For 15 years, Yuyi Morales has been writing and illustrating magical, award-winning picture books about clever tricksters, monster-fighting niños and heroic historical figures such as Frida Kahlo. In all that time, it never occurred to her to tell her personal story.
Now in the wake of attacks against immigrants, she’s decided to share her perspective on her trek from Mexico to America with her then two-month-old son, Kelly, when she was 25. In Dreamers, she uses spare, lyrical language to describe the love between a mother and a son:
“I dreamed of you, then you appeared. Together we became Amor-Love-Amor. Resplendent life, you and I.”