Customer Reviews

Everybody Cooks Rice (Carolrhoda Picture Books)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"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.

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! :-)

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.

As a story, this did not hold anyones interest for very long. However, the use of food-- rice, as the common ground for families in this multicultural neighborhood, has an understanding appeal. Simple recipes make it an ideal tool to use at home as well as in the classroom.

I disagree with the reviewer here who complained about this book not showing cultural unity. How much more unified can you get than a boy sharing meals at his friends houses? If we want to promote understanding others cultures, you could hardly start at a better place than breaking bread together. Food is one of the ways we show love to our families and others. My children and I thought the book was great, and will be exploring other, similar titles.

This book shows children that we may all be from different cultures, but in the simplest ways we are very much the same. It is a good first day of school book, or good multicultural education book!

A variety of ethnic/geographic settings are explored, using the cooking of rice as the central idea. Very good illustrations.

This story about a young girl looking for her brother to call him to dinner is a foil for the reader's opportunity to glimpse the kitchens of all their neighbors, each from a different country, and each cooking rice in a different way.

Everyone has a favorite dish that reminds them of home and family, and this book introduces children to many cultures through the medium of food, so emblematic of culture. Wonderfully, this neighborhood is one in which children can knock on neighbors' doors and be invited to have a taste of dinner -- something unheard of in our time. But for those of us in real world urban neighborhoods, there are recipes at the back of the book to allow readers to sample the different kinds of dishes. This book is the first in what looks like a series.

I really enjoyed the book and it has recipes in the back! Very nice surprise.

The book was in the condition I had hoped for and was shipped right away!