Children’s Books About Food Gratitude

Until I read this book, I did not know much about the special soup that Haitians all over the world eat to ring in the new year, a tradition dating back to the Haitian Revolution. In this book, Ti Gran is teaching Belle how to make Freedom Soup, just like she was taught when she was a little girl. Together, they dance and clap as they prepare the holiday feast, and Ti Gran tells Belle about the history of the soup, the history of Belle’s family, and the history of Haiti, where Belle’s family is from. I loved this joyful, celebratory story!

This is one of my favorite picture books! In this story, a Chinese-American girl is embarrassed by her mom’s garden of bumpy, ugly vegetables. Her neighbors’ gardens look so much prettier and so much more inviting than the garden of “black-purple-green vines, fuzzy wrinkled leaves, prickly stems, and a few little yellow flowers” that she and her mother grow. Nevertheless, mother assures her that “these are better than flowers.” Come harvest time, everyone agrees as those ugly Chinese vegetables become the tastiest, most aromatic soup they have ever known, and the neighborhood joins them for a delicious meal.

I adore all of Oge Mora’s books! This one is about Omu’s delicious soup and how it draws the neighborhood toward the delicious aroma. Omu cannot help but share her soup until the pot is empty. Is there nothing left for her? This book, like the previous two on this list, is all about how food can bring together a community. This book was the winner of the Caldecott Honor!

This wonderful book is all about how a group of volunteers come together creates a meal for their community each week. With a garden full of produce, a joyfully chaotic kitchen, and a friendly meal shared at the table, Our Little Kitchen is a celebration of full bellies and looking out for one another. At the end of the book, there are recipes as well as an author’s note about her experience as a volunteer.

This stunning book is about how fry bread serves as an important part of Native American food culture and history. The text and illustrations depict the diversity of indigenous peoples (check out the gorgeous end papers!), the role of continuity between generations, and the adaptation over time of people, place, and tradition.

I think we can all relate to the importance and impact of a neighborhood corner store. In this gorgeous book in verse, Stanstones corner store is the heart of the neighborhood for the brother and sister. They help to close the store every Saturday and save their pennies to buy candy. The store is the source of many adventures, where they spend a memorably spooky Halloween, play tricks on Mr. and Mrs. Stanstones, and form a search party to find Toby the store cat when he goes missing. What will happen to their beloved corner store when a brand-new supermarket opens up in town?