Desi, Mami, and the Never-Ending Worries

Ages 3 to 6

From actress Eva Mendes, comes Desi, Mami, and the Never-Ending Worries, a story about a little girl—with the help of her mami—working to clear her mind of endless scary worries.

Every night begins with the same refrain: “MAMI! THERE’S A MONSTER UNDER MY BED!”

Desi has so many scary thoughts! Is her brain a monster?!

Of course it’s not a real monster, and Mami assures Desi of this. Sometimes we just have scary worries running through our minds. And like anything in life, you just need to work to make things better.

With gentle guidance from Mami, Desi realizes she’s the boss of her thoughts. Together they try different approaches to clear their minds of these never-ending worries.

While Desi may still have scary thoughts from time to time, she realizes that they can tackle anything!

Actress Eva Mendes writes a deeply relatable story about a subject that all parents can likely connect with: the bedtime struggle! Pulling from her own experiences as a mother, she has written a fun and instructive story of a mother and daughter working together to quash those scary thoughts and be off to bed at last.

About the Author

Eva Mendes began writing in kindergarten after a short career in scribbling. She pursued many endeavors at a young age, including hall monitor, student government (however short-lived), and at age fifteen she obtained her workers permit so that she could finally work at “like, most every shop” in the Glendale Galleria. Her early acting credits include Fairy Godmother (third grade), one of the three kings in We Three Kings (fourth grade), and star dancer on the drill team.

She lived in Los Angeles for many years but has since left to concentrate on following one of her non-Hollywood dreams—raising her two children, Esmeralda and Amada, with partner Ryan Gosling. Oh, and from time to time she acts in some pretty cool movies with some pretty cool, creative people. She also runs different businesses and loves to make things more beautiful.

With Desi, Mami, and the Never-Ending Worries, Eva poses the very comforting concept that the big scary monster under the bed is just a monster in your head.

Abbey Bryant is an NYC-based award-winning illustrator with a heart for gentle stories and warm colors. She creates soft, stylized, and textured work perfect for touching visual storytelling and sweet, memorable characters. As a queer illustrator, her work is always rooted in inclusivity and equal representation. Most days, she can be found around the city filling sketchbooks with drawings of New Yorkers or dreaming up her next story.