Soup's On Around the World by Denyse Waissbluth illustrated by Chelsea O'Byrne

Delicious and nutritious. Kirkus

Bookseller blurb: Through vibrant illustrations and heartwarming text, Soup's On Around the World invites readers on a flavorful journey of soups across the globe, each with its own unique history and traditions! Every soup tells its own story, revealing fascinating stories such as: The popular Chinese dish, Wonton Soup, is over 1000 years old. In Finland, a unique Christmas dried fruit soup is served as a sweet dessert, topped with whipped cream. Bitter-leaf Soup, a traditional dish from West Africa, was first used to treat illnesses. French Onion Soup was possibly invented by a king!

The cover of this book caught my eye and then to my delight my friend told me there is another book in this series (Taste the World) about tea. Both of these books would be fabulous additions to your school library and especially perfect if you have a multicultural school population or if you school celebrates days such as Harmony Day. And for families here in Australia, it is Winter so that is the perfect time to snuggle up and read a book about soup.

Bookseller blurb: Let's go on an adventure to discover new cultures and friends through tea! In this fun and lyrical picture book for ages 4-8, kids will learn how tea is enjoyed in Thailand, Japan, Russia, Egypt, Pakistan, Hong Kong, Uruguay, South Sudan, India, and more countries! Did you know that po cha, the traditional tea in Tibet, is thick and salty like soup? Or that in Iran, tea is served with a rock? (A rock candy, that is!) Or that afternoon tea was dreamed up in England by a duchess who complained of being hungry between lunch and dinner? With vivid poetry, vibrant illustrations, and unique facts about different tea cultures, Teatime Around the World tells the delightful story of a beloved beverage.

Read the Kirkus review. In this video the author talks about creating her book Teatime around the World. Denyse Waissbluth and Chelsea O’Byrne both live in Vancouver, Canada.

A Taste of Home by Maryam Hassan illustrated by Anna Wilson

Tariqu's teacher announces the class will hold a special picnic and everyone is invited to bring one special dish to celebrate family and culture. The kids are excited and mention so many different foods such as yakisoba (Japanese fried noodles) and perogies (Polish dumplings).  Tariq talks to various family members and each make a good suggestion - saag paneer (vegetarian Indian curry), crispy paratha (unleavened layered flatbreads), or falooda (frozen dessert with vermicelli, jelly, rose syrup, sabja seeds, milk and ice cream). Each food leads to a description of an adventure or special experience. Finally Tariq decides. 

"He chopped onions, garlic and ginger with his dad. He picked the freshest herbs from the garden with his sister, and he mixed it all to form perfectly round patties to fry with his mum."

He has made bun kebabs. 

A Taste of Home is on the 2026 Inclusive Books for Children list. 

Make a note of this book - it is one to share for Harmony Week which this year was 16-22nd March. Check out my Pinterest for more book ideas. 

I especially loved the illustrations in A Taste of Home and then I discovered Anna Wilson is Australian but she now lives in Scotland. You can see some of her books at the end of this post.

There are a couple of things that I wish were different about this book.

1. I would have loved to find a list of all the foods and some recipes and also some cultural details about the different treats and tastes.

2. I do wish the final page had not ended with a pirate scene. I have previously talked about the link between pirates and people smugglers and the dreadful experiences of refugees. Many school libraries no longer promote pirate stories for this reason.

Companion books:

Stay for Dinner

Books illustrated by Anna Wilson:

The Librarian's Stories

Love Birds

Knock Knock by Catherine Meatheringham ilustrated by Deb Hudson

 

Knock on some doors around the world.

Who will you meet?

What will you do?

Klopf Klopf I am Lotta in Germany; Tukituki I am Loa from Tonga; Kon Kon I am Yuzuki from Japan, Daqq Daqq I am Karim from Egypt, Toc Toc I am Mateo from Mexico, and Thak Thak I am Sana from India. For your youngest children there is a wild map at the back with each door and 'knock knock' word. The end papers could inspire an art activity. Oh, and when you knock on each door the young child who greets you invites you in to meet their family, share a meal, come to a party, visit their school, or play a game. Teachers should add Knock Knock their list of books to share for Harmony Day. 

With vibrant illustrations and fun knocking sounds, this is a joyous celebration of children, culture and language around the world.

This book gave me a huge smile because it is such a simple and perhaps obvious idea, but I have never seen a book before that explored the simple gesture of knocking on a door and the way this is so different around the world. I do hope the publisher has submitted this for our CBCA (Children's Book Council of Australia) Early Childhood award (2024). Many years ago the CBCA Book Week slogan was Doorways - this book would have been such a perfect way to explore that idea. 

Here is a web page for Catherine Meatheringham - she lives in Canberra. I previously talked about Milly and the Mulberry Tree illustrated by Deb Hudson. 

Catherine talked to The Canberra Times:

"All of my books have onomatopoeia in them, so I love books with sounds that encourage kids to join in with the stories, especially that early childhood market, so that they are part of the story and engaged," she said.

"This one, in particular, I'm really passionate about kids being exposed to different cultures and different lives, but also we have such a multicultural society in Australia and this is a way to showcase that element as well."

Reading Knock Knock, reminded me of another book - Norman Speak - which looks at the way a young boy needs to translate talking to his dog.

And Catherine Meatheringham and Deb Hudson have made a book about this too:

And I need to read this one:

I also thought of this old favourite - a book about knocking on a door, which I read to hundreds of Kindergarten children over the 33 years I worked in a number of school libraries. It would be a fun companion book and it is one of the best ever books to read aloud - with heaps of funny voices and tons of expression.