Tag Archives: food picture books

food-centric picture books to savor

12.09.2019

Picture books touch on so many topics, including elements surrounding food—feasting it, traditional kinds of it, and the connections shared over it. Here’s a roundup of 18 food-centric picture books to savor! Bonus, some of these include recipes in the back matter too!

Freedom Soup by Tami Charles, illustrated by Jacqueline Alcántara (December 10, 2019).

Ti Gran teaches Belle to make Freedom Soup for the new year in a book that celebrates the history of the Haitian Revolution, family, and the joy and connectivity of traditions. Includes a recipe at the back and the most wonderful, gestural illustrations by Jacqueline Alcántara.

Amy Wu and Perfect Bao by Kat Zhang, illustrated by Charlene Chua (2019).

The main character struggles to make the “perfect” bao with her family until she discovers her own answer—making some just her size. Sweet, relatable, delicious.

Priya Dreams of Marigolds and Masala by Meenal Patel (2019).

Babi Ba reminisces about her memories of India by relaying sights and smells and spices with her granddaughter while they make rotli together.

Apple Cake: A Gratitude by Dawn Casey and Geneviève Godbout (2019).

A series of thank you’s to nature and its ingredients for, you guessed it, apple cake!

Wild Berries by Julie Flett (2013).

A contemplative journey in the woods for blueberry-picking with words in Cree and a recipe for wild blueberry jam. (You’ll find this one in my feature of Julie Flett’s Picture Book Life too.)

No Kimchi for Me by Aram Kim (2017).

Yoomi loves her grandmother’s food—except for kimchi, something the “big kids” eat. She’s determined to develop a taste for it to prove she’s a big kid too.

A Big Mooncake for Little Star by Grace Lin (2018).

An inventive, gorgeously illustrated mother-daughter moon myth inspired by Mid-Autumn Festival and mooncake midnight snacks!

Julia, Child by Kyo Maclear, pictures by Julie Morstad (2013).

A fictional imagining inspired by Julia Child on keeping the joie de vivre of childhood in cooking and eating no matter how old you are. And the one and only Coco Cake Land made chocolate almond cupcakes from this picture book in our collaborative blog post a few years ago too!

Thank You, Omu by Oge Mora (2018).

Omu’s stew smells so good, it attracts all kinds of visitors from her neighborhood, who she shares it with. When she has none left, those same people show up to return the favor. You can check out my post and craft to go with this lovely picture book here.

Magic Ramen: The Story of Momofuku Ando written by Andrea Wang, illustrated by Kana Urbanowicz (2019).

A biography of Momofuku Ando who invented instant ramen with the desire to provide convenient, tasty meals to hungry people after World War II.

Frankie’s Favorite Food by Kelsey Garrity-Riley (2019).

A school story about food and costumes that’s full of cute food puns!

Dumpling Dreams: How Joyce Chen Brought the Dumpling from Beijing to Cambridge written by Carrie Clickard, illustrated by Katy Wu (2017).

This picture book is the story of Joyce Chen who brought dumplings from Beijing to Cambridge and became a restauranteur and TV show host!

Porcupine’s Pie by Laura Renauld, illustrated by Jennie Poh (2018).

A sweet story of baking, sharing, and friendship.

Saffron Ice Cream by Rashin (2018).

Rashin visits the beach in Brooklyn and compares and contrasts it to the beach she used to visit in Iran, the home she misses. Luckily, she meets a new friend and a new ice cream flavor in her new home, both ways to sweeten it.

Tea With Oliver by Mika Song (2017).

This one centers on two tea drinkers destined for friendship, eventually.

Max Makes a Cake by Michelle Edwards, illustrated by Charles Santoso (2014).

A story of a sibling making a birthday cake for his sister that folds in the Passover story and Jewish traditions as well.

To Market To Market by Nikki McClure (2011).

An exploration of a farmer’s market—its food and its growers.

Please, Mr. Panda by Steve Antony (2013).

This picture book has two key ingredients that make it a fit for a food list: manners and donuts! Plus, you can check out the donut recipe my dear friend at Thirsty for Tea made to pair with Mr. Panda’s story a couple of years ago.

