Top Ten Tuesday: Thankful Freebie
It’s a thankful freebie this week! And since I’ve done a few Thanksgiving-themed book lists in the past – like this one about being grateful or this one with Thanksgiving books, I decided to focus on one of the best parts of Thanksgiving for me – food!
Thanksgiving is all about getting the chance to spend time with family and in our family that means eating a lot of amazing food (and talking about what we want to eat next)! I look forward to the stuffing and apple pie the most – so delicious. Today, I’m sharing picture books with a focus on food – kids and families that cherish the food that is important to them and celebrate it in everyday life. So, without further ado, check out these amazing, mouth-watering books about delicious food!
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Thankful Freebie: Food-Focused Picture Books
Amy Wu and the Perfect Bao
by Kat Zhang, illustrated by Charlene Chua
Amy loves to make bao with her family. But it takes skill to make the bao taste and look delicious. And her bao keep coming out all wrong.
Then she has an idea that may give her a second chance…Will Amy ever make the perfect bao?
Bee Bim Bop!
by Linda Sue Park, illustrated by Ho Baek Lee
In bouncy rhyming text, an excited and hungry child tells about helping her mother make bee-bim bop: shopping, preparing ingredients, setting the table, and finally sitting down with her family to enjoy a favorite meal.
Bilal Cooks Daal
by Aisha Saeed, illustrated by Anoosha Syed
Six-year-old Bilal is excited to help his dad make his favorite food of all-time: daal! The slow-cooked lentil dish from South Asia requires lots of ingredients and a whole lot of waiting. Bilal wants to introduce his friends to daal. They’ve never tried it! As the day goes on, the daal continues to simmer, and more kids join Bilal and his family, waiting to try the tasty dish. And as time passes, Bilal begins to wonder: Will his friends like it as much as he does?
Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story
by Kevin Noble Maillard, illustrated by Juana Martinez-Neal
Fry bread is food.
It is warm and delicious, piled high on a plate.
Fry bread is time.
It brings families together for meals and new memories.
Fry bread is nation.
It is shared by many, from coast to coast and beyond.
Fry bread is us.
It is a celebration of old and new, traditional and modern, similarity and difference.
Gazpacho for Nacho
by Tracey Kyle, illustrated by Carolina Farías
Nacho likes to eat only one thing―gazpacho! Gazpacho for breakfast, gazpacho for lunch, gazpacho for dinner, for snacks, and for brunch. Nacho won’t even try other dishes―until he discovers miles and piles of mouthwatering vegetables at the market. This lively rhyming story, sprinkled with Spanish, will delight little chefs. A recipe for Gazpacho and a Spanish glossary are included.
Kalamata’s Kitchen
by Sarah Thomas, illustrated by Jo Kosmides Edwards
Tomorrow is Kalamata’s first day at a new school, and she’s nervous! What if the kids aren’t friendly? Or worse, what if they don’t like alligators!? If only Kalamata and Al Dente could go to back to the Indian spice market they visited this summer, then maybe she’d remember how to feel brave when new experiences seem scary.
Luckily for Kalamata, all the magic required for her journey is right in her own kitchen! As Kalamata and her alligator friend, Al Dente, transport themselves to a magical land filled with tasty ingredients, she realizes being brave is exciting! And most importantly, she learns that when we’re nervous about trying new things, food can comfort us and remind us to stay curious, courageous, and compassionate.
My Food, Your Food, Our Food
by Emma Carlson Berne, illustrated by Sharon Sordo
We all like different food, but everybody needs to eat! How Are We Alike and Different? Find out in My Food, Your Food, Our Food.
Noodles, Please!
by Cheryl Yau Chepusova, illustrated by Rebecca Hollingsworth
Here’s an alphabet book to set your taste buds aflame. Noodles are a universally loved food, from Ash Reshteh in Iran to Zaru Soba in Japan. In this board book shaped to mimic bowls, readers will discover 26 different varieties as they eat their way through the alphabet. Who knew noodles could be served so many ways: long and short, hot and cold, spicy and sweet, in broth and baked, paired with vegetables, meat and fish.
Noodles, Please! provides a culinary tour of the world, highlighting cuisines from over a dozen different countries. With each new letter, a new dish is introduced identifying its country of origin and name written in both English and the country’s native language. Whether learning about Tallarines Verdes for the first time, or a Naengmyeon aficionado, readers young and old are sure to slurp this one right up.
Thank You, Omu!
by Oge Mora
Everyone in the neighborhood dreams of a taste of Omu’s delicious stew! One by one, they follow their noses toward the scrumptious scent. And one by one, Omu offers a portion of her meal. Soon the pot is empty. Has she been so generous that she has nothing left for herself?
Tofu Takes Time
by Helen H. Wu, illustrated by Julie Jarema
CLICK CLACK WHIRRRR . . . Lin and her grandma, NaiNai, are making tofu from scratch! When NaiNai goes through each step, from blending soybeans with water to molding curd into shape, Lin gradually becomes impatient. But she soon discovers that making tofu not only takes time, but also takes the whole universe! It takes the seed from soil and sunshine, the cloth from thread and fiber, weight and space, books of words and pictures. And most of all, it takes spending lovely time with her beloved grandmother.
The Artsy Reader Girl currently hosts Top Ten Tuesday, an original feature created by The Broke and the Bookish.
One Comment
Vidya Tiru
Love your take on this freebie list; I have read a couple of the books (including Fry Bread and Thank You Omu) on your list and loved them both.. Thank You Omu is on my list as well ..Here is my TTT