89. Delicious!

Delicious! Poems Celebrating Street Food Around the World. Julie Larios. Illustrated by Julie Paschikis. 2021. 32 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence:

Syrian shawarma wrapped in a pita?
Biryani? Pork carnitas?
Maybe I'll get a hot falafel.
Schnitzel? Pretzel? Sesame noodles?
Cajun? Lebanese? Cuban? Thai?
So many choices! What should I try?

Premise/plot: Delicious! is a picture book poetry collection celebrating street food. It opens with "Carts in the Park," set in New York City. Each poem brings readers to another country, celebrates another culture, and introduces (perhaps) a new food. Each poem is complemented with a full page illustration. The illustrations are bright, bold, beautiful.

Countries visited include the United States, Mexico, Israel, Morocco, Australia, Russia, Peru, India, Indonesia, South Korea, Greece, Senegal, and China.

At the end of the book, the author shares "an international menu of sweets and treats" which provides readers with more information about each country (culture, food) celebrated within the book.

For example, to accompany the poem, "Winter Meal" (Russia), she shares:

Brrrr! Winters in Russia can get very cold, so food carts in Saint Petersburg usually sell hot drinks and savory pastries during the winter. But while winter days are short and dark, summer days are long: during the "white nights" of midsummer, the daylight in Saint Petersburg never totally disappears.

My thoughts: I liked this one. I think it's a treat of a book. I liked that the poems were short. It may seem like a little thing, but poems about serious subjects or abstract subjects can be intimidating. I like that the poems were about FOOD. Everyone can relate to food, to eating, to enjoying good company while eating. While not every reader may not want to eat a FRIED SCORPION (for example), this book has plenty of good conversation starters.

I liked the diversity. Each poem takes us to a different place, and places most likely out of our comfort zone.

© 2021 Becky Laney of Young Readers