This year, winter truly sneaked up on me. Partly because I’m already in Mexico and the weather is working extra hard to make it feel like summer, and partly because I’m in the thick of finishing off my last deadline of the year for a lovely picture book I can’t wait to tell you all about soon!!!

Winter’s arrival catches me having just received some great secret news I can’t share quite yet (!!!), super excited and grateful about some upcoming illustration projects I have lined up for next year that I am insanely passionate about, and, ready to spend the holidays back home in the tropicalest weather of them all (think heat and humidity and not one warm piece of clothing in sight).

This whole rollercoaster of a year I’ve been desperately trying to spend time away from my screen and though I’ve mostly failed, looking back at my notebooks, I have made some progress in making more time to play with traditional media: for example, most of the art I’ve created for this newsletter this year has been traditionally made. So, I’ll take that tiny win. It’s been amazing to actually paint again, and it’s something I’m looking forward to do more of in the new year.

This year, I even had time to paint, print and send out some holiday cards! Which I’ve talked about how much I love doing. And here, you get one too:

I hope you’re all having a good holiday season, and that the new year finds your well rested and full of hope for the future.

The holiday season is in full swing, and if there are still some presents you need to pick up, let me put you on to some of the loveliest indie bookstores in the LA area (in no particular order), where you can find a great present for the bookworm(s) in your life.

• LA Librería (DTLA) - best known for its amazing catalog of Spanish language and bilingual books. The perfect place to shop for someone looking for Spanish titles.

• Casita Bookstore (Long Beach) - If you get the chance to swing by Casita Bookstore, you’ll be charmed! The location is what Pinterest dreams are made of, and you can shop for amazing titles.

• MIJA Books (Online / Lakewood) - An all year round online bookstore best known for hosting amazingly diverse book fairs in the LA area. Also, for the holidays, MIJA Books has a pop up at the Lakewood mall until Dec 24th!

• Village Well (Culver City) - A true community hub and a bookstore you can spend hours in! I personally can’t set foot in the Culver City area without popping by and checking out their new book arrivals.

• Children’s Book World (Mid City) - A gem on Pico Blvd. that frequently hosts amazing events and has some truly beautiful books to browse from all year round.

• Vroman’s Bookstore (Pasadena) - An institution! You can truly spend ALL day inside of Vroman’s looking at books and knick-knacks (speaking from experience here!)

• Octavia’s Bookshelf (Pasadena) - A fantastic little shop where you can get some truly wonderful titles and great book recommendations!

• Skylight Books (Los Feliz) - What is there not to love about a bookstore with an actual tree inside of it? I can spend hours browsing, and I’ve found many unique books among its shelves.

• Chevalier Books (Larchmont Village) - A lovely shop with a great collection of titles, and another great place to get a good book recommendation.

• Once Upon a Time Bookstore (Montrose) - A truly beautiful bookstore with so many titles! Once Upon a Time is just stacked with amazing kids books.

The Updates department

I’m thrilled to announce, Pepe and the Piñata is now OUT!! The book is a sequel to Pepe and the Parade, both written by Tracey Kyle and illustrated by me, and it follows Pepe as him and his Hispanic friends celebrate the holidays and learn about traditions from all over Latinamerica!

I loved working on this little book, and I was ecstatic to see it featured on the Horn Book’s website for their 25 Days of Holiday Books!

Order Pepe and The Piñata

And, in other huge book news, you can now pre order All of Apolonia, written by two times Paralympic gold medalist Patty Cisneros Prevo, and illustrated by me. All of Apolonia is a sweet story about the struggles (and joys) of navigating different identities and what happens when all of your worlds collide!

All of Apolonia comes out in March of 2026, you can pre order it now wherever books are sold!

Pre order All of Apolonia

On the calendar

I have a few school visits planned out for the next year! I usually don’t advertise those here because they are not open to the public. If you’d like to enquire about having me come to your school, library or literary event, you can find more information and book me through the link below:

Speaker profile

My wonderful speaker agent will be in touch with you as soon as possible!

Tabs I haven’t been able to close

💜 Most of the tabs I’ve had open this past months are photoshop tabs, as I’ve been working hard to finish a few picture book projects I’m super excited to tell you all more about in the next year!!!

🖼️ I came across this painting called “Allegory of charity” by Francisco de Zurbarán. There’s something about the warm colors and the composition that I love, and it feels very appropriate for the season! It’s currently my phone screen saver.

📺 This youtube channel! Pottery to the People has become my comfort watch lately, I love all of her videos.

🎙️ I’ve been listening to the Allison after NXIVM podcast, because of course I listen to true crime podcasts for fun. I thought it was an interesting podcast about a very complicated case, so if you’re into cults/true crime I would definitely recommend.

🎵 A few albums I’ve been loving lately: “Lux” by Rosalia, “SAYA” by Saya Gray, “ICONOCLASTS” by Anna von Hausswolff, “Ego Death at a Bachelorette Party” by Hayley Williams, and “Hourglass” by Antibalas.

🎶 A song for you…

PS.

Thank you so much for reading!! Thank you so much for your support and I hope you’re all having a good holiday season! If you haven’t already, consider subscribing to newsletter.doc