Happy Book Birthday to Wifredo's Jungle

Grab your cafecito and join us for a conversation with Newbery Honor and Pura Belpré Medal Winner Margarita Engle and New York Times Bestselling illustrator Jaqueline Alcántara about their beautiful book Wifredo's Jungle. 

Margarita and Jaqueline, welcome to this interview with Las Musas! We are eager to learn about your project. Tell us more! 

Wifredo's Jungle brings to light the life of Cuban artist Wifredo Lam, who portrayed the enduring Afro-Cuban spirit culture through his art.
In a village on the tropical island of Cuba, a boy named Wifredo Lam loved to draw his surroundings—hot blue air, cool green leaves, and brilliant flowers.
As he grew older, Lam paid tribute to his Cuban, West African, and Chinese heritage through his art, which brought dignity and respect to Cuba's rich mix of cultures.
Inspired by and in contact with some of the most renowned artists of the early 20th century, such as Pablo Picasso, Frida Kahlo, and André Breton, Lam blended European cubism and surrealism with multicultural influences to create his own unique style, culminating in the creation of his masterpiece La Jungla (The Jungle).
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From Margarita Engle, a Newbery Honor Winner and a former Young People’s Poet Laureate, and Jacqueline Alcántara, a New York Times bestselling illustrator, Wifredo’s Jungle introduces young readers to the trailblazing life and work of Wifredo Lam.
Back matter includes: more information about the life of Lam and where to see his works; a glossary; and a bibliography.

Image from Wifredo's Jungle. Illustrated by Jacqueline Alcántara.

Margarita, where did you get the idea to write this particular story?
My mother was a Cuban art student, and my father was a visiting American artist. As a child, I stayed in my tío abuelo’s (also an artist!) tiny cabaña on La Playa de los Artistas in Jibacoa, wondering about all the artists who surrounded us. Later, as an adult, I saw Wifredo Lam’s Jungla in Havana, on loan from its permanent home in New York’s MOMA. It’s such a vast painting that it feels like an entire ecosystem of its own. As a botanist, I was stunned. When I learned about Lam’s multicultural background, his life seemed like a story that the children of the world need.

What was your favorite part of the publication process with this story?
Seeing the illustrations! Jacqueline Alcántara worked magic, capturing the essence of Lam’s difficult life and complex art perfectly, without making it frightening or confusing.
The illustrations are simultaneously powerful and sensitive.

Margarita, what advice do you have for new writers?
My advice for new writers is:
-Write from the heart.
-Scribble the first draft by hand, with a pen on paper.
-Be human. Never use AI.

Image from Wifredo's Jungle. Illustrated by Jacqueline Alcántara.

Jaqueline, what was the most challenging part of the publication process with this story?
It was a very fun challenge to portray and mimic Wifredo’s artistic style, while maintaining my own illustration style - all while being very careful to not step over the line of copying and drawing reproductions of his work.
I typed up one of his quotes above my desk to remember my goal in representing his style. “As I work, I do everything intuitively” When I stepped too far from this - over worked a part of a drawing or everything got too “tight”, I would start over and remember to work more intuitively. To trust the research I had done, trust my hand and imagination to draw with the energy and playfulness that is so captivating in his artwork.

Jaqueline, what message are you hoping readers will take away from this story?
I love that Wifredo shows us how the act of drawing helped him work through joyful, tragic, scary and frustrating moments of life.
As a kid Wilfredo didn't only draw things he was interested in things like mermaids and Orishas, he drew things that scared him - like a bat that flew into his bedroom at night and flapped around in the dark casting crazy, scary shadows on the walls. As an adult, he drew things that he loved - like people and places, but also very tragic events like death and war. Through drawing and painting, he found a way to both celebrate life, critique injustice, record events and push the boundaries of what art can look like and who it can represent.

Image of Jacqueline Alcántara's illustrations for Wifredo's Jungle.

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Margarita Engle is the Cuban-American author of verse novels such as The Surrender Tree, a Newbery Honor book, and Wild Dreamers, an International Latino Book Award gold medalist and Pura Belpré Honor book, also longlisted for the National Book Award. Verse memoirs include Enchanted Air, a Pura Belpré Award winner. Picture books such as Drum Dream Girl and Dancing Hands received numerous honors. Lifetime achievement awards include the NSK Neustadt Prize. Margarita served as the national 2017-2019 Young People’s Poet Laureate. Her newest books are Evamar, Wifredo’s Jungle, Tree Dog, and The Garden of Seven Senses.
Margarita was born in Los Angeles, but developed a deep attachment to her mother’s homeland during childhood summers with relatives on the island.  She studied agronomy and botany along with creative writing, and now lives in central California with her entomologist husband and soccer-playing Border Collie.
www.margaritaengle.com
Facebook: Margarita Engle
Twitter/X: @margaritapoet
Instagram: @engle.margarita

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Jacqueline Alcántara has illustrated several widely acclaimed picture books, including the #1 New York Times Bestseller Just Shine! written by Sonia Sotomayor. She is the author and illustrator of Tíos and Primos, which received 2 starred reviews. She lives and teaches illustration in Chicago.​

instagram @_jacqueline_alcantara

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