The 2026 picture book C is for Chupacabra: A bilingual ABC of Latin American monsters is kinda genius.
It is published by Lil’ Libros, a publisher dedicated to publishing multicultural books (and specifically bilingual books in English and Spanish) and illustrated by Flavia Z. Drago, an award-winning illustrator originally from Mexico. Drago’s currently living in England, where she’s doing doctoral work on horror in picture books.
The book is kinda genius because it combines several things, things that will appeal to different audiences. First, it is an ABC book, starting with Acalica, dark fairies from Bolivia and ending with zombies…so teachers can justify it because it helps kids learn their letters. Second, it is bilingual, describing first monsters and folk tales overall, then each individual monster, in both Spanish and English. Third, the illustrations are colorful and engaging. There’s a fair amount of darkness, and lots of creatures with fangs and claws, but the images are also on the cartoonish side, removing threat. Well, most of the threat. And finally, it’s a book of monsters, and monsters drawn from many traditions. This variety ensures that some of the monsters are likely to be new to everyone. I know I had known some (the chupacabra, brujos and brujas, La Lorona, etc.), but others, like el Galipote, were completely new to me. I know I want to know more about some of them–what the heck is the deal with El Sombreron?–and plan to learn more about these mysterious monsters.
And if it draws me in, it is sure to draw monster-crazy kids into researching Guatemala, Venezuela, and so on.
Good stuff. See if your library has it (even if you buy it yourself).
