Book List : Food

This isn’t meant to be an exhaustive list about food, garden, nutrition and cooking in the Black community, but it is meant to celebrate the gastronomic traditions in the community. I think there are some real gems here, but I also think there’s a lot of room for more contemporary books that reflect the rich food history beginning in African, moving throughout the United States and into the fusion of soul food with dishes from other global communities. Black people are very much a part of the urban gardening, farming and food truck cultures. Let’s share these vibrant traditions with our children.

Oh, but the warm memories many of these picture books will generate! I truly enjoyed how Make It Messy and A La Carte open teens to the world world around them in very different ways. And, it all begins with food.

Feel free to add more books in the comments. #Ownvoices, please!

Al La Carte by Tanita Davis
Make it Messy by Marcus Samuelsson and Veronica Chambers
Sassy: The Dazzle Disaster Dinner Party by Sharon Draper
Notes From A Young Black Chef by Kwame Onwuachi and Joshua Stein

The Magnificent Mya Tibbs : The Wall of Fame Game by Crystal Allen
Justin and the Best Biscuits in the World by Mildred Pitts Walter
Full, Full, Full of Love by Trish Cooke and Paul Howard
I Smell Honey : Family Celebration Board Books by Andrea Davis Pinkney and Brian Pinkney
In My Momma’s Kitchen by Jerdine Nolen and Colin Bootman
Just Right Stew by Karen Engish and Anna Rich

Shaina’s Garden by Denise Lewis Patrick
Kitchen Dancing by Maurie J. Manning
Sunday by Synthia Saint James
We Had a Picnic This Sunday Past by Jacqueline Woodson and Diane Greenseld
In My Momma’s Kitchen by Jerdine Nolen and Colin Bootman
Grandpa’s Cacao by Elizabeth Zunon
Thank you Omu by Obe Mora
Pop Pop and Me and a Recipe by Irene Smalls and Cathy Ann Johnson
No Small Potatoes Junius G. Groves and His Kingdom in Kansas by Tonya Bolden and Don Tate