As soon as I saw “flan” in the title, my mouth began to water and I smiled at the little girl’s joyous face as she peeked into the oven with her grandmother.

What could be nicer than spending the day with a loved one making a family recipe? What  could possibly go wrong? Well . . .

Most of us know that without some sort of conflict there really wouldn’t be a story worth telling, and in Abuelita and I Make Flan, author-illustrator Adriana Hernández Bergstrom cooked up a truly engaging, suspenseful, heartwarming tale that will likely resonate with everyone – unless you happen to be absolutely perfect and have never made a mistake. 😇

Young Anita is excited that her abuela is going to teach her how to make flan for Abuelo’s birthday. Not just any flan, mind you, but the best flan!

Before they even get started, Anita accidentally breaks Abuelita’s crystal flan serving plate – it’s from Cuba and she’s had it forever, before Anita was born.

OH NO.

 Anita has already ruined Abuelo’s birthday. 😦

“Maybe no one will notice?”

Anita knows she should tell Abuelita, but worries about angering or disappointing her, so she decides she will instead strive to be the best helper. After all, she’s usually good at helping Abuelita with things she has difficulty doing because of her arthritis (threading needles, opening jars, undoing knots).

When it’s time to start, Anita skips around the kitchen gathering all the ingredients. Abuelita reminds her that making flan takes time and patience, and that the eggs must be cracked very carefully. 

Anita readies the water bath they’ll need to bake the flan. After Abuelita makes the caramel and combines the rest of the ingredients, they pour the mix into the mold. Once the flan is in the oven, it’s time to dance!

Now the waiting begins. Abuelita starts to tell the story of how Anita’s great-grandmother Catalina gave her and Abuelo the crystal plate for their fifth anniversary, but Abuelo interrupts her. He says he has a better story, describing how he was a judo master in Cuba. 

Anita is impressed and asks Abuelo to teach her some judo moves. Distractions aside, Anita grows more and more anxious as the flan is almost done. Then they’ll need the crystal plate – the one that’s now broken into “a million pieces.” Oh, the agony! She cannot keep her secret any longer.

Just as the timer goes off, Anita tearfully confesses her misdeed. Abuelita lovingly comforts Anita, reassuring her that Abuelo will appreciate the flan anyway because it was made with love. Besides, “A plate is a plate, but YOU are irreplaceable.”

As the flan cools, Abuelita finishes her plate story. Anita is surprised to learn Abuelo actually broke the original plate, which they’d received as a wedding gift from his mother. What’s more, he broke it at the wedding in front of everyone! So the plate Anita broke was a replacement.

What to do? Anita has a great idea. Why not use the plate she had made for Grandparent’s Day? Will the flan fit? Abuelita carefully flips the flan onto Anita’s plate. Perfect!! Happy Birthday, Abuelo!!

Abuelita and I Make Flan is Adriana’s debut as both author and illustrator, and I love the creative ways she combined text and art to tell this truly relatable story. 

She did an outstanding job of tracing Anita’s emotional arc from beginning to end. Her voice rings true and her feelings are intensely childlike and believable. 

As the story progresses, first person narration is interspersed with speech balloon dialogue. This not only creates a sense of immediacy as certain scenes are dramatized, but gives the reader a good sense of the characters’ personalities. Both Abuelo and Abuelita mix English with Spanish, enabling non-Spanish speaking readers to puzzle out word meanings through context.

Each page turn is interesting because of how Bergstrom alternated full bleed spreads with panels and spot illos. Hand-lettered interjections effectively heighten the drama and suspense, while lots of fun details will keep eager eyes busy.

Anita is adorable and endearing; readers will root for her from page one. Her facial expressions run the gamut from sweet and coy to utter dismay and worry, to earnest concentration and sheer bliss. The word-laden spread where she confesses how the plate crashed to the floor is especially effective as all her pent-up guilt and worry comes flooding out with such remorse. You can’t help but feel for her.

A delectable celebration of food, culture, family traditions, and togetherness, Abuelita and I Make Flan will get kids thinking about the importance of honesty and forgiveness, and accepting that accidents happen to everyone. The love between Anita and her grandparents is especially palpable and comforting, and of course it’s always fun to master new cooking skills. 

Backmatter includes a Recipe for Cheese Flan, a glossary of Spanish-English translations, and photos of Adriana and her grandparents.

Hungry?

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🥚 Abuelita’s Cheese Flan 🍮

Once again, a children’s picture book gave us a chance to make something for the first time. We love custard here at Alphabet Soup, so naturally, after reading Adriana’s mouthwatering story, all the furry kitchen helpers were starving for Abuelita’s flan. They were particularly intrigued with the prospect of caramelizing the sugar.

The addition of cream cheese promised to make this custard even richer and we weren’t disappointed. Just like Abuelita tells Anita, flan takes a little time and patience. Mr Cornelius was happy to stir the granulated sugar on medium heat for about 7 minutes before it turned into an amber syrup.

After we coated the bottom of our 9″ pan with the caramel, we blended the two milks, vanilla and eggs, then added this filling to the pan. We baked the flan in our bain-marie (water bath) till the center was jiggly. Though the recipe estimated baking time at 45 minutes to an hour, we baked ours for 1 hour + 15 minutes to get the desired consistency.

After we chilled the flan in the fridge overnight, it was drama time. There is always some suspense whenever you have to flip something over and unmold it (fingers crossed it would come out in one piece with no breaks)!

We did it! Phew!! *thunderous applause broke out among the ranks*

Then it was time to taste. Rich, creamy, and oh-so-smooth. We wished Abuelo a Happy Birthday, thanked Anita and Abuelita for showing us how to make the flan, and congratulated Adriana for creating this tasty tale. Would you like another piece? 🙂

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ABUELITA AND I MAKE FLAN
written and illustrated by Adriana Hernández Bergstrom
published by Charlesbridge, August 9, 2022
Picture Book for ages 5-8, 32 pp.
*Includes a Recipe for Cheese Flan and a Glossary of Spanish terms

♥️ Visit the publisher’s website for an Activity Kit that includes a Guava Flan variation.

Amazon || Bookshop || Charlesbridge

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🎉 SPECIAL BOOK GIVEAWAY! 📙

The publisher is generously offering a brand new copy for one lucky Alphabet Soup reader. For a chance to win, please leave a comment at this post no later than midnight (EDT) Friday, September 30, 2022. You may also enter by sending an email to: readermail (at) jamakimrattigan (dot) com with “FLAN” in the subject line. Giveaway open to residents of the U.S. and Canada only, please. Good Luck!

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🥭 HAPPY HISPANIC HERITAGE MONTH! 🥑

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*Interior spreads from Abuelita and I Make Flan, text and illustrations copyright © 2022 Adriana Hernández Bergstrom, published by Charlesbridge. All rights reserved.

**Copyright © 2022 Jama Rattigan of Jama’s Alphabet Soup. All rights reserved.