Cover Reveal and Q&A: It’s Diego Fuego with Allison and Rafael Rozo
Because sometimes you just want to do a post about a tiny firefighting dragon.
Today we’re in conversation with a debut. A double debut! Allison and Rafael Rozo have penned a snappy little bilingual/Spanish picture book called Diego Fuego (out July 22nd), described by its publisher in this way:
Diego Fuego lives on the southernmost tip of South America in Tierra del Fuego with his dragon family. Even though the rest of the dragons can powerfully roar fire, Diego is allergic to smoke and can’t create even the tiniest flame. His allergies lead to sneezes…and those sneezes produce ice flurries instead of flames! When a fire grows out of control, Diego soon finds that this weakness can actually be his superpower. Diego Fuego the Firefighting Dragon is a heartwarming tale that celebrates individuality, courage, and the power of embracing one’s true self.
Today we’re taking a gander at the cover, and also talking with Allison Rozo herself about their little book.
Betsy Bird: Allison and Rafael! Thank you so much for joining me today! And congrats on your debut picture book DIEGO FUEGO, THE FIREFIGHTING DRAGON. Let’s start from the very beginning. Where did this book come from? What’s its origin story?
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Allison Rozo: Hi Betsy! Thank you so much, we are honored to be speaking with you.
In the mad rush to get our daughter ready for school one morning, our three-year-old son said something that sounded like, “It’s a firefighting dragon!”
“Did you say a firefighting dragon?” I asked.
“No…” He shook his head, annoyed with my misunderstanding. Unfortunately, to this day we have no idea what he was asking for, because the idea immediately took off.
“His name is Diego Fuego!” I laughed as Rafael pointed at the map of South America on our kitchen wall and said, “This is where he lives, Tierra del Fuego.”
We could not stop bouncing ideas off each other and making up songs about DIEGO FUEGO THE FIREFIGHTING DRAGON who saved the day! But how? Or why?
At first, we imagined him suited up like an actual firefighter, but the story didn’t seem to come together. Until we began to think of him as a child. I thought about my own life and struggles with allergies and asthma. Many a party, a holiday, or a family get together, was ruined by my unfortunate flare-ups. On one Christmas Day in particular, my mom decided to throw a pizza in the oven, became sidetracked, and let it burn. The smoke sent me into an asthma attack. She rushed me to the E.R., apologizing all the way. This moment got me thinking about how a family of dragons could not help breathing fire even if one of their own was allergic. Rafael loved the concept, and we created a family of dragons who are happiest being together but cannot help triggering poor Diego Fuego’s allergy to smoke.
Fun Fact: One of the first gifts Rafael ever gave me was a statue of a little red dragon from his trip to Hong Kong.
BB: So you’re a rare husband/wife picture book writing duo. How did that come about? What does your writing process look like?
Allison: Our writing journey began the first time Rafael invited me to visit his hometown of Bogotá, Colombia in 2009. I was taking pictures and asking him questions about the people and places we saw. The stories seemed to jump out at us, ready to be told. That same year I went back to school to learn how to create digital illustrations. I had dreamed of being an illustrator but needed stories to practice on. As I wrote, Rafael would read the manuscripts, and we would discuss what was working and what wasn’t. That became our process. I create the structure of the stories, and he throws ideas at the walls to see what sticks. It was a natural evolution, and our stories felt even more special when we had children of our own, as we weaved together our two cultures. I found that while I enjoy creating illustrations, I love the process of writing even more, especially working as a team.
Together, we combine our senses of humor with Rafael’s view of the world as an immigrant and my love of storytelling. We both enjoy traveling—walking the streets of unfamiliar cities to discover hidden treasures—visiting art museums, and attending the theater, but after having children we found ourselves doing this a bit less, so our creative wandering energy poured itself into our books. We like to write things that feel real. Real life, real family, real feelings. All of which can be messy and complicated, but that’s what makes them beautiful and unique.
Fun fact: Our wedding reception was held in a library in downtown Chicago.
BB: The book is bilingual. Did you write both the English and the Spanish selections yourself? Did you both write them together? What were some of the challenges that come in writing a bilingual picture book?
Allison: Spanglish has become an art form in our family with all of us being either fluent in English or Spanish, and all at varying degrees. Some words just seem to make sense in one language over the other. The addition of Spanish to our English manuscripts feels as instinctive as we speak. While Rafael is fluent in Spanish and English, I am only fluent in English. I have picked up enough Spanish to get by after living with him and his Colombian family for so many years, but it is very remedial. As I write, I add Spanish words from my limited vocabulary. Rafael then reads them over, changing them as needed to pick the words that translate best in the story. He also adds Spanish words and/or phrases where he feels they fit.
Rafael has lived and worked in the United States speaking English for almost 25 years and he still comes across words or phrases that do not translate to him, or he finds a Spanish expression he cannot translate for me to understand. This is the main challenge when writing bilingual stories, understanding the true meaning behind a word or phrase. There are amazing tools for looking up translations for words from English to Spanish and vise-versa, but the real meaning of the word(s) may be different. It can be difficult to use words that give the same feeling in Spanish as the rest of the sentence. We also try to choose simple words and phrases—in pronunciation and meaning—that can easily be learned and hopefully used by children who may only know English, opening a new world of language to them.

