In this season of thankfulness, Thank you, Omu! by author and illustrator Oge Mora is a loving ode to the generous people in our communities and a reminder to show appreciation to those who have given us so much. Omu, named for the Igbo word for queen, has just put her thick red stew on…
In One is a Feast for Mouse: A Thanksgiving Tale by Judy Cox, the smallest inhabitant of a home longs to share in the lavish Thanksgiving meal. Mouse creeps out from his home in the cuckoo clock after the humans have finished their Thanksgiving dinner and decides that…
For many cultures around the world and across the centuries, Autumn has been a time to focus on gratitude. As the harvest is gathered and cold weather approaches, it is a natural time for people to express gratitude for what they have been given to get them through the…
In addition to my elementary book + gift guide, this year I wanted to add a separate middle grade gift guide for kids who are ready for longer chapter books and more complex ideas. Similar to the elementary gift guide, many of these books are the first in a…
I had similar criteria in choosing book and gift ideas for elementary aged kids as I did for preschoolers, mainly that they be interactive and educational. I tried to create a list with a mix of fiction and non-fiction that would appeal to wide range of interests. With elementary…
When choosing books and gifts for the preschool age group, I put the focus on books and toys that are interactive and educational. Children’s knowledge and abilities are growing so quickly at this age and their curiosity is boundless! This is the age to harness that curiosity and energy…
As I’ve said before, I love the idea of getting kids a book with a matching gift. This combination can help bring the book to life and extend their imaginative engagement with the story. Over the next week, I’m going to be sharing gift guides for several different age…
I was first drawn to The Pomegranate Witch by Denise Doyen by the gorgeous endpapers. The lush illustrations by Eliza Wheeler of juicy pomegranates made my mouth water, they are so beautifully painted. Once I began to read the story, the rhythmic, rhyming text drew me in further and…
As a child I always loved the book From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, but I never read another book by E.L. Konigsburg until I was in college and found an old copy of Jennifer, Hecate, Macbeth, William Mckinley, and me, Elizabeth at a library sale….
Gustavo the Shy Ghost by Mexican artist Flavia C. Drago is the perfect October book. It has ghosts, monsters, a Day of the Dead party, and is a colorful celebration of Mexican art and culture to read during Hispanic Heritage month. But even better than all of that is…
Although it is technically fall, the weather still feels like the end of summer around here and we are still whipping up homemade popsicles to beat the heat. My love for popsicles drew me to Paletero Man by musician and songwriter Lucky Diaz, a book that is bubbling with…
Although our Chinese American family celebrates Lunar New Year each year, we have only celebrated the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival sporadically. A few times we have purchased mooncakes from our local Asian market in the Autumn, but it has not been a regular tradition for us. However, this year, after…
The temperature is still in the high 80’s here in Colorado most days, but with the first official day of Fall just around the corner, I’m already pulling out our books about pumpkins, leaves and cool weather. I much prefer cool weather to the scorching days of Summer, so…
If you are new to the Book & Cook Club, welcome! I’m so glad you found this corner of the internet where we enjoy good books and good food together! Each month, I try to feature a chapter book appropriate for upper elementary aged kids along with a recipe…
Last week, I featured several picture books that are good for reading around back-to-school time. These were books that are helpful for starting discussions about lots of things younger kids might be anxious or unsure of when starting school. Some common themes in these books were friendship, first-day nerves,…
There are a few picture books that my children still return to sometimes, even now that they are full-fledged independent readers. I will occasionally look in on them at bedtime to find them curled up with a pile of old favorites and this has especially been true during the…
After 18 months of guiding my kids’ learning from home, last week they finally returned to in-person school! This is honestly a bittersweet milestone for all of us as there were aspects of homeschooling that we all enjoyed but mostly it feels like a step forward; a new beginning…
When my oldest child was a toddler, my husband and I moved to Hawaii to live with my grandparents. We helped my grandmother out wile my grandfather was terminally ill with cancer. This was a painful, hard, sweet, heartbreaking time in our life. There was so much joy in…
Lately, I have found that my kids are very drawn to stories and books about community. With the loss of some community in their own lives, due to social distancing and cancelled events, they seem to find comfort in stories about big families, groups of friends, or neighborhoods. Going…
Ever since I started this blog, I’ve been thinking of featuring some version of the story of “The Little Red Hen”. This story is such a popular for one for children in the Western world and features baking, so it seemed like a perfect fit for a blog about…
For the second Finest of Suppers Book and Cook club, I am featuring Strange Birds: A Field Guide to Ruffling Feathers by Celia C. Pérez. This is a middle grade novel about four girls who band together in the cause of truth and justice and end up finding friendship…
I meant to write this post sometime in February or March, traditionally the beginning of maple syrup production in North America. However, like many things these days, I got a little behind so here we are in April and I’m just getting around to featuring this unique book. Bear…
Soup Day by Melissa Iwai is like a cozy winter day in book form. The exquisitely simple story follows a mother and daughter as they spend a snowy day at home. From making soup together, to building a pillow fort, this book captures the pleasures of staying home together….
