Cover Reveal Q&A: PICADILLO FOR PAULINA by Ruth Behar & Gabriel Frye-Behar, Erika Rodriguez Medina

Newbery Honor winner Ruth Behar has a new picture book coming: Picadillo for Paulina. It’s co-written with her son Gabriel and illustrated by Erika Rodriguez Medina (on sale 8/25/26).

Today we get an exclusive first look at the cover, but first, I had a couple questions for Ruth and Gabriel about how the book was made.

Travis: Hello Ruth and Gabriel! What was the inspiration for Picadillo for Paulina?

Ruth & Gabriel: Our book came about through a mix of experiences. First and foremost, Gabriel’s wife, Sasha, chose to be a vegetarian at the age of four. She has stayed true to her vow to the present day and she is bringing up her daughters to be vegetarians and Gabriel has become a vegetarian as well. But in our book, we decided to give Sasha a Cuban-American identity.

In our Cuban-American family, picadillo, made from beef, was an important part of our food traditions. Ruth’s mother and Gabriel’s Nana loves to cook, and picadillo has always been one of her favorite dishes. Gabriel has a series on Facebook called “Nana Cooks,” where he filmed her making different Cuban dishes and picadillo is one of them!

She dreamed of opening a restaurant, so in the book we gave her the restaurant she had longed for. In this way, Sasha’s story of becoming a vegetarian in early childhood and Nana’s passion for cooking came together for us in the imaginative world of Picadillo for Paulina.

Travis: How did your collaboration work?

Ruth & Gabriel: Ruth had an initial sketch for the story and we began with that, and then Gabriel added more layers, and then Ruth revised that, and then Gabriel revised what Ruth revised, and so on. We passed the manuscript back and forth between us. Gabriel lives in New York and Ruth in Michigan, so we were often on the phone talking about the book, and when we could, we got together in person to read the book aloud together. It was really fun as the book took shape to see Gabriel share the story to his daughters, ages five and three. Seeing how the story resonated with them was really wonderful and extended our collaboration as a family.

Travis: What was the most fun part of the process in making this book? What was the most challenging?

Ruth: For me, it was a joy to work on a book together with my son and to see how much he
knows of Cuban traditions and forms of expression that we integrated into the story. The
challenging part as storytellers was celebrating Paulina’s choice to be a vegetarian while also
showing pride for Cuban food traditions.

Gabriel: Also it was having another chance to collaborate with my mom on a book, after our
previous picture book Pepita Meets Bebita. It was really fun to imagine how the illustrations
could bring the characters to life. The most challenging was waiting to see how the book would look – we’re so eager to see Paulina and her family on the page, and to have the chance to share this story.

Travis: Final Question: What snack puts you in peak creativity mode?

Ruth: I love having a square of sea salt chocolate and a cup of ginger tea to get into peak
creativity mode.

Gabriel: Coffee!

Travis: Thanks for taking my questions!

Now, for the first time, the cover for Picadillo for Paulina written by Ruth Behar and Gabriel Frye-Behar, illustrated by Erika Rodriguez Medina, and published by Norton Young Readers (on sale 8/25/26).

Filed under: Cover Reveal