Lunch From Home, written by Joshua David Stern and illustrated by Jing Li. Rise, Penguin Workshop. Penguin Random House. 2023. $23.99 ages 5 and up

 

"The next day, a kid at Mina's table wrinkled 
his nose at her gimbap and said, "Ewww. You're 
eating seaweed!" Mina looked at the neat green-
edged rolls of rice with carrot, radish, and ham 
at their center. 

"It's not seaweed," 
said Mina. "It's gim." 

"Looks like seaweed to 
me," said the kid."

With the beginning of another week at school, the children in Mina's class gather to have lunch. Most have sandwiches, sent from home and packed in a lunchbox. Preeti has dhokia cake and mango pickles - their favorite. A child sitting beside them makes a remark about the smell. At home, when discussing lunch for the next day, Preeti asks for a sandwich. 

When Mina opens her lunch box the next day, another kid makes a remark about what she is eating. Mina loves gimbap; the child beside her thinks it's seaweed. He is not impressed, and eats his cheese sandwich. The next day, Mina brings a sandwich. 

The same happens for Niki when she unpacks her bagel with lox, cream cheese, capers and tomato. Her lunch companion is sure it's 'just weird'.  As expected, Niki brings a sandwich the following day - just like all the others. On Thursday, Ray is the only one who doesn't have a sandwich. His abuela has sent his hot dog and eggs wrapped up in a tortilla. Guess what Ray wants for his Friday lunch! 

Now, everyone is eating a sandwich for lunch. The same is true on Monday and Tuesday. Mina is fed up with sandwiches by then. Wednesday brings a welcome change. Mina brings 'gimbap, kimchi, spicy cucumbers, boiled bean sprouts, stir-fried ferns AND dried squid in a spicy sauce called gochujang'. She LOVES it all. Ray returns to burritos on Thursday. Preeti brings dhokla with vagar and Niki unpacks her bagel and pickled herring on Friday. As they eat, they share family stories about making those lunches.

Jing Li creates bold digital art that makes each featured lunch look so very appetizing. When the four  children return to bringing their own favorite lunches, Ms. Ling follows each with a full wordless spread that beautifully allows readers to see the joy experienced when making those lunches with loved ones. 

An afterword reveals that the four students are based on the childhood experiences of professional chefs.