To Stir with Love by Kate Mildenhall illustrated by Jess Racklyeff

I am not very good at cooking, but I can make cakes, and this is all due to my mother taking the time to show me how - letting me do some steps at first and later watching me make the whole cake myself. Even now decades later I still hear her voice in my head explaining simple steps used for all cake making about sifting the flour, the speed of the beaters, and incorporating ingredients slowly. 

The little girl in this book is our narrator and she explains how every Monday she visits her grandmother and together they make a cake. 

"It's my everything cake. ... My grandmother's grandmother gave it to her and my grandmother gave it to me."

I was so pleased to see the recipe is included at the back of this book.  I am sure this book will be a 2025 CBCA Notable title in the Early Childhood category. The publisher site has an activity pack to use with this book. 

The wonderful watercolour illustrations sweep across every page, showing a Grandma’s garden with fruit trees, vegetable garden, and lots of different colours. ... I had a lovely time looking at the various older pieces of equipment used in Grandma’s kitchen: a whisk, flour sifter, hand beater, aprons, oven mitts, milk jug, tea pot etc. Read Plus

Real life photographs of the author’s family sit alongside creative colours and montages that transport us straight into the kitchen, where it feels like we’re literally holding cups of sugar and whipping the butter. There are textures and photos and little bits of flour wafting around that actually make one’s nose tickly. Kids' Book Review

For a list of other books about the relationship between a child and grandparent take a look at this post. Companion books:

The Forgettery

Grandma's Story

A Year in Fleurville

Wolfie's Secret

Ash invites her friends to tea by Fu Wenzheng

Grandpa takes Ash in to the tea plantation and shows her how to pick the best leaves. They put the leaves in the shade to soften and then they dry them with hot air. Finally hot water is added and we have a drink called tea. The cheeky monkey, the panda, the wild boar and finally a dragon arrive to try this magical drink. We watch the calming effects as storm abates, the friends fall asleep and the dragon flies away. 

This is a quirky little story about how tea is made. My friend from Kinderbookswitheverything talked about International Tea Day back in 2022 and I remembered seeing the cover of this book. Now she has added it to her school library collection. Here is a 2018 interview with Fu Wenzheng.

AFTER you read Ash invites her friends to tea you can see the pages on Storybox Library and listen to the reading by Gabrielle Wang. But please read and explore the print book first. Oh and after you read this book your young reading companion could watch you prepare a cup of tea with tea leaves perhaps not a tea bag in a lovely old family tea pot!

About the author/illustrator: Fu Wenzheng grew up in a temple in China where her grandfather was a monk. The experiences she had as a child have greatly influenced her writing and style of illustration. Traditional Chinese culture and philosophy are at the focal point of all her work. Fu Wenzheng did her undergraduate studies at Fujian University’s College of Fine Art and then went on to study Illustration at Zhejiang Science and Engineering University’s School of Art and Design.

Just as an aside the birds in this book have arms and hands! You could perhaps compare these illustrations with the 2024 short listed book That Bird has Arms by Kate and Jol Temple. 

I have talked here about a few books that feature tea drinking or tea time or tea making or even teapots.

Teatime

Tea and Sugar Christmas

How the Queen found the perfect cup of tea

Luli and the Language of Tea

Here is the first book about Ash:

New Clothes for New Year's Day by Hyun-Ju Bae

"Today is New Year's Day.

It's a new year

it's a new day, and

it's a new morning.

It's the first day for the beginning of everything."

New Year's Day is an important holiday in Korea. Children wear special clothes. In this book the little girl carefully puts on each piece of clothing:

"She wears a crimson silk skirt, a rainbow-striped jacket and a furry vest. She puts on cotton socks and shoes, both embroidered with flowers. She also wears a headband and ties a hair of ribbon of red and gold to the end of the braid. Her hat protects her from the cold as she makes her New Year visits. She also has a lucky charm and bag to hang from the jacket string."

Symbolism

• Rainbow-striped jacket represents things such as water, fire, metal, wood and earth.
• The striped patter represents the wish that the wearer be in harmony.
• The embroidery on the socks is for good luck.

You can see the whole book here on this video. Sadly, this book is long out of print but it might be in your school or local library. Today marks the beginning of Chinese New Year celebrations but it would be good to share this book to show how this event is also celebrated in Korea. New Clothes for New Year was a 2008 USBBY notable book.

KOREAN NEW YEAR ACTIVITIES 2024 Saturday 10th February

Give gifts

In addition to yummy food and family reunions, another reason that Seollal is a special holiday is the custom of giving and receiving gifts. This gift-giving extends beyond homes to workplaces when companies usually offer each of their employees a gift as well. So the best way to celebrate would be by giving gifts.

Play folk games

We can also celebrate by participating in traditional folk games. Folk games are a major part of New Year festivities for Koreans. The most commonly played game is ‘Yut Nori,’ a traditional Korean board game. Men also go out for some kite flying, starting on the Lunar New Year and in the days leading up to the new year’s first full-moon day. For young women, ‘neol ddwigi’ is also a popular activity.

Eat Korean food

Almost any large family gathering in any culture generally revolves largely around food. So an amazing way to celebrate Korean New Year is by eating Korean food. One main dish that is considered comfort food during Korean New Year is ‘Tteokguk’ (rice cake soup). This starchy and soothing bowl of soup is a beloved New Year's tradition.

More information here.