Your turn! Any favorite food-centric picture books to share?

apple cake: a recipe for love + apple cake recipe by thirsty for tea

PICTURE BOOKS +

10.28.2014

Apple Cake: A Recipe for Love by Julie Paschkis (2012).

Words to describe this book:

Whimsical. Romantic. Sweet. It’s about love and cake after all.

Light as a feather illustrations, full of charm. A boy who wants to win the heart of a girl who reads. That about sums it up.

(click image(s) to enlarge)

Ida reads and never looks up. Alfonso wants her to.

A simple plan. A cake. But a cake so full of magic and love it will be anything but ordinary.

Paschkis started with her great grandmother’s apple cake recipe and took it, well, to the land of imagination through her illustrations. Alfonso gets butter from the sun and salt from the sea and bakes the cake with the fiery breath of a dragon.

This is the original recipe card! Not from Paschkis’s great grandmother, but from her own mother. The recipe though is the same one, passed down.

This book celebrates the joy and connection of baking. The way it can be shared and show love.

Can you guess what happens next?! Ida and Alfonso eat the cake together!!!

One last thing, Julie Paschkis is part of an exhibition of Children’s Book Illustrators in Washington at Bainbridge Island Museum of Art from now until February 22nd. It’s called “Points of Entry” and by happenstance I think I’ll be able to stop in on a trip to Seattle this winter. So while I hope you can make it to the show yourself, if not, I’ll report back!

Thanks to Julie Paschkis for images!

My lovely and supremely talented friend Bonnie over at Thirsty for Tea has a special treat for us today! An apple tea cake recipe that’s perfect for fall (or falling in love, per the book).

From Bonnie:

“Staying true to the book, I used 1 green apple (Granny Smith) and 2 sweet ones (Honeycrisp) in this Apple Tea Cake recipe. The sour apple is mixed into the cake batter while the 2 sweet apples are cubed, dusted generously with cinnamon sugar, and scattered over the top of the cake to create a rustic topping.

My personal ingredient addition not included in the original recipe of the book is buttermilk. The baked apples meld together with the buttermilk based cake batter to create an almost custard-like texture to the cake–moist, tender, and deliciously creamy!”

THE RECIPE:

Apple Tea Cake

Makes 1-8″ cake.

Ingredients:

{Cake Base}

4 Tbsp butter, softened

1/3 cup sugar

1 egg

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

pinch salt

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 cup buttermilk

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored, and cut into 1/2″ cubes

{Apple Topping}

2 Tbsp butter, melted

2 Tbsp sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

2 Honeycrisp, Gala, or Fuji apples, peeled, cored, and cut into 1/2″ cubes

sifted powdered sugar for serving (optional)

Equipment:

8″ baking pan (I used a spring form for easy removal), sprayed with non-stick spray

large mixing bowl

medium mixing bowl

rubber spatula

peeler and paring knife

small heart-shaped cookie cutter (optional)

Directions:

1.) Make the Cake Base. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a medium mixing bowl, mix together the 1 cup of flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg. In a large bowl, cream the 4 Tbsp of butter and 1/3 cup of sugar. Add in the egg and vanilla and mix them in. Gradually add the flour mix into the butter mixture until barely incorporated. Gently mix the Granny Smith apple chunks into the batter, then pour the batter into the baking pan. Use the back of the rubber spatula to smooth and even out the batter. Set aside.

2.) Make the Apple Topping. Place the Honeycrisp apple chunks into the medium bowl. Pour the remaining 2 Tbsp of melted butter over the apples, then dust with the cinnamon and sugar. Toss the apples so that all the spice, sugar, and butter is evenly distributed. Topple apples over the cake batter evenly, then lightly press them in so that they adhere to the top surface of the cake.

3.) Finish the Cake. Bake the cake for 30-35 minutes or until the top is lightly golden, the apples look slightly dry, and a toothpick comes out clean. Wait for the cake to cool for at least 15 minutes before removing from the baking pan. Dust the top of the cake with sifted powdered sugar just before serving. For an optional decorative touch, top the cake with red apple heart cut-outs. Enjoy!