Emmy Award-winning El Tigre creator and L.A. mom Sandra Equihua will soon have a new children’s book published “Hola Lola! To the Bodega: A Bilingual First Words Book,” (on sale August 11). Young readers follow Lola as she heads to her neighborhood bodega to pick up a candle for her abuelo’s birthday cake, discovering pastries, paletas, drinks and more along the way while learning over 100 words in both English and Spanish. Filled with Equihua’s whimsical animation-inspired artwork, Hola Lola! captures the warmth and familiarity of neighborhood and family life.
Tell us a little about your growing up years in Tijuana. What was family life like? Fondest childhood memories?
I was born and raised in Tijuana, Mexico, a city that, for some reason, a lot of people think is a really long drive from LA. It’s actually around a 2hr or so trip. But back to my story!
My mom was an elementary school teacher, and my dad was a doctor/ surgeon. I had the privilege of growing up with three sisters (I’m the third of the bunch!) Since we grew up a hop, skip and a jump away from San Diego, we got introduced to the best of both Mexican and US culture. So, while on early morning weekends, we’d be laughing at the Saturday morning cartoon lineup starring the Smurfs or Pee Wee, Sunday mornings we’d be having chilaquiles with chorizo for breakfast while my dad sometimes played rancheras on the stereo. Since my sisters and I all attended school in San Diego while we lived in Tijuana (we’d cross the border every day), almost all of our friends resided across the border. Playdates were tough to organize so I’m very thankful I had my sisters!
Were you the kid who was always drawing and creating?
YES! I was always drawing with pencils or pens, or markers, playing with playdoh…or mud! We’d build forts with sofa pillows and open the cabinets in my mom’s kitchen to create imaginary houses. My mom taught us some basic sewing when we were little, so we had the awesome experience of making dresses for our dolls. My sisters and I used anything we could find to make furniture for our dollhouses, spools, baskets, Kleenex boxes, empty containers. We read A LOT. Many of the ideas I got for my projects I picked up from here. My elementary school really pushed literacy, and my dad had a study/ library where he had shelves upon shelves of books. Since he was also a professor, he had a giant chalkboard which I absolutely LOVED because it offered an endless canvas for drawing! Don’t get me started when he brought home colored chalk. In restaurants I would draw pictures of the waitresses and the patrons just to make my family laugh. I absolutely loved the smell of “papelerias” (mom and pop shops that sold school supplies and books) It was a mix of sharpened pencils, wax crayons, alcohol-based markers, and paper. Very magical!
Where does the inspiration for your character designs come from?
A lot of the inspiration for my artwork comes from childhood in general. When Luka, my 17-year-old son, was younger, I saw the world through his eyes as most mothers tend to do. He gave me a new perspective on everything. I love the whimsy, silliness, playfulness and freedom being a kiddo emotes. It’s an unapologetic nature that exists in behavior that only kids can get away with because their logic is like a culture of its own, you know? As we get older, we limit ourselves to so many things because we start conforming. Kids think outside of the box. I love this.
When did you move to LA?
I moved to Los Angeles at 25 after I married my incredible husband, Jorge Gutierrez. That was our plan without it ever even spoken out loud. It seemed logical. We’d known each other since we were 17 and 18 and discovered we had many similar interests and backgrounds. Further down the road, I studied Graphic Design in which I received a bachelors, and he, a BFA and MFA in Experimental Animation. Weve worked together since day one and are constantly asking each other’s opinion. To this day, I am Jorges #1 fan and he, mine!
What was the inspiration behind Hola Lola to the Bodega?
Daniel Moreton of Penguin Workshop was the person with the idea behind the initial concept. Bodegas are everywhere in NY, and he wanted to pay homage to these little businesses through a bilingual book.
Growing up in Tijuana, we had something similar but we called it la Tiendita de la Esquina (the little store around the corner) or micellania. In my research, it was wonderful to see how many of these little stores existed WORLWIDE and how much of a staple they are in society, not only for purchases, but to create connection and to have a common place with familiarity. You get to know the cashier, the store owner, the products and where they are…even the cat or dog that seems to reside there. As a little girl, whenever I had the opportunity to visit these little gems, I remember I would walk in wondering why my mom would only walk out with the essentials and why she had completely snubbed the amazing potato chip aisle or why she didn’t take the time to feel the bristles on the floor brushes on display or why she didn’t take the time to pat all the bags full of beans and rice? That being said, I came up with Lola, a whimsical, distracted, imaginative, connoisseur of life who is pretty observant and goes through life happy as can be.
How old is your child? How do you keep the culture of your childhood alive while living and raising a family in L.A.?
My son Luka just turned 17. Since my childhood took place in Tijuana, Mexico, my husband and I have instilled an interest for his roots from day one. I’m pretty amazed at how in love he is with his Mexican ethnicity. He loves the food, he loves the language, he loves the people, he loves the music. So, whenever there is an event affiliated with our cultural heritage in LA, you can bet we’ll be there. From art shows, festivals, lucha libre matches to Dia de los Muertos at the Hollywood Forever Cementery to both his grandmothers, LucyMom and Tita, being constantly present in his life! Also, Los Angeles proudly counts with quite a large percentage of a Latino population, so our lineage and traditions are continuously present around the city 😊
Tell us a little about your family’s cultural traditions and what you hope to pass down to your child.
A tradition that we have kept going since Jorge and I were married was celebrating Dia de los Muertos. We were married Nov 2nd , which is also Day of the Dead. At our reception, we placed pictures of our loved ones so they could be with us on our special day and decorated with cempasuchil. We lit candles and placed offerings. Every anniversary, we set an altar or visit somewhere to celebrate both this sacred day as well as our anniversary. We’ve introduced Luka to the celebration and have taken him to many events and cemeteries here in LA (Hollywood Forever Cemetery has an AMAZING tribute to this occasion) as well as Mexico to partake in this beautiful commemoration.
When not working, where will we find you?
It’s very rare that I have down time! I’m on the go almost all the time and even when I do have a couple of minutes to spare, my instinct is to think about what’s next on the roster! I am learning that giving oneself time isn’t a luxury but a necessity, so I’m making a conscious effort to carve space into my days. Jorge is very aware of this as well and if he sees me burning out, he’ll encourage me to zone out and rest.
What are some of your favorite spots in and around L.A. to go with your family.
I think my family takes advantage of L.A. as much as we can and we’ve still yet to do SO much. For right now, we love the serenity of Leo Carillo beach and its tidepools. We love finding restaurants that cater to all of us and L.A. has an endless array of places to eat no matter where you go. The same goes for the amount of museums that the city offers and exhibits we’ve been to at LACMA, the Academy Museum and the spontaneous pop-ups like the Balloon Museum or the Tim Burton and Basquiat exhibit a couple of years back. Theres also a constant flow of conventions around town featuring almost anything!
Just walking around sometimes, one tends to bump into unexpected surprises such as the Last Bookstore in Studio City, the Grammy Museum downtown, endless paths and trails for hiking, the sky’s the limit! We love L.A.
