Everybody Cooks Rice

Everybody Cooks Rice | Realistic Fiction | Norah Dooley | No Awards | ages 5-8 | 

“Anthony said he wanted to eat his dinner, even though he was full, because he loves rice, and that afternoon he found that everybody cooks rice.”

Everybody cooks rice, no matter your culture. They may not all look or tastes the same, but for sure, we all cook it and make it our own. After Anthony once again disappears for dinner, Carrie was sent to go looking for her brother. Carrie begins going to all the neighbors house and at each place she goes to look for her brother, they all offer her some food, and all are accompanied by rice, each uniquely made from prepared by loving people of different nations. 

I would use this book in my classroom, best for kindergarten to second grade, to learn how similar we are to other countries. And through food, we all come together! I would also use this book in a culinary high school class because at the end of the book, there’s plenty of recipes of different ways that rice is cooked. I’d have students bring their own version of rice and/or attempt to make as a class, all the rice recipes from the books. It’d be fun and interesting!