Magical Realism, Colored Pencils, and the Story of Migration: We Discuss Mariposa’s Journey with Creators Belen Medina and Juana Martinez-Neal

I found a monarch butterfly chrysalis in my backyard last week. Look:

Granted it decided it wanted to change on my very tippy tomato plant, which wasn’t ideal. But this comment I received from author/illustrator Erika Meza put everything in context. She wrote, “It probably knows that tomato heavily features in Mexican food, where their ancestors nested?” I told her I loved that theory and, as it just so happens, that ties in particularly well with today’s featured book. I don’t know if you noticed, but we’ve a thoroughly gorgeous butterfly/Mexico picture book coming out this month called Mariposa’s Journey from Little Brown Books for Young Readers (arriving September 29th). With starred reviews from Booklist (“An enormously creative and compassionate exploration of a topic that touches all”) and Horn Book (” a poignant meditation on migration”) it also marks the first collaboration between author Belen Medina and Juana Martinez-Neal.

But what (you might ask) is the publisher’s description? Fear not, my friends. I have you covered:

“The journey looms long and dangerous, but Mariposa is not migrating alone. Every year when the cold winter months threaten, monarch butterflies embark on an incredible migratory journey from the northern United States and Canada to the warmer climates of southern California and Mexico. Every year, humans migrate too. For survival. For family. For a better life. The path will not be easy. Will Mariposa find the way to the warmth and safety of home?

Critically acclaimed author Belen Medina explores the interconnectedness of monarchs and migrants while richly textured artwork from Caldecott Honor recipient Juana Martinez-Neal creates a visually breathtaking odyssey.. An author’s note provides additional context about the indigenous Mazahua people of Mexico and their interactions with the monarch butterfly, as well as more information about the butterflies’ migratory routes and conservation status.”

To continue this conversation, I had the chance to ask both Belen and Juana questions about the book and their work on it. Here, then, are their answers:

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Betsy Bird: Belen! I am so pleased to have a chance to ask you about MARIPOSA’S JOURNEY today. We’ve seen tales of migration, both of butterflies and of people, over the years but there’s a singular elegance to the succinctness of this book that makes it a rarity. Can you tell us a little bit about where MARIPOSA’S JOURNEY originally came from?

Belen Medina: Thank you so much Betsy for choosing to highlight MARIPOSA’S JOURNEY in your blog. What an honor! It has actually been over six years since I first wrote this so I am reaching far back in the cobwebs of my memory to remember the first inspiration for this story. But I have always been interested in the idea of migration, immigration especially. My parents are immigrants from Mexico. I then thought about how often humans are demonized for immigrating to provide a better life for themselves or their children. Somehow, I connected that with the migration of other species. And I had read about the UNESCO protected site in Mexico, that is a sanctuary for migrating monarch butterflies. I thought it would be an interesting premise to show a human making a similar migration, with the same intent of finding sanctuary. 

BB: Ah. I love that. Now let’s tie it into the illustrations. Juana! Always a delight to get to see a new book with your art. Tell us a little bit about encountering this manuscript for the first time. What was it about Belen’s words that drew you to this project? 

Juana Martinez-Neal: Betsy! It’s so nice to get a chance to talk to you again. Thanks for the kind words. Belen’s manuscript was shared with me by editor Esther Cajahuaringa while she was at Little, Brown. It was just perfect the first time I read it. The short heartfelt text was moving, and beautifully told a parallel story of a family migrating and the migration of monarch butterflies. 

BB: Absolutely. Now, Belen, I noticed on a reread that there is nothing specific to the text that says that Mariposa is a girl. From the earliest manuscript, was it always your choice to pair the story of “Mariposa” the girl with that of the butterfly? And how did you convey that fact in the original manuscript? 

Belen: Yes. I purposefully wrote the story of Mariposa as a parallel migration story which was very tricky as I had to make sure the words worked both for a butterfly and a girl. Also mariposa, in Spanish, is gendered as female, so it was an easy choice to make her a girl. 

BB: Okay, but this is a fictional picture book to its core. I notee that you slip in the occasional monarch butterfly fact into both the text and your Author’s Note at the end. Did you do any particular research or reading up for this book in any way? 

Belen: Yes. Absolutely. I read about the Monarch sanctuary in Mexico and a few other non-fiction titles about migration including THE NEXT GREAT MIGRATION, by Sonia Shah which discusses the idea that migration is not something to be vilified, but is actually a biological imperative, especially in response to climate change. 

