Joining us to talk about the book is Karina Gonzalez. Hi, Karina, Welcome.

[Karina Gonzalez]

Hi, Tiffany. Thank you for inviting me.

[Tiffany Hansen]

All right, so let's talk about the story. You said it was inspired by your mom, is that right?

[Karina Gonzalez]

Yes. So. Well, the book Churro San is also inspired by the street vendors of New York City. And I am a school based speech language pathologist and Brooklyn. And one day when I was coming home from work, I noticed a mother selling churros inside a Brooklyn subway station. It was actually Broadway junction. With her daughter clutched to her side. And in that moment, I saw my mom and me and I felt so connected to this stranger and her baby. And I thought about all the times that I accompanied my mother to work on holidays and weekends without understanding why she worked so much. And it was because she wanted to help me attend private school and to pay for my beloved dance classes. Both of my parents worked extremely hard. My mother in particular, during my childhood worked at times between four and six jobs. And I remember as a child Looking at her with such awe, how could she work so much? How does she have the energy? And when I moved to New York City, I saw. So I saw the multitude of people here who also have that same zeal and ambitiousness and want to succeed and provide for their families. Street Vendors of New York City really inspired this story and also my hard working parents, particularly my mother, Marixa.

[Tiffany Hansen]

So the characters in the book are mother, daughter, their names are so mommy.

[Karina Gonzalez]

Is Mommy, Mama and the daughter is Lucia. And Lucia also has an older brother in the story named Santiago Santi for short.

[Tiffany Hansen]

Got it. Okay. Wow. How did you make that leap from your day. Day job, right. Speech therapist into or speech pathologist into writing books.

[Karina Gonzalez]

It felt so natural. As a speech language pathologist, I work with children from Pre K to 8th grade and I read picture books all the time with my students. And I remember this light bulb moment when I saw my students reading a book that I chose for them that they related with. It was actually My Papi has a Motorcycle by Isabel Quintero, illustrated by Zeke Pena. And I saw my students eyes light up when they saw this book and they said, oh, my papi works in construction or that looks like my family. And they speak Spanish just like mine. And I thought, wow, it's really important that children not only see themselves in picture books, but see their experiences. And when I began this work as a speech language pathologist, Hurricane Maria happened in Puerto Rico. And that also inspired me to come up with a picture book of my own. My first picture book is called the Coquillas Still Sing los Coquillas a Uncantang. And I've continued to write picture books. And so I was inspired by my students really, at the end of the day to write picture books on my own.

[Tiffany Hansen]

So you released this book with a Spanish version as well?

[Karina Gonzalez]

Yes.

[Tiffany Hansen]

Okay, so talk about why that's important for you.

[Karina Gonzalez]

That's definitely important because when I was growing up, I didn't really, not only did I not find my culture represented in picture books, but I did not really find picture books in Spanish. And now it's gotten a lot better. The picture book industry now there's a lot more representation and a lot more books available for children and families in other languages. And because I'm a bilingual speech language pathologist, there are, there's still that myth that families hear that they shouldn't speak in their home language, that they should speak in English. And that's a myth. And I want to encourage parents, families, educators to introduce picture books in the languages of the child as well. And so that was really important for me for this book to also be published in Spanish.

[Tiffany Hansen]

So, you know, you mentioned this, the vendors, right. And the culture around vendors in New York City. For kids who aren't in this city who might pick up this book, it's a vibrant. It's a vibrant world. How did you think about portraying that for kids who might not be familiar with it?

[Karina Gonzalez]

Well, Crystal Quilez is the illustrator, and I think she did a fantastic job with illustrating New York City, the bustling nature of the streets of Manhattan, and also the representatives, representation of the people of New York City. We see people of all different walks of life, all different cultures and races. And I think it's important for children, no matter if they're from Wisconsin or California or from New York State, to see that diversity. That diversity exists, and it's important for children to be exposed to it.

