The Neighborhood Surprise

Koya, a bespectacled brown-skinned child, visits kindly old Mrs. Fig, who is white, with neighborhood friends Hassan and Alex. Mrs. Fig regales the children with stories, sews them costumes, and bakes cookies for them, so they are understandably upset when they hear that Mrs. Fig is moving. Motivated to repay her kindness, each child decides to cook a dish for a going-away party. Considering Hassan’s veganism, Koya and her father bake a vegan cake; brown-skinned Hassan and his mother make falafel and a spicy curry; and blonde, pale Alex and her family make a vegetable pie for vegetarian Mrs. Fig. The whole neighborhood joins the joyful celebration—with a comforting late-stage surprise from Mrs. Fig. Debut creator van Dongen presents spare text that gently introduces plant-based lifestyles; hand-drawn illustrations in mellow washes showcase a community of varying ability, age, and skin tone. An appealing celebration of intergenerational relationships and community. Back matter includes a primer on vegetarianism and veganism. Ages 4–up. [em](May) [/em]