Celebrating Undas and What Makes A Family with Eric Ruiz Roxas and Aldy Aguirre
As Undas approaches, we’re celebrating the Filipino traditions, memories, and family bonds at the heart of our picture book What Makes a Family. In this special conversation, author Eric Ruiz Roxas and illustrator Aldy Aguirre share the inspiration behind their heartfelt picture book, reflect on their own experiences of Undas, and explore the many different ways families come together to remember, love, and honour those who came before us.
How would you describe What Makes a Family in one sentence? Or, what three words would you use to describe What Makes a Family?
Eric: The three words that I would use to describe What Makes a Family are diverse, poignant, and heartfelt.
Aldy: It's a warm story showing different kinds of families, following Pedrito and Pipay's encounters and adventures during Undas.
Can you introduce us to Undas? What is your favourite thing about the tradition? What is your favourite memory of the tradition?
Eric: Undas is the Filipino Day of the Dead. It is a holiday here in the Philippines celebrated every year on the first and second days of November during All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day. It comes from the Spanish word "honras" meaning "honors," tributes," or "funeral rites."
When I was younger, my favorite thing about Undas was having fun with my cousins at the cemetery. Aside from eating, chatting, and hanging-out in front of our dead relatives' niche, we also did the silliest of stuff like roaming around the cemetery, searching for the most interesting tombstones, and calculating the age of the dead when they passed away based on the years carved or painted on their marble. We also fancied collecting candle drippings, forming them into balls, and reselling them for a few pesos outside the cemetery to candle vendors.
But now, Undas means something more than just hanging-out with cousins, playing guess-the-age-of-the-dead games, and being entrepreneurial, because, for me and my family, Undas now means paying homage and giving honor to the legacy of our patriarch, my father, my Tatay Ben, who passed away in 2013.
Aldy: Undas is basically the Filipino version of the day of the dead. It's my favorite holiday, a very good excuse to watch horror movies and shows all day. For Filipinos, it's like a mini reunion for families to gather and visit their loved ones. It's like a picnic when they gather around their relative's gravestones, especially in public cemeteries.
What inspired the writing/illustration behind What Makes a Family?
Eric: I wanted to create a book that celebrates who I am, not only as a writer, but as a person; a book that mirrors the things I hold closest to my heart: family, being Filipino, and diversity.
Aldy: I try to share our culture, to show readers what we see here in our country. I also want to show regular and everyday moments, like walking in the streets, looking at the ground, seeing stray cats and dogs around, are interesting enough to be part of stories worth telling.
Do you have a favourite scene or line from What Makes a Family? What makes it especially meaningful to you?
Aldy: I think my answer always changes when this is asked Right now, it's the spread where Pedrito and Pipay reached the tomb. It's the most quiet spread, and I like how the mood shifted in this scene. The final look was how I really wanted to portray that spread even from an early stage, for it to be solemn but filled with emotions.
Eric: In all honesty, with Aldy Aguirre's dreamy and delicate illustrations, all scenes are just pure perfection! But if I had to choose only one, I would say the part where Pedrito and Pipay are reunited with their grandparents in front of their parents' tombs. That scene shows how love and family can bridge over time, generations, and even life and death.
What was your process for creating the characters in What Makes a Family? How did you make them feel authentic and relatable to children? Walk us through the creative process of creating one of the characters.
Aldy: I wanted them to look how you'll see most of the kids here in the Philippines. I made Pedrito wear regular flip flops, what every kid here wears on a daily basis, while playing, going to the market, etc. While Pipay is someone prepped for a special day, like going to church or a children's party. I thought of my younger self when making Pepito. Pipay is a younger version of my daughter.
What do you hope readers feel, or take away when they read What Makes a Family?
Aldy: That having a different kind of family is ok, the bond and love you share is more important than being the same as others. And it's ok to have different ways to show and celebrate how we remember those who are no longer with us.
What makes What Makes a Family relevant to non-Filipino readers?
Eric: It is relevant to readers all around the world because the topics discussed in the book like love, grief, and acceptance are all universal.
Aldy: We all share the experiences mentioned and shown in the book: being different from others, having a different kind of family, different social status, different ways of doing things. But there are way more important things than those differences, like relationships we create and memories we share with people we care for. We all know this, and this book is a small reminder.
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