My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Note: Review of Advance Reader Copy from Candlewick Press | Book releases 12/10/19
Cooking from the heart is an act of love, a gift when shared with family. Sharing long-treasured recipes with loved ones preserves traditions and gives them new life in the young ones who learn underneath our wings. That’s what makes this year so special for Belle. This is the year that Ti Gran is going to show her how to make Freedom Soup, an important dish to celebrate Haitian Independence Day. It is their family’s New Year’s Day tradition and in the process, she gets to listen to Ti Gran’s stories about Haiti. Stories of enslavement, revolution, and freedom.
Belle and Ti Gran spend the day together in the kitchen prepping, chopping, and peeling while dancing as “Haitian kompa pours through the speakers…” Jacqueline Alcántara‘s illustrations capture the rhythm of these joyous moves with style. Click-clacking, toes tapping, and braids swaying to the beat. Much the same way the aroma of ingredients coming together wafts warmly throughout the pages intertwined with Tami Charles’s lyrical text that rings of Haitian pride, love, and family togetherness.
Freedom Soup ends with a kid-friendly recipe and an Author’s Note that further explains Tami’s inspiration for this story, providing a bit of information about Freedom Soup’s historical context. The book releases this coming Tuesday, 12/10/19 just in time for you to get a copy for the holidays. It is on my list for my K-5 library as our students have also enjoyed reading Tami’s Definitely Daphne series and Fearless Mary: Mary Fields, American Stagecoach Driver. They’re going to appreciate this one too because they are eager for books with food at the center of the narrative I think because they also enjoy cooking with their families just the same way that I do.
Shout-Outs
Tami Charles | https://tamiwrites.com/
Jacqueline Alcántara | http://jacquelinealcantara.com/
Candlewick Press | https://www.candlewick.com/
Borrowed from the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library
Book Excursion | PLN Group of Rockstar Reading Educators| #BookExcursion
Find Freedom Soup at your local indie bookstore: 
Amazon: Freedom Soup
CeCeLibrarian’s Book Blog 
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