Granny’s Kitchen: A Jamaican Story of Food and Family

A rumbling tummy leads to intergenerational cooking lessons—and a message to keep trying—in this mouth-watering picture book. Stored in Granny’s cupboards and dangling from mango and ackee trees outside the house, good food surrounds Shelly-Ann, a girl living on the island of Jamaica, where, Smith writes, “the sun is always shining and the weather is sweet.” When hunger drives the child to ask for something to eat, Granny answers, “GYAL, YOU BETTA CAN COOK!” and teaches the child to make family favorites, both from memory and from recipe cards. Despite burning her first attempt at dumplins, cooking ackee that’s too soft, oversalting the saltfish, and making up mushy plantains (“I can’t cook!” she cries each time), Shelly-Ann keeps at it, internalizing perseverance alongside elements of cuisine, culture, and family. Daly’s candy-colored, sun-dappled digital illustrations, which portray the characters with brown skin, vividly visualize the call-and-response text. Recipes and facts about Jamaica conclude. Ages 3–6. (July)