Genre: Children's 4-7 years
Published: March 15, 2024
Pages: 32
A young boy realizes, thanks to his family, that he can enjoy both his Chinese and North American cultures through his favorite dishes
Max loves his family’s Cantonese meals, like steamed rice and gai lan greens with oyster sauce, homemade dumplings, and scallion bread. But sometimes he can’t help thinking about French fries, tacos, and ice cream with rainbow sprinkles.
For his birthday dinner, Max is really hoping for spaghetti and meatballs, but instead he and his family are headed to Maa Maa and Ye Ye’s house for a celebration dinner―and Max is pretty sure that spaghetti won’t be served in the familiar blue bowls that came all the way from Hong Kong with his grandparents. But Max is delighted to discover that his understanding family has discovered a way to bring two cultures together with delicious dishes that are a combination of all the foods he loves.
Based on the author’s own experiences growing up, The Blue Bowl will speak to many children and adults alike with similar experiences and bring a new perspective to those who do not share in this experience. With deliciously eye-catching illustrations and descriptive, inviting text, readers will be reminded of all their favourite foods as they follow along with Max’s story.
I received a copy of this book through Netgalley. This is my honest review.
This was a fun story about a young Chinese-American boy who thinks about all the foods his family makes on a regular basis that he loves, but he's also thinking about other foods he would like to have at his upcoming birthday party, and they aren't all Cantonese. In the end, his parents serve both traditional Cantonese food and the things like pizza that he also loves together, and that surprises him.
I'm not sure how okay I'd be reading this book multiple times, because the first read made me want Chinese food like crazy (and even building this blog post thinking about it has me wanting Chinese food now). The food just sounds so delicious and it makes me hungry, and that's a bad recipe when I'm supposed to be watching what I eat better. The illustrations were very colorful, but somewhat blocky looking.
Overall I give The Blue Bowl 4.0028 out of 5 stars. - Katie
FLO LEUNG is a food-loving illustrator and author of The Tray of Togetherness. She has also been a pastry cook, a food stylist, a TV producer―and really wishes she had a green thumb. Flo believes that food has the power to tell us stories about who we are and hope to be. When she isn’t reading old cookbooks and listening to glam rock, Flo can probably be found enjoying mango cakes (with rainbow sprinkles) with her daughter and husband in their cozy home in Toronto, Ontario.
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