food picture books

[yummy review] Thank a Farmer by Maria Gianferrari and Monica Mikai

~ jama ~ 7 Comments

Come Thursday, many of us will don our cozy sweaters and sit down with family and friends to feast on roast turkey with wild rice stuffing, mushroom gravy, creamy mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, candied sweet potatoes or yams, green bean casserole, and soft, fluffy dinner rolls (lots of butter, please!).

As we express gratitude for our bountiful meals, we should particularly remember the people who helped bring the food to the table. Thank a Farmer by Maria Gianferrari and Monica Mikai (Norton Young Readers, 2023) introduces us to about a dozen different types of farming, essential farm workers, and methods of planting and harvesting on commercial as well as family farms.

The book opens with a dedication page depicting a variety of colorful dishes with the words, “If you like the food on your table, THANK A FARMER.” Continuing with variations on this tagline, double page spreads feature familiar foods such as bread, milk, fruits, veggies, peanuts, rice, mushrooms, and maple syrup, in addition to one non-edible item, wool.

Gianferrari’s lyrical text is rhythmic and succinct, as dynamic and efficient as the processes described. Paired with Mikai’s warm and inviting illustrations, it’s easy for kids to connect what they eat every day with where it actually comes from — not a can, box, or supermarket shelf, but a farm, where real people work the land with their hands or specialized machinery.

First there’s breakfast, a girl eating bread while wheat is being harvested from combine to hopper, then into grain cart and storage elevator for milling and grinding into flour.

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[bouncy review] Pass the Baby by Susanna Reich and Raúl Colón

~ jama ~ 15 Comments

Since I grew up with a large extended family, loud talky meals were par for the course. Along with lots of tasty food, my aunties served up a fair share of juicy gossip and heaps of hilarity whenever we got together.

My cousins and I knew the drill. If you were a baby or toddler, you could expect to be doted upon — hugged, held, kissed or tickled. An uncle might toss you up in the air, and if you weren’t careful, you could even get your cheeks pinched.

All part of happy family gatherings, where the youngest is usually the center of attention. And why not? Who doesn’t love a wriggly, giggly, drooly, pint-sized bundle of fun?

In Pass the Baby by Susanna Reich and Raúl Colón (Neal Porter Books, 2023), we’re invited to join a lively multiethnic blended family as they set the table, prepare the food, enjoy their meal, clean up the mess, and then collapse from exhaustion — all while playing with, feeding and entertaining the baby, as she’s passed from lap to lap.

Reich’s rollicking rhyming text pulls us right into the action from the get-go, filling us with excitement and anticipation as we sense Baby will be the star of the show.

Family dinner, set the table,
forks and spoons and napkins too.
Knives and plates and water glasses,
flowers, candles, bright and new.
Wait a minute, where's the baby?
Someone's playing peekaboo!

As the guests gather round and help with finishing touches, hungry Baby fusses a little. So begins her journey around the table, as she’s cuddled by different family members. An ebullient refrain underscores everyone’s uproarious delight:

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[lickalicious review] The Sweetest Scoop: Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream Revolution by Lisa Robinson and Stacy Innerst

~ jama ~ 31 Comments

At this very moment I am eating devouring a bowlful of Ben & Jerry’s Chocolate Fudge Brownie. There’s nothing like rich and creamy chocolate ice cream lovingly loaded with chewy brownie chunks to send you over the top. So decadent, maybe even a little sinful. Marry me, please.

I still remember when Cherry Garcia (another of my favorites) first came on the market in 1987. Not only was it darn good ice cream, it was named after a cool musician. Since then, I’ve enjoyed many a pint, and continue to be impressed by Ben & Jerry’s wacky innovative flavors, progressive core values and ongoing social activism. How wonderful that America’s most popular ice cream company is thoroughly committed to making the world a better place!

Since I didn’t know much about how Ben & Jerry’s actually got started, I was hungry to read The Sweetest Scoop: Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream Revolution by Lisa Robinson and Stacy Innerst (Abrams BFYR, 2022). This fun and inspiring story of teamwork, determination, and experimentation is a delicious testament to living the American Dream and makes me want to taste every single Ben & Jerry’s flavor. 🙂

It all began in 1963 when Ben Cohen met Jerry Greenfield in a Merrick, Long Island junior high school. Though Ben liked art and Jerry was into science, they enjoyed hanging out, found lots to do together, and shared a big love of eating — especially ice cream. One summer Ben even drove an ice cream truck while Jerry helped scoop the ice cream.

After high school they attended different colleges. Ben dropped out after sophomore year to become a potter, while Jerry went on to graduate, only to be rejected by all the medical schools he applied to. Down but certainly not out, they touched bases again in NYC and decided to go into business together. No question it would involve food.

They scrapped their initial idea of making and delivering bagels after learning bagel-making equipment was too expensive. Luckily, making ice cream was cheaper. Burlington, Vermont seemed like a good location since it was a college town without any ice cream shops, and everyone knows students love ice cream. 🙂

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[colorful review] Rainbow Shopping by Qing Zhuang

~ jama ~ 4 Comments

Are you up for a little food shopping? Come along then, let’s go!!

New York’s Chinatown is our destination, as we read about a Chinese American girl and her mother buying ingredients for a family dinner. Written and illustrated by Qing Zhuang (“ching juong”), Rainbow Shopping (Holiday House, 2023) is a delectable feast for the senses that touches the heart.

The story opens on a rainy Saturday, where a little girl who feels “as gray as a pigeon” is in bed sketching. She’s wistful and lonely, missing her native China. Everything is different in New York, and her parents and grandmother are always busy working.

But on this Saturday, her mom pulls her out of bed, telling her that since everyone will be home for dinner, they need to go to Chinatown for special ingredients. After a long subway ride, they first stop at the bakery for a snack: strawberry cheesecake for her, a sesame ball with red bean filling for her mom.

Then it’s time to shop! They get fresh garlic, ginger, scallions and bamboo shoots, sweet red persimmons, mysterious mushrooms that “curl like thunderclouds,” and the bumpiest squash among “rows of vegetables in a hundred greens.”

They next explore “long aisles of noodles, sauces, spices, pickles and tea,” making sure to add medicinal herbs for Grandma and “numbingly hot peppers for Dad” to their cart. At the seafood section, the girl notes “the fish seem to stare,” right before she rounds the corner to the candy aisle — were she grabs everything (but Mom says can only have one bag)!

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a little taste of Spring is for Strawberries by Katherine Pryor and Polina Gortman

~ jama ~ 10 Comments

Happy National Strawberry Month!

What better way to celebrate the merry month of May than with fresh strawberries? April through June is peak picking season for these sweet delectable beauties, and there’s no better place to score a couple of quarts than your local farmers market.

As we learn in Spring is for Strawberries by Katherine Pryor and Polina Gortman (Schiffer Kids, 2023), the farmers market is much more than a place to buy and sell local seasonal produce. Unlike shopping in a big grocery store, farmers markets offer us a chance to get up close and personal with those who actually grow our food. As we return to our favorite vendors week after week (or year after year), sometimes casual pleasantries can blossom into meaningful friendships.

In this delightful story, two girls — one, a farmer’s daughter whose family has brought their spring crop to the market, and the other, a city child whose family shops there, become friends and continue to celebrate each season’s bounty throughout the year.

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