Savor a rhyming celebration of one of the world’s most universal foods! Readers follow ten diverse families as they cook dumplings inside their homes in preparation for a neighborhood potluck. Dumplings are added to plates one by one, encouraging children to count with each new addition. Authentic recipes for all the dumplings and a map showing their regions of origin are included in the endnotes.
Dumpling Day features dumplings from India, USA (Pennsylvania Dutch), China (Cantonese), Nigeria, Japan, Israel, Mexico, Syria, Russia and Italy.
CONTEMPORARY SETTING & ILLUSTRATIONS: Chic artwork from Mexican illustrator Inés de Antuñano depicts a contemporary urban neighborhood setting.
CULTURAL AWARENESS: Offers an engaging introduction to dumplings as a universal food and their cultural variations.
MATHEMATICS: The book counts from one to ten as one more dumpling is added on each spread.
ADDED VALUE WITH RECIPES: Endnotes include user-friendly, authentic recipes for each of the 10 dumplings in the endnotes. Each recipe has a difficulty rating and uses ingredients that are commonly found in grocery stores.
CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED AUTHOR: Written by Meera Sriram, author of the critically acclaimed, A Gift for Amma, and based on her own life experiences as an immigrant living in an urban melting pot.
More Details
Product Dimensions:10 x 9.75 inches
Page Count:40 pages
Age Range:Ages 4-9 years
Leveling:K / 2
Grade Level:PreK - 4
Awards & Accolades
Hot Off the Press Reading List, Children’s Book Council, 2021
Kids in the Kitchen: New and Recent Books About Cooking and Food, Publishers Weekly, 2021
9 Favorite New Books about Families Cooking Together, Edible Finger Lakes, 2021
8 Picture Books About Food and Fellowship, The New York Times Book Review, 2021
33 Best Cooking Gifts for Kids, Epicurious, 2021
Let’s Cook and Eat Together Showcase, Children’s Book Council, 2021
“The aromas of homemade food sneak their way across an entire multicultural neighborhood as growling bellies wait to be filled with . . . dumplings! Recipes from Nigeria, Syria, China, Russia, Mexico, and more reveal tasty fillings tucked into doughs that are boiled, steamed, fried, and baked. . . . Sriram’s simple rhyming story celebrating the unifying magic of food pairs well with the childlike naïveté of de Antuñano’s inclusive and diverse gouache illustrations” – Kirkus Reviews
“Peppy, rhyming text; cheerful illustrations; and a counting element combine for an enjoyable introduction to 10 types of dumpling from around the world, spanning Nigeria to Russia to Japan . . . Vibrant, folk art style illustrations depict the multicultural families and expand on the inclusive message” – Booklist
“Counting from one to ten dumplings, this culinary celebration visits families preparing for their town’s multicultural “dumpling party.” The folk art–style illustrations bring readers into bustling kitchens; the rhyming text packs a lot of cultural specificity into two lines” – The Horn Book Guide
“In this mouthwatering story-counting book, ten ethnically diverse families make ten different kinds of dumplings for a neighborhood potluck . . . Carefully placed details establish a cultural context: a folkloric rug and throw pillows for Nigeria, Asian wall hangings for Japan, floral ceramic tiles and succulent plants for Mexico, Islamic mosaic patterns for Syria” – Jama’s Alphabet Soup
About the Contributors
Written by - Meera Sriram
Meera Sriram grew up in India and moved to the U.S in 1999. An engineer in the past, she now enjoys writing, leading early literacy programs and advocating for diverse bookshelves. Meera is the author of The Yellow Suitcase and has also co-authored several books in India. She believes in the transformative power of stories and likes to write about people, places and experiences less visible in children's literature.
Illustrated by - Inés de Antuñano
Inés de Antuñano is a Mexican illustrator and graphic designer. Her work is influenced by the beauty of urban chaos as well as arts and crafts, and has been published in several illustration catalogs and books in Mexico. Inés is inspired by her four-year-old son, who helps her rediscover the world around her with all the amazing things he says. Her artwork is created with gouache on paper and digital techniques.
Dumpling Day
Words by Meera Sriram
Art by Inés de Antuñano
Recipes by Laurel P. Jackson
Review By Annie Masters
I would like to thank Barefoot Books for the hardcover version of this whimsically beautiful book allowing me to write this review.
Dumpling Day is both an invitation to a celebration and to a collaboration. The collaboration is that of its three diverse creators who worked together to create a read-aloud book that truly has it all. The nature of Dumpling Day entices families and friends to return again and again to this book showcasing dumplings, a food staple, around the world.
The celebration is a neighborhood get-together in which invitees are asked to bring their culture’s dumplings for sharing. What unfolds is colorful illustrations of families from around the globe cooking a dish from their home countries. One may infer that the families depicted no longer live in their ancestral homelands. The artist takes care to infuse multi-generational, diverse gender family make ups and roles into her illustrations. Folk art is present with a Hamza in the kitchen of the Sephardic Israeli family and the Akwete patterns beautifully adorning the Nigerian family home among others.
The creators take care to equally represent the cultures represented in this educational book. Not only is the art inspiring, but young readers have the opportunity to count up to ten and back down to one. Each cooking illustration poses an addition problem. Children will want to revisit this book to showcase their mathematical expertise. When a word is encountered from a culture that is unknown the adult reader may model for their children how to utilize the glossary toward the back of the book. Situated on the same page is a map pointing to the representative countries. Time for a geography lesson!
Finally a caution before reading: Dumpling Day must be read with a full tummy. The pictures of the dumplings accompanying the recipes will whet the appetites of all who have the pleasure of viewing the photographs. The recipes are explicit, allowing for readers to create the dumplings of their new literacy acquaintances in the same multi-generational manner depicted in the book. Dumpling Day shows our univeralness in the most daily aspects of our wondrous existences-food
and family.
