Thanksgiving is almost here, and it’s a great time to read a book about food! Everyone Cooks Rice is a picture book that celebrates diversity by showing how our differences are more similar than we realize.
The book introduces children to several cultures including Barbados, Vietnam, Haiti and Italy – all through food. Kids learn new words related to rice dishes, such as what rice is cooked in. The book doesn’t simply mention the dish or foreign word – it describes the dish and it’s significance to the culture from where it came.
Everyone Cooks Rice presents immigrants as hardworking, bilingual people with the ability to speak more than one language, which is great way to teach children tolerance and multiculturalism. To further kids’ multicultural learning, the back of Everyone Cooks Rice features recipes mentioned in the book including Biryani, an Indian dish, and tofu with vegetables, a Chinese dish. It’s a fun, educational book that children and adults can both learn from!
Everyone Cooks Rice
Author: Norah Dooley, Illustrator: Peter J. Thornton