Guest post by Tara, Teacher-Librarian:
Solidarity Note:
For folks in larger bodies or anyone who has had struggled with disordered eating January can be a difficult month. As such, the Solidarity team is thrilled to present this piece full of joyful books celebrating and normalizing a foods as part of a balanced approach to life and nutrition!
Holidays are about family for me. Intertwined with my memories of what happened when we gathered, is the time we spent together in the kitchen and around the table enjoying food from our cultures. Our special days smell like grandmama’s shortbread cookies and sorrel. They taste like turkey with cornbread stuffing, curried goat and roasted vegetables. They look like everyone arriving with a dish or two, and they feel like love. Our menu changes and evolves as we do, and as new people join the family bringing their preferences and traditions. This year our Christmas dinner included tofurkey for the first time — but what has not changed is the importance of food and sharing it together.
Holidays and family gatherings happen all year long. One way to help young readers and their families revisit these times is through picture books and non-fiction titles that celebrate food and include recipes. My students, who have a variety of ethnic and cultural backgrounds, and economic realities, all gravitate toward these books. They love to share what foods the ingredients make them think about, and the dishes they’ve eaten or have learned to make.
The new year is upon us, bringing with it New Year’s resolutions and criticism of bodies. As we interact with young readers and families, let’s strive to share books about food with the message that preparing food for others and sharing recipes is sharing love. All bodies deserve to be fed and to enjoy food. All bodies deserve these multi-sensory memories.
Wishing everyone a 2024 of culinary and cultural connections.
I am a Teacher-Librarian who loves connecting with readers of all ages. I share books I love with a focus on Canadian and under-represented voices. I am Black and biracial and I really don’t remember noticing in my childhood that there were few books with characters that looked like me, or that reflected my family.
However experiencing them now as an adult, and watching my children and my students connecting with books that mirror their identities, has led me to always strive for diversity in book collections.
Picture Books that include recipes (or links to recipes):
- AWÂSIS & THE WORLD FAMOUS BANNOCK by Dallas Hunt and Amanda Strong.
- AMY WU AND THE PERFECT BAO by Kat Zhang and Charlene Chua.
- RAMEN FOR EVERYONE by Patricia Tanumihardja and Shinho Pate.
- WAITING FOR TOMORROW by Susan Yoon and Julie Kwon.
- SALMA THE SYRIAN CHEF by Danny Ramadan and Anna Brown.
- GRANNY’S KITCHEN by Sadé Smith and Ken Daley.
- JULIE AND THE MANGO TREE by Sadé Smith and Sayada Ramdial.
Recipe Collections:
ARAB FAIRY-TALE FEASTS: A LITERARY COOKBOOK by Karim Alrawi and Nahid Kazemi with recipes by Sobhi al-Zobaidi and Tamam Qanembou-Zobaidi and Karim Alrawi.
THE ANTI-RACIST KITCHEN edited by Nadia L. Hohn and Illustrated by Roza Nozari.
Picture Books that feature food (but don’t include recipes):
- WE BELONG HERE by Frieda Wishinsky and Ruth Ohi.
- MALAIKA’S SURPRISE by Nadia L. Hohn and Irene Laubscher.
- THANK YOU, OMU! by Oge Mora.
- CHAIWALA! by Priti Birla Maheshwari and Ashley Barron.
Non-Fiction Food Books:
EAT UP!: AN INFOGRAPHIC EXPLORATION OF FOOD by Paula Ayer, Antonia Banyard and Belle Wuthrich.
There are additional resources available from the publisher’s website.
Books that include recipes, recommended by Storytime Solidarity members:
- BANG BANG NOODLES by Nessie Sharpe.
- BILAL COOKS DAAL by Aisha Saeed and Anoosha Syed.
- BRAND NEW BUBBE by Sarah Aronson and Ariel Landy.
- BREAD LAB by Kim Binczewski, Bethany Econopouly, and Hayelin Choi.
- CORA COOKS PANCIT by Dorina K. Lazo Gilmore and Kristi Valiant.
- FREEDOM SOUP by Tami Charles and Jacqueline Alcantara.
- FRY BREAD by Kevin Noble Maillard Juana Martinez-Neal.
- LUNCH AT 10 POMEGRANATE STREET by Felicita Sala.
Books featuring food, recommended by Storytime Solidarity members:
- BABY GOES TO MARKET by Atinuke and Angela Brooksbank.
- A BASKET FULL OF FIGS by Ori Elon, Gilah Kahn-Hoffman, and Menahem Halberstadt.
- DAD BAKES by Katie Yamasaki.
- DOÑA ESMERALDA, WHO ATE EVERYTHING by Melissa de la Cruz and Primo Gallanosa.
- EVERY NIGHT IS PIZZA NIGHT by J Kenji López-Alt and Gianna Ruggiero.
- GRANDPA’S MIXED UP LU’AU by Tammy Paikai and Don Robinson.
- HALAL HOT DOGS by Susannah Aziz and Parwinder Singh.
- HOT, HOT ROTI FOR DADA-JI by Farhana Zia and Ken Min.
- HOT POT NIGHT by Vincent Chen.
- HURRAH FOR YUM CHA by Nessie Sharpe.
- LULI AND THE LANGUAGE OF TEA by Andrea Wang and Hyewon Yum.
- OLIVE HARVEST IN PALESTINE by Wafa Shami anddShaima Farouki.
- OUR LITTLE KITCHEN by Jillian Tamaki.
- PALETERO MAN by Lucky Diaz and Michah Player.
- RAINBOW STEW by Cathryn Falwell.
- RUBY’S REUNION DAY DINNER by Angela Dalton and Jestenia Southerland.
- THE SANDWICH SWAP by Rania Al-Abudullah, Kelly DiPuccho, and Tricia Tusa.
- THERE WAS AN OLD AUNTIE WHO SWALLOWED A SAMOSA by Asmaa Hussein and Milton Bazerque.
- TOMATOES FOR NEELA by Padma Lakshmi and Juana Martinez-Neal.
- WHAT CAN YOU DO WITH A PALETA? by Carmen Tafolla and Amy Morales.
- WILD BERRIES by Julie Flett.
