Everybody Cooks Rice (Carolrhoda Picture Books) [Hardcover]

Norah Dooley (Author), Peter J. Thornton (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 1991 | Age Level: 6 and up | Grade Level: 1 and up | Series: Carolrhoda Picture Books

A child is sent to find a younger brother at dinnertime and is introduced to a variety of cultures through encountering the many different ways rice is prepared at the different households visited.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Carrie canvasses the neighborhood, trying to round up her younger brother in time for dinner. Every household she visits represents a different ethnic heritage--Fendra Diaz's grandmother lives in Puerto Rico, Madame Bleu hails from Haiti, the Huas have emigrated from China, etc. All the families are either preparing or consuming dinner, and Carrie discovers that despite divergent backgrounds, "everybody cooks rice." The multicultural smorgasbord she samples includes rice and black-eyed peas from Barbados, biryani from India, Vietnamese nuoc cham . However correct politically, Dooley's first book is like food for an invalid: wholesome indeed but numbingly bland. Her plot unfolds in an atmosphere of vacant inevitability and her writing lacks style. Thornton's static illustrations, meanwhile, recall the false harmony of Sally, Dick and Jane. Recipes for the rice dishes are included, but most young readers will prefer to sink their teeth into a more highly seasoned story. Ages 5-8.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Grade 2-4-- Carrie travels from one house to another, looking for her brother at dinnertime. Each family invites her in for a taste of what they are cooking; thus, she samples the ethnic diversity of her neighborhood through the rice dishes they prepare. At home, her own Italian family is indulging in risi e bisi . All the recipes are included at the end of the book. Thornton's illustrations have that flat, depthless look of primitive art. Colors are strong and brilliant primaries with very little black shading. The geometric forms displayed in the multihued houses of the street are especially nice. Yes, everybody cooks rice, and everybody eats rice--these commonalities do bring us together, a lesson worth repeating again and again. --Ruth Semrau, Lovejoy School, Allen, TX
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 6 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Lerner Publications Company (February 1, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0876144121
• ISBN-13: 978-0876144121
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 9.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #817,749 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Hey, there are recipes!, September 16, 2000

By 

J. J. Falcone "Justina Reads!" (S.W. Florida via Brooklyn, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Everybody Cooks Rice (Carolrhoda Picture Books) (Paperback)

"Go call your brother to dinner!" So starts an adventure that bridges cultural diversity as the older sister goes from house to house in her neighborhood trying to find her little brother. In each house we meet lovable neighbors, each from different parts of the world, and as the title explains, each family is preparing dinner with - - - RICE! Can you imagine why little brother is not really very hungry when he gets home?

My sons and I enjoy the colorful pictures, the contrasts in each home, and have actually used the recipes to prepare meals that we share.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great for the multi-cultural classroom, March 29, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Everybody Cooks Rice (Carolrhoda Picture Books) (Paperback)

Tihs book is a great tool to use in a multi-cultural classroom. The book teaches that although people all look different, they are also the same. When the child is sent through the neighborhood, she discovers that everybody eats rice, just in different ways. So really, everyone is the same. I read it to my class, and they loved it! :-)

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Want Your Kids to Eat Rice?, October 19, 2001

By 

Mark E. Morelli (Cuyahoga Falls, OH USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Everybody Cooks Rice (Carolrhoda Picture Books) (Paperback)

Read this story to them. Then photocopy the recipe pages. Eating and preparing international rice recipes then become playacting, for this book is all about how, in a multicultural neighborhood, in one delightful evening, all of the households prepare special, spicy and indigenous dishes with this one simple staple. It is a story of our differences. It is a story of our similaries. Moreover, it is a celebration of how rice is the canvas upon which we paint our works of culinary imagination.