A Taste of the World: What People Eat and How They Celebrate Around the Globe

by Beth Walrond, Little Gestalten (Editor)

Festive feasts from around the world to bring people together, celebrate and share stories. Food glorious food! Everyone loves a feast with the family … even the little ones! A Taste of the World travels across the globe uncovering different dishes, traditions, cultures and festivals from Egypt to Germany, from China to America. Learn about the origins of Thanksgiving in America, Bastille Day in France, Christmas in Germany, Hanami in Japan, Chinese New Year, and a good old roast dinner in the UK. Each chapter is punctuated with an atlas to help guide your journey, and each festive spread brims with facts about local and national dishes. Do you know, for example, why popular sweets in Egypt are made of sesame? Or why the baguette is long and thin? Featuring 20 countries that link geography and history with a delightful sense of world cultures and traditions. Food brings people together. A Taste of the World will give you an appetite to explore – not just through your belly. Beth Walrond creates striking color palettes, playful textures and idiosyncratic characters that joyously warm each spread. A Taste of the World is an original approach to discovering the world through food. Join us for a feast like no other.

Genres: Childrens, Food, Nonfiction, History

80 pages, hardcover

Published August 15, 2019

Reviews

[Abigail Lydon]

Title (italicize): A Taste of the World Around Us: What People and How They Celebrate Around the WorldAuthor: Beth Walrond
Illustrator (if separate from author):
Genre: Nonfiction, factual
Theme(s): Union of cultures together through food, uniqueness of cultural meals and norms.
Opening line/sentence (type directly from text): “Festive feasts from around the world bring people together, celebrate and share stories”.
Brief Book Summary (2-3 sentences in your own words): This story brings readers through a journey to explore different countries and the wide variety of specialty meals that come from those countries. Each country has its own page with an explanation of meals and some offer a brief history of the country and its culture. There are also descriptions of the holidays and different celebrations/ their meanings for each country.
Response to Two Professional Reviews (3-4 sentences in your own words): Publisher weekly mentions how the book overall is a useful tool to visually show children the many different cultures that make up the world around them. This review also discussed how some countries have more descriptions than others do. The Global Kids Clan points out that food is something that unites us all around the world into one and eating/enjoying food is something we all have in common.
Tell Me Framework (4 sentences in your own words):
Like(s): The images and descriptions
Dislike(s): There is no storyline.
Patterns(s): Images of diverse food and celebrations around the world.
Puzzle(s): Which meal or celebration sounds the most appealing?
Consideration of Instructional Application (3-4 sentences in your own words): This book could be used to allow children to experiment with making their own recipes. This would allow the students to get creative and express themselves through what they like to eat. Students could also share what they celebrate at home with their families.

[Bandit]

My biggest gripe with the book is the illustrations and lack of descriptions on items. The illustrator is clearly talented however I do not think their artistic style was a good fit for a book such as this. There were many instances where a particular item was illustrated and I couldn't tell what it was (is that bread? Soup?) Or there were drawings with no description other than its name. As an adult I walked away more confused and annoyed than engaged or even enlighted. I wonder why the author couldn't atleast accompany the colorful illustrations with photos- even stock photos. I'd understand doing a little research on my own, however each page was like this, I'd rather just read something else.

[Shane]

3.5 stars. Another book that has adopted the current trend of hand-drawn illustrations in bright (yet matt) tones, rather than using photos. I personally find these books appealing, I am not yet sure whether the students do.

This takes us around the world and (very briefly) looks at some of the foods and customs in each area.

[Avery]

This book shows different cultures and their festivities. Along with this, it gets into their food and traditions as well as preparation.

[Carrie]

Great book of maps, food, and festivities around the world. Accessible format. Great addition to any collection.