I am so excited to introduce you, dear readers, to a new monthly feature here on Finest of Suppers: the Finest of Suppers Book and Cook Club! In this monthly series, I hope to feature engaging, exciting middle grade novels that lend themselves well to discussion. Each book…
A Rainbow of my Own by Don Freeman was first published in 1966 but I didn’t have the pleasure of discovering this book until recently. Growing up, I loved the Corduroy books by Freeman but had never really read any of his other writing. A Rainbow of my Own…
We have had a very snowy winter here in Colorado. There are flurries of snowflakes blowing outside the window as I sit here writing this post. I actually love snow and it’s hard for me to get too much of it, but this year even I have been experiencing…
Trey, the Chef by Kira Parris-Mooreis one of those books that I discovered while scrolling through Instagram and immediately knew that I had to get my hands on a copy. Of course, I’m drawn to any book about food or cooking, but Trey’s cheerful face on the cover of…
The Chinese Emperor’s New Clothes by Ying Chang Compestine is a fresh retelling of the tale of The Emperor’s New Clothes with a fun twist. Instead of the emperor being the one fooled by the non-existent magical clothes, in this story a young boy emperor named Ming Da…
I firmly believe that there is nothing more comforting than a steaming bowl of soup on a wintry day. Perfect Soup by Lisa Moser is the story of one mouse’s quest for just this experience. Murray the mouse doesn’t just want any bowl of steaming hot soup though, he…
“Something smells good at N. 10 Garden Street. Delicious, actually!” This is the first line of the book What’s Cooking at 10 Garden Street? by Felicita Sala, a book that is part cookbook, part story, and completely gorgeous. There are 15 recipes contained in this story of an apartment…
When picking gifts to go along with the elementary aged books below, I tried to find items that were really interactive and learning focused. I did not include more passive items such as clothing, stuffed animals, or decorative items, instead opting for gifts that would encourage imaginative play…
There are so many gifts to buy throughout the year with birthdays and special events, but during the holiday season I especially suffer from gift fatigue. There are just too many decisions to make about buying gifts, especially for kids, that will not just end up as more clutter…
I am always trying to find ways for our family to experience different cultures from our home. We don’t have an unlimited travel budget (I wish!) but I still want my kids to at least know about the rich variations in customs, foods, and traditions around the world. To…
Cranberry Thanksgiving by Wende and Harry Devlin is one of those books that I wish I had known about sooner. When I first discovered this gem a few years ago, I instantly fell in love with the warm, cozy illustrations, the quirky characters, and the engaging plot. First published…
Thanksgiving at the Tappletons’ by Eileen Spinelli is easily my kids’ favorite Thanksgiving book. I say “my kids'” and not mine because it took me awhile to really appreciate this book and I probably still don’t love it as much as my children. Thanksgiving at the Tappletons’, like many…
There are so many wonderful children’s books that celebrate the sense of togetherness and gratitude that surrounds Thanksgiving. Just by the nature of the holiday, most of those books feature food in some form and it was so difficult to sift through all those books to find a few…
My family didn’t really celebrate Halloween much when I was growing up. We would wear costumes to school and have a party there, but my parents weren’t really into decorating for Halloween and we lived in a rural area that made trick-or-treating difficult. But one vivid memory I have…
There are so many wonderful new Halloween children’s books but for this post, I’m going back to an old classic: The Candy Witch by Steven Kroll. First published in 1979, this book is both delightful fun and thought provoking for young kids. In The Candy Witch, Maggie the…
When I first heard that illustrated versions of the Harry Potter were going to be released, I had mixed feelings about the idea. On one hand, I could see how illustrations could add to the experience of reading the books, but I also couldn’t imagine illustrations that would live…
First published in 1938, Pumpkin Moonshine by Tasha Tudor is a simple, quaint story that stands the test of time. Sylvie Ann is visiting her grandparents farm on Halloween and decides to search for a pumpkin to turn into a “pumpkin moonshine” but when she finally finds the perfect…
I often find that there is something special about a children’s book written and illustrated by the same person. The pictures and words often have a special harmony when they come from the same creative mind. This is certainly true of the book Pumpkin Soup written and illustrated by…
For some reason, it has been difficult for both of my children to learn the months of the year. When it comes the days of the week, the seasons of the year, or even telling time, they quickly became proficient, but the months of the year have been more…
I love any book that is illustrated by Hiroe Nakata, but the Duck series by author Lynne Berry are some of my favorites. These seasonal books follow a family of 5 ducks as they have different outdoor adventures including ice skating in Duck Skates, camping in Duck Tents, and…
There are so many wonderful children’s books about apples, apple farms, and autumn fun that it was hard to choose which ones to feature! Apple Farmer Annie by Monica Wellington made the cut partly out of nostalgia. This is one of the first autumn books that I read regularly…
Seasoning vegetables for Honey Garlic Roasted Vegetables
Sleep Tight Farm by Eugenie Doyle is a feast for the senses. While the text draws readers into the rhythms of a year on a farm, the illustrations provide sumptuous, colorful detail and are as informative as the text itself. Each page details…