Skip to main content

New Middle Grade Books About Food

When I was younger I loved to bake and I had a favorite cookie recipe I made over and over again. I felt so grown up when I would bake something all by myself.  Recently, I have read some delicious books about kids who enjoy cooking as much as I do. They feature a main character who either loves cooking or loves food and experimenting in the kitchen. These morsels of entertainment might just inspire you to whip something up today.


By Chris Negron
HarperCollins Publishers, 2021. Fiction.

Curtis Pitch has always wanted to become a chef like the famous Lucas Taylor, the host of his favorite TV show, Super Chef. So when he learns that Super Chef is going to have a kids only season, Curtis knows this is his chance to show just what he can do in the kitchen. He wins a spot in the competition and heads off to New York to film the show. But Curtis also has a secret, he wants to be acknowledged by his father, the famous chef, as well as help his mother and sister. 



By Wauter Mannaert
First Second, 2021. Graphic Novel.

Yasmina lives in an apartment in the city where money is tight but they eat like kings. Yasmina likes to use her favorite cookbook and fresh vegetables from the community garden to make yummy meals for her family. But the garden is demolished and replaced by some special scientifically enhanced potatoes that end up being addictive. Now, Yasmina must find a way to cure all the people who have been affected by the potatoes and she must do it quickly.


By Tanya Guerrero
Farrar Straus Giroux Books for Young Readers, 2021. Fiction.

Alba has been sent across the ocean to live with her grandmother in Barcelona. As she and her grandmother start spending time together baking, Alba discovers she enjoys baking bread. The more time she spends with her grandmother, the more she begins to learn about her mother and her life when she was younger. She slowly begins to accept her new life, makes friends, and learns to bake bread for the local bakery. But everything comes to a stop when an unexpected visitor comes to Barcelona and Alba finds out her favorite bakery could be closed.


Written by Lily LaMotte
Illustrated by Ann Xu
HarperAlley, 2020. Graphic Novel

Cici has just moved to Seattle from Taiwan. She is settling in and making friends but she misses her grandmother. When Cici learns about a cooking contest that has a grand prize that is enough to pay for a ticket to fly her grandmother to Seattle, she decides to enter. Cici knows how to cook Taiwanese food and she loves cooking so she is sure she can find a winning recipe. But when her competition partner dismisses Cici's recipes, she decides she must learn to make new recipes that she has never made before. With some help, Cici begins to channel her inner Julia Child, but will this be enough to help her win the contest? 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Painting for Peace in Ferguson

Painting for Peace in Ferguson By Carol Swartout Klein Treehouse Publishing Group, 2015. Nonfiction. When the city of Ferguson was overrun with so much hate and despair that homes and businesses had to be boarded up to protect property, citizens of the community decided to bring a message of hope by painting the boarded windows. Klein’s rhyming text supports the photographs of the hundreds of artists and volunteers and their artwork as they bring the messages of peace, hope, love, and that by being united they can make a difference. A great book to show children how a community rallied to make a positive change and that even a small gesture can make a huge difference. A great discussion opener on how we should treat each other.

Dragon Run

Dragon Run by Patrick Matthews Scholastic, 2013.  336 pgs.  Fantasy      Al Pilgrommor is excited for Testing Day, when he will receive his rank, a tattooed number on the back of his neck, and a path forward to his future occupation and life.  He feels confident because his parents were fours on a scale of seven, but he is worried for his friend Wisp who doesn't have much of a chance of scoring above a two at best. But when Al is scored a zero, he not only has no prospects, he may lose his life as the dreaded Cullers are unleashed to kill him and his family to purify the land's bloodlines.  Al's world is ruled by dragons--the lords and supposed creators of humankind--so he thinks that even if he survives, he will have to make his living as a beggar or thief. But when Al sticks up for his Earther friend in front of Magister Ludi, he is drawn into the struggle of a secret organization hoping to destroy the Cullers, and perhaps the dragons them...

Review: Growing Home

Growing Home Written by Beth Ferry Illustrated by The Fan Brothers New York : Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2025. Fiction. 261 pages. This book has some entertaining characters! We get to read about Toasty, the goldfish who loves to eat cheese puffs, Ivy, a plant with magical powers, and Arthur, the spider who ends up with a broken leg. Jillian is the main human character in the book. She loves Toasty and Ivy, and would probably love Arthur, too, but she doesn't know about him....yet. Her parents own an antique shop, but they are facing some economic hardship.  This charming story is about magic, teamwork, and friendship. I loved that there were all kinds of shenanigans happening. While we are on a journey where the fish, the plant, the spider, and the girl are working to solve one mystery after another, the author beautifully guides us to the realization that words are powerful, friendships can heal hearts, and books have their own magic power to help in all kinds ...