Tuesday, January 27, 2026

Stories in the Afternoon: How a Children’s Book About Corona, California, Found Its Home at the Norton Simon Museum

My Papi Has a Motorcycle, written by Isabel Quintero and illustrated by Zeke Peña

A father’s motorcycle. A daughter’s love. A California neighborhood frozen in time before gentrification erased it.

This Sunday, the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena invites families to experience “My Papi Has a Motorcycle,” an acclaimed children’s book that has become one of the most honored picture books of recent years. The event pairs author Isabel Quintero and illustrator Zeke Peña’s 2019 collaboration with Diego Rivera’s “The Flower Vendor (Girl with Lilies),” creating an ambitious program that transcends typical children’s entertainment.

The book follows Daisy Ramona through her beloved Corona, California neighborhood as she rides her father’s motorcycle past tortilla shops, raspado stands, and murals depicting citrus groves and immigrant history. But beneath this simple premise lies something deeper: Quintero’s love letter to her father and to a rapidly changing city, acknowledging gentrification and displacement without heavy-handedness.

The book has swept the literary world, earning the Pura Belpré Illustration Honor, the Tomás Rivera Mexican American Children’s Book Award, and recognition as one of The New York Times’ best children’s books of 2019. Peña’s illustrations appear in collections at the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the National Museum of Mexican Art.

The museum’s curatorial choice to pair this contemporary work with Rivera’s 1941 painting reveals sophisticated thinking about community, dignity, and representation. Both works celebrate the inner lives of working-class and working-immigrant communities.

Stories in the Afternoon: “My Papi Has a Motorcycle” will run on Sunday, February 1, 2026 at 3:00 p.m.–4:00 p.m. Norton Simon Museum, 411 W. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena. For more information, call (626) 449-6840 or visit https://www.nortonsimon.org/calendar/2026/winter-2026/My-Papi-Has-a-Motorcycle-2-1-2026-300PM#2026-02-01. Ticket prices: Free with museum admission ($20 adults, $15 seniors, free for children 18 and under).