BB: Oh, I love that. Okay. let’s lok at the art now. Juana, your color scheme in this book is really interesting to follow. For the most part, what you see on the jacket is what you get. A kind of brown sepia punctuated by orange and maybe the subtlest of greens. There is a point in a text where there’s another bold color (blue), but I found it interesting to see that it was just one color and not more. When you initially construct the look of a book, how do you find the right medium and colors to use throughout? And what was your process here? 

Juana: As I draw sketches and thumbnails, I am already thinking about textures, papers, palette and overall feel of each book spread. For “Mariposa’s Journey”, I went with a quieter palette with one standout color: orange. Why orange? Because it is the color of the Monarch butterflies. I made Mariposa’s coat and hairclip orange to reinforce the parallel story of Mariposa (the girl) and the butterflies. They were sharing their story of migration and they shared the orange for that reason as well throughout the story.

Other uses of color are more subtle, yet crucial in the story, like the color of the two papers I used to draw the spreads. In the opening spreads when the journey is hard, I use a darker brown paper and sepia colored pencils. When the spreads move to magical realism, the paper background changes to a brighter, warmer cream and the sepia colored pencils change to indigo blue. The orange continues throughout the book, but the contrast created with blue pencils and the warmer paper uplifts and heightens emotional impact in this part of the journey.

Do all decisions happen fast and clearly? No. I have an idea that I try to follow and I make attempts until I feel that I have reached the emotion I want to convey in the book and on each spread.

BB: There must have been a certain amount of trial and error with some of these spreads. Were there choices you thought about including that didn’t work out along the way, or was this the kind of book where everything just fell into place naturally? 

Juana: I painted some studies and suggested a four color process plus a Pantone. Luckily, the team at Little Brown was very supportive of the idea. Every spread is made of two pieces: one piece is the colored pencils drawings and the second piece is the orange. Then, the two layers were put together in production. I have to admit that everything was a bit of a guessing game. I can’t lie. I was a little nervous about the process but excited to try something I hadn’t done before. 

BB: Okay, this is a perfect moment to turn back to Belen. Now your words were paired with the incomparable Juana Martinez-Neal’s art and I have to wonder what your reaction was when you first saw what she’d created. Were you aware of Juana prior to this book? 

Belen: I was very aware of Juana’s prior work. I fell in love with it with Alma and How She Got Her Name. When I saw her illustrations of my story, I was stunned. It was more beautiful than I could have hoped for. Her use of a limited color palette was so moving to me. Every time I review her art, some new layer reveals itself to me. It’s truly beyond anything I could have hoped for.

BB: Speaking of which, Juana, I read most of my picture books in PDF form, which can be quite limiting sometimes. Fortunately, for this book I got to see a final edition and that let me take a closer look at the cover under the jacket. While the endpapers are distinctly brownish and orange, there’s a distinct blue on the front and back covers of the book underneath. Do you often get to design under the jacket like this? And did you know from the start what these images were going to be? 

Juana: There’s nothing like a printed book, isn’t it? The difference you feel is because I used the two different background papers and two different colored pencils for different moments of the journey, as I mentioned earlier. These each bring completely different emotions.I love getting a chance to illustrate a jacket and a separate cover, and try to do so in most of my books. It gives me a chance to tell a little more of the story, a more personal spread.

BB: Shoot. That’s just awesome. Okay, we’ve hit the end of my questions today so I just have one last question for you both: What else can we hope to see from you in the future? What else are you working on?

Belen: I’m working on a Spanish translation of this book which is a first for me. It’s very exciting to know readers in Spanish speaking countries will be able to have access to this book in their native language.

I’m also working on many different projects right now. I have two picture books that are coming out next year with Beaming Books that I am super excited about! One is titled The Hands that Feed which looks at all the invisible labor that goes into bringing food to our table. (pub date 4/7/2027). Another is titled The Carol of the Posadas, which is a story about a child participating in the Latin Christmas tradition of the Posadas for the first time. (pub date 9/14/2027).

Juana: Thanks for asking, Betsy! I have a new Alma Bilingual Board Book, Alma and Her Animals/Alma y sus animales released on September 1, right before Mariposa’s Journey. I also just released a picture book co-written and co-illustrated with Molly Idle, Off The Wall: Making Stuff Together. I am illustrating a few other picture books that have me very excited, but that’s a story for a little later.

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Such fabulous creators. Such a lovely book.

Mariposa’s Journey is, as I mentioned, out September 29th, so I highly recommend that you seek it out (or, at the very least, pre-order it). Special thanks to Belen and Juana for taking such time and care in answering my questions today. Thanks too to Victoria Stapleton, Orlane Dubreus, and the team at Little, Brown Books for Young Readers for helping to put this talk together.

Filed under: Best Books, Best Books of 2026, Interviews