Fun Fact: Fuego is the word for fire in Spanish.
BB: You mentioned that the book is inspired by your own asthma and allergies, Allison. Picture books on that topic as metaphors are tricky little things to write. How did the final product of this story differ from your initial first drafts? What changes did you make along the way?
Allison: Diego Fuego is probably the most “me” character that I (we) have created. As I mentioned earlier, the initial drafts of DIEGO FUEGO THE FIREFIGHTING DRAGON lacked his allergy to smoke. When I realized why he needed to be a firefighter, I understood how similar we were, and suddenly his personality fell into place. As a child, I was often too sick to do things my friends were able to do, and I had to bring my inhaler or my nebulizer machine (aka The Machine) everywhere I went—from school to summer camp—so I wanted to create a character who had this weakness but with it discovers his inner strength. Diego Fuego realizes it’s ok to be different and that his uniqueness is his superpower. My inability to do some of the things my peers were able to do let me live in the imaginative world inside my head, creating stories and drawing my own worlds. I felt powerful with my creative abilities and special that I was strong enough to overcome my attacks. This is also true for the character of Diego Fuego.
One tricky part in writing the book, as you mentioned, was the wording of Diego’s ailment. At first, I used the word asthma, but when related to dragons we felt that it pulled the reader out of the story. The word allergies felt more appropriate.
It was also tricky to balance the story between the seriousness of allergies, family bonds, and finding the humor when things accidentally go wrong. With this we thought it was important to highlight how a person’s allergies affect the ones they love. My family worried about me constantly and I always tried to wear a brave face to ease their fears. This is true in Diego Fuego’s personality as well. He does not want to be the center of attention because of his allergies. The Fuego family tries their best to protect Diego, but no one is perfect, and mistakes happen, especially when it comes to dragons. In the end Diego Fuego finds he is strong enough to take care of himself. While he is a fictional dragon who learns to overcome his affliction, this is not the case with a human child with asthma and allergies. Through my struggles I did learn of ways to advocate for myself. There is great strength in understanding what you need, for example, knowing your triggers or allergens and avoiding them as best as you can, carrying your inhaler, knowing where your EpiPen is kept, and alerting those around you right away when you are having trouble!
Fun Fact: Diego Fuego’s icy roar was inspired by the mist from my inhaler and Vanessa Morales, the illustrator of our picture book, was able to sneak my inhaler in one of the interior spreads.
BB: Speaking of Vanessa Morales, what are some of your thoughts about her final art?
Allison: Vanessa Morales is incredible. I was first introduced to her illustrations with the picture book MONSTER BAKER, written by Laura Lavoie, and I adored her use of color with fun, engaging, and unique character designs. I never dreamed we would have the chance to work together!
To further my admiration, my degree is in the History of Art & Architecture, so I research what I write to find little hints of historical tidbits to add to the richness of our fictional stories. When we were shown the initial sketches for Diego and his Fuego family, Vanessa had added handwritten notes with her research of the character designs. She wanted to create a “Western” version of the dragons by using images from the Mayan, Incan, and Aztec cultures. Rafael and I were in love at first sight.
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In the final art Vanessa created so many special elements, for example, the way the smoke leads the reader through the story, the precious sketches hand (claw) drawn by Diego, and the darling map of Tierra del Fuego. But I have to say my favorite illustration is the exasperated look on Mamá Fuego’s face staring out at the reader as the dragon family goes up in flames, because even though they tried, they couldn’t help breathing fire. As a parent, it feels very accurate. Rafael’s favorite illustration is of the soccer (fútbol) field found in Tierra del Fuego because it is authentic to Latin America.
Fun Fact: Vanessa Morales’s inspiration for Diego Fuego came from the cutest little salamander in the world—native to her own country of Mexico—the axolotl.
BB: Finally, what do you have coming up next?
Allison: We have a second picture book, UNIQUE LIKE YOU, illustrated by Angie Alape, releasing on September 22, 2025, with Beaming Books, where a young girl helps her Mamá (along with their donkey) collect recyclable treasure along the streets of Bogotá, Colombia, and discovers treasure in everyone. It highlights the beautiful and inspirational graffiti art found on the city walls.
We are also excited to be on submission with a picture book series about a group of outdated satellites replaced by shiny, new models who band together for friendship and to make every space a better place and a picture book biography on a fantastic Colombian artist. In the meantime, we keep creating new adventures together!
Fun Fact: Our story, UNIQUE LIKE YOU, was inspired by a photograph I took on my first visit to Colombia with Rafael.
And here’s the cover for one and all to see!

Special thanks to Allison for taking the time to answer all my questions today. Diego Fuego is, as I said, out July 22nd, so look for the little dragon to be on shelves at that time!
Filed under: Cover Reveal, Interviews

About Betsy Bird
Betsy Bird is currently the Collection Development Manager of the Evanston Public Library system and a former Materials Specialist for New York Public Library. She has served on Newbery, written for Horn Book, and has done other lovely little things that she'd love to tell you about but that she's sure you'd find more interesting to hear of in person. Her opinions are her own and do not reflect those of EPL, SLJ, or any of the other acronyms you might be able to name. Follow her on Twitter: @fuseeight.
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