Happy Book Birthday to Plátanos Go With Everything!

Join us in celebrating PLÁTANOS GO WITH EVERYTHING book birthday! We sat down with Musa Lissette Norman to learn all about the inspiration behind this book. 

But first, a little bit about Plátanos Go With Everything:

Plátanos are Yesenia’s favorite food. They can be sweet and sugary, or salty and savory. And they’re a part of almost every meal her Dominican family makes. 

​Stop by her apartment and find out why plátanos go with everything—especially love!

What 3 words would you use to describe your book?
 Food, family and love.
 
Where did you get the idea to write this particular story?
The title came to me first. While preparing lunch, I was trying to decide what to cook with my plátanos. I had many options; and I could also prepare the plátanos several ways: mashed (mangú) or fried (tostones or maduros). Suddenly, the thought came to me: Plátanos go with everything. And a title was born. Ideas for a possible picture book began flowing. After enjoying a yummy plate of mangú, sunny side up eggs and Dominican cheese, I put all those ideas down on the page.
 
What was the most challenging part of the publication process with this story?
Waiting, and then waiting some more. I got the book deal for Plátanos Go with Everything in May 2020 and I had to wait until it was publicly announced in November 2020 before I could speak openly about it. When something as exciting as getting a book deal happens for you, you want to scream it from every mountaintop. But I couldn’t. I thought I’d burst holding in such news. Then there’s more waiting for the book to come out; to finally hold it in my hand. It’s now January 2023 and, after all that waiting, it’s hard to believe my book is out in the world. Yay!!!!

Bilingual edition of Lissette's picture book.

​Lissette Norman is a poet and author of the picture books My Feet Are Laughing and Plátanos Go with Everything. She is also co-author of the picture books, Until Someone Listens (w/ Estela Juarez) and On the Line: The First African-American Rockette (w/ Jennifer Jones). Lissette received her BA in English at SUNY-Binghamton and currently lives in New York City.  

www.lissettenorman.com/
Twitter: @lissettejnorman 
 Instagram: @platanosgowitheverything

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