[Tiffany Hansen]

Can you read a little bit for us?

[Karina Gonzalez]

Absolutely. Would love to. The book is called Churros Stand in Spanish. El Carrito de Churros, written by me, Karina Nicole Gonzalez, and and illustrated by my very dear friend, Crystal Giles. The scent of buttery vanilla swirls through our kitchen. Cinnamon sugar coats my fingertips. Crunch, pop, sizzle. Churros. Mama's work begins before the sun is up. Each churro is made with love and destined for a hungry belly. Her hands move quickly like a magician, her ladle a magic wand. Proxima, pajina. Today will be caluroso, she says. Beads of sweat sparkle on her face. She glides into her squishy shoes, and I imagine her walking on clouds instead of the hard city streets. When the churros cool off, Santiago tucks them away. Lucia, watch how I do it, he says. Vamos. Mama beckons. She rolls out a gigantic suitcase filled with churros, a treasure chest. Santi carries a basket of napkins and chocolate sauce, and I cradle our lunchbox. Broxima, pahina. Outside, New York City awakens. Buses screech and motorcycles zoom by. We rush down the sidewalk and into the dark subway tunnel. The train races over the east river and into Manhattan. Badoom. Badoom. This stop is Union Square. Finally, we arrive. Mama grins as she picks up her pushcart. A shiny, metallic chariot.

[Tiffany Hansen]

Oh, nice. Nice. Thank you. You mentioned your illustrator. Obviously, we can't show the pictures on the radio, but. But I'm curious how that creative process was for you in terms of developing the story and how you. You know, how you kind of feed off each other in that process.

[Karina Gonzalez]

Absolutely. Well, I. I'm so excited to talk about the illustrator of the book because she happens to be not only an incredible illustrator, but also a very dear friend of mine. And when I discovered her other picture book, her first one, the ABCs of AOC, which she illustrated, I contacted her and we found out that we were born in the same hospital, four apart, and we only lived a few blocks away from each other in New York City. So it felt very serendipitous. So Crystal and I, we work really well together. We are very collaborative in our picture book process. And I feel like she understands the purpose to why I write. And whenever she illustrates anything I write, I feel like she takes it to another level. And so much so that when I see her illustrations, they make me very emotional. And I've cried when I've seen the first drafts of both, both the Coquille Still Sing and Churro Sand. And so we. I don't really tell Crystal much. She kind of does her own thing. But when this book, when we were working on this book, I told Crystal that I was thinking of a dreamy kind of dessert like palette. And this book is exactly that. It makes you think of everything sweet and delicious. Including churros.

[Tiffany Hansen]

Exactly. All right, well, before I let you go, there is something else unique about this book and there's a little call to action in there. So tell us about that.

[Karina Gonzalez]

Yes. So I have admired the Street Vendor Project's work for many years now, and their work has also kind of informed me. And when I was researching this picture book and they do a lot of advocacy work on behalf of street vendors here in New York City, and I was actually invited to their offices a few months ago and I collected some copies of Churro San First Street Vendors and you know, they raise awareness about the plight that they experience on the day to day. Right now there are 20,000 street vendors who are waiting on a wait list to get a permit in New York City. And there's currently a cap on permits in New York City. And so I believe picture books can be tools for social change and raising awareness in our communities. And that's why whenever I write a picture book, I think it's really important to have a call to action to take the book to another place and to talk about how this book relates to our realities today.

[Tiffany Hansen]

The book is Churro Stand. It was written by our guest, Karina N. Gonzalez. Karina, thank you so much.

[Karina Gonzalez]

Thank you, Tiffany.

[McDonald's Customer]

I' ma put you on, nephew. All right, unc.

[Karina Gonzalez]

Welcome to McDonald's. Can I take your order, Ms.

[McDonald's Customer]

I've been hitting up McDonald's for years. Now it's back. We need snack wraps. What's a snack wrap? It's the return of something great. Snack wrap is back.

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