My Rice is Best

There’s nothing like good home-cooked food to fill a child with delight. This vibrantly illustrated book – from the front cover onwards – presents an endearing close-up look at celebrating other cultures, taking pride in one’s own, and also sharing – all through the realm of rice.

Shane loves his rice and peas, and is does look enticing, steaming hot with its scent wafting into his living room, and the most ultra-super-duper litany of adjectives to describe it. The illustrations take us from Shane’s domestic life, complete with notices on the fridge and a stash of tinned tomatoes behind proud mum, to his visions of grandiosity after eating the best rice in the world.

But what’s wonderful is the careful insertion of family heritage – a recipe passed down through generations, with its own secret ingredient of pimento seeds. All is well with Shane. Until lunchtime at school, and Yinka’s claim that her Jollof rice is the best. Illustrator Oginni could not convey the emotions of small children more strongly. Shane and Yinka’s standoff is one of the best I’ve seen in a picture book. But that’s not it. In this ultimate battle of food, everyone joins in, proclaiming their own rice is best – risotto, paella, pilau and more. The resolution, of course, is a tasting and sharing, but there’s also a beautiful little twist.

An absolute zinger of a picture book, showing that food and culture and heritage is diverse, and is to be shared and celebrated.