The Blue Bowl

K-Gr 3–Readers start with a birthday, Max’s sister’s, and end with a birthday, Max’s, and in between witness an array of sensory descriptions of fabulous food, laid out in hyper-flattened, digital illustrations that are as charming as the small, blue bowls his grandparents brought to this country from Hong Kong. Like a child’s typical day, there is no real arc to these pages. Table after table groans with fragrant dishes as Max’s yearning swings from family-style traditional dishes to some of his non-Asian favorite foods: spaghetti and other treats from his beloved Italian restaurant and rainbow-sprinkled cakes tall with frosting. That cake vies for his attention with the not-as-sweet mango cake his aunties bring. Leung creates a welcoming world where all dishes are delicious, all the relatives smile over abundant food, and a small boy is only too aware of the difficulties of navigating tastes and cultures.