A few weeks ago, I took myself to the library to pick up a slew of pictures. All of them offered stories about food from a variety of cultures. I thought you might find it fun to read some of these with your kids to acquaint them new cuisine, enhance their vocabulary (and yours), and perhaps even whip up some of these dishes together.

A Fine Dessert by Emily Jenkins & Sophie Blackall (subtitled, Four Centuries, Four Families, One Delicious Treat) is a rare find. It begins with a girl and her mother in Lyme, England back in 1710 and describes all the steps involved in creating a dessert called “blackberry fool.” From there it moves onto South Carolina in 1810, Massachusetts in 1910, and finally, California today. All of the characters are making the same blackberry fool dessert.Using precise language and illustrations, the authors provide a historic chronology of how the same dessert was prepared through the years. This is a book to read slowly and savor, discussing both the similarities and differences that occur as time moves forward. The lovely illustrations on each page beg to be examined and enjoyed. By the time you finish this book, your child (or children) will be primed to create this simple dessert so I suggest you have the ingredients on hand prior to reading this book. Don’t miss the author’s and illustrator’s notes at the end of the book, which add to the interesting information shared throughout. This is a book that spans the ages, a book everyone can enjoy. By the time you finish reading it, you’ll crave the dessert and probably crave another look at this unusual book.

Gaspacho for Nacho by Tracey Kyle is a colorful, entertaining story of a boy named Nacho who only wanted to eat gazpacho. Filled with rhyme and peppered with Spanish words, this delightful tale will bring a smile to your face. Even when the story ends, the book continues to deliver. You’ll find a recipe for gazpacho and a two-column page of Spanish words used in the book with their pronunciations and definitions. Tracey Kyle blends a cute story with a dollop of learning in this creative tale.

Fry Bread, A Native American Family Story by Kevin Noble Mallard employs figures of speech and descriptive language using a simple poetic structure to demonstrate the significant role of fry bread in the life of Native Americans. Not only does the author provide his recipe for fry bread at the end of the book, he also offers pages of meaningful historic information on indigenous tribes. This is the kind of book you can return to again and again. It would be useful to highlight figurative language, free-verse poetry, family life, and an appreciation for Native Americans.

Please let us know if you enjoyed these recommendations or tried any of the recipes. I can’t think of a better way to whet your child’s appetite for reading, especially if you follow it up by cooking together. I’ll share a few more books like this sometime in the near future.

`