Please welcome debut picture book author Jackie Morera to Frog on a Blog! You may know that today is Memorial Day, the perfect day to talk to Jackie about Abuelo’s Flower Shop because her lovely book, which officially comes out on June 4, 2024, from Beaming Books, highlights grief and sadness and how people remember loved ones they have lost. Abuelo’s Flower Shop is also multigenerational, starring a young girl and her grandfather, and bilingual, featuring a mix of English and Spanish text.

Abuelo’s Flower Shop is especially touching to me because I worked as a floral designer in my father-in-law’s flower shop for 10 years, and I know firsthand how special flowers are and how comforting they can be. Let’s hear more from Jackie about her writing life and her book!

Congratulations on the publication of your debut picture book Abuelo’s Flower Shop! Tell us a little about the story and what inspired it.

JM: Thank you! Abuelo’s Flower Shop is a story about a young girl who, while working alongside her abuelo in his flower shop, discovers the heartbreaking truth about the garden across the way and learns how their flowers help send a very special message to those in need.

The book is loosely inspired by my own experience. Like Elena’s abuelo, my grandparents sold flowers from the street in front of their Miami home, which sat catty-cornered from a cemetery. However, the heart of Abuelo’s Flower Shop—discovering the truth about the garden across the street—is entirely Elena’s story. That came from asking myself “what if?” What if I had paid closer attention when I was younger? What if my grandfather and I had that conversation? How might that have played out? And so, a story was born.

What message do you hope kids will take away from the story?

JM: I hope they’ll walk away from the story with the confidence to ask questions, even (and maybe especially) when it may be uncomfortable to do so. Elena’s story is largely one about understanding loss and empathizing with those who are grieving, but, at its core, it’s about a little girl who asks “why?”

How long have you wanted to be a writer, and what influenced your love for books and writing?

JM: For as long as I can remember, I have always loved storytelling. I was fortunate to grow up in a home filled with books and with parents who encouraged reading, writing, and creativity. Some of my earliest memories are of my dad folding sheets of paper down into little booklets for me to write my own stories in, which he would pair with his illustrations. Later on, when we bought our first video camera, I would spend entire weekends writing and recording plays in my room. I carried that passion with me through the rest of my schooling and even into college where I briefly studied English Literature and Creative Writing. Of course, life takes you a roundabout way to accomplishing your goals sometimes, and ambitions change, but I’m happy I found my way back to my first true love.

You also write young adult novels. How do you switch your writer’s brain between writing for teens and writing picture books?

JM: It’s funny you ask because writing picture books happened sort of by accident for me. Young adult novels were my first love, as far as writing is concerned, so those are what I wrote almost exclusively for many years. Until, one day, I found myself sleep-deprived, nursing my (at the time) infant son, and suffering from the worst case of writer’s block I’d ever experienced. I was desperate to get back to writing and, in taking stock of what sparked inspiration, dove into studying the newest additions to our bookshelves—picture books! My first attempt at writing a picture book manuscript of my own was meant to be a creative exercise and nothing more, so switching my writer’s brain from writing for teens to writing picture books was a welcome change. Now, it does take a little more effort to toggle between the two, but I find I still turn to my picture book manuscripts as an escape. I would say the easy answer is that I’m able to switch my writer’s brain between writing for an older audience and writing for kids by letting my inner child run free on the page.

What were your first impressions of artist Deise Lino’s illustrations for Abuelo’s Flower Shop?

JM: Complete adoration! My immediate thought (well, once the crying subsided) was that she did a wonderful job of capturing the story exactly as I pictured it in my mind. Deise was quite far along in her illustration process when our publishing team shared her work with me, so it was almost like reading the entire story with the art at once. It was very special!

What are you working on now? More picture books?

JM: I’m currently in the editorial phase of a third (still unannounced) picture book that’s set to release in the Fall of 2026. I’m also tinkering with a few other picture book manuscripts, slowly drafting a second young adult novel, and outlining my first middle grade novel.

Thank you so much for having me on Frog on a Blog. It’s been a joy!

Connect with Jackie Morera online by visiting TikTok, Instagram, Threads, and Twitter/X @jmorerabooks, Goodreads or her website jmorerabooks.com.