Whether it’s connecting with extended family from afar, or taking pride in your heritage in the U.S., growing up as a child of immigrants can come with many complex experiences.

Writer and illustrator Jacqueline Alcántara draws from her own childhood to help kids navigate their diverse identities in her new book called “Tíos and Primos” — Spanish for “aunts, uncles and cousins.”

Alcántara spent more than a decade illustrating full time and doing projects for NPR and the Obama Foundation. “Tíos and Primos” is her first book as an author. The book is inspired by her Honduran roots — an aspect of Latin American culture she said is often underrepresented and stereotyped.

The book tells the story of a young girl’s visit to Honduras to meet her extended family members, all of whom only speak Spanish. The girl, fluent in English, explores her family’s roots with her limited Spanish.

“The little Spanish that she knows is only getting her so far and she’s kind of frustrated,” said Alcántara. “But I really was hoping that the story was going to be very universal — the experience of kids coming here that only speak English that might be navigating a difficult time and figuring out how to connect with people.”

The book uses Spanglish — a combination of Spanish and English — to describe the conflict the girl feels at times not being able to communicate with her relatives fluently. Alcántara said it felt very natural to shift between the two languages to shed light on an experience many children of immigrants have. Though she grew up in a bilingual household, she’s not fluent in Spanish.

“From both parents, my brother and I just were resistant to learning it,” said Alcántara. “We just didn’t have the opportunity to speak it with anybody but our parents, so of course, just being kids, we didn’t really want to. Our ears were very attuned to just Spanglish and that’s an experience that a lot of people have.”

The book is available in both English and Spanish. Growing up with a mother who was a Spanish teacher who sought out bilingual books, Alcántara understood the value of bilingual literature at a young age. She felt the need to continue that in her work and thought it was important to find a publisher who would agree to publish the book in both languages. Alcántara said she wanted to make the book accessible to bilingual families, as well as first-generation youth who may have immigrated to the U.S. and are still learning English.

At the core of the book is a story about building familial bonds and connections despite geographical and language barriers.

“My goal for the book was to remind everybody that there’s lots of ways we can connect with people,” said Alcántara. “There’s lots of small things that we can do to make other people feel very understood, accepted and loved.”

Alcántara is staying in children’s books for her next project, where she will be illustrating U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s new book, “Just Shine! How to Be A Better You,” set to release in September.

See images from “Tíos and Primos” below:

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