What a precious story of family, food, memories, and lost loved ones.

When Dulce is missing her grandma and her delicious cooking, she decides to try and follow her heart to recreate her Abuela’s delicious fideo. Her first attempt doesn’t turn out well, but when her mother helps her try again, they are able to recreate the nostalgic dish together while also recounting sweet memories of Abuela along the way.

I loved the way this addresses processing the loss of loved ones for children! A wonderful story about the joy and power of food to heal as well.

Thanks to NetGalley and Del Alma Publications for the eARC!

Tijerina crushed this book! It was as warm and amazing as Abuela's Fideo likely was. The illustrations were adorable and Dulce Ramos was so cute! I love that she tried the recipe on her own and when she failed she leaned on her mother and they worked on it together! It's a great lesson about trying things on your own and then asking for help when needed! I also love that the recipe and the spanish words were included in the back for those that need them!

This is a sweet story about holding memories close as a form of healing and grieving after loss. Dulce is a young girl who craves the comfort of her abuela's fideo soup. In the absence of a recipe, she attempts to recreate the soup from memory. Though she gets off to a slow start, through memories of her grandmother (who has, it is implied, recently passed), she is able to piece together a soup that brings her comfort and happiness in her sadness.

This book easily interchanges Spanish-and English-language words throughout the text, normalizing Dulce's experience as a bilingual child. There is a helpful glossary in the back matter, as well as an accessible recipe for fideo soup. Though the book addresses a challenging subject (grief), it handles it in an approachable way that will easily appeal to children and adults alike.

I recommend this book to families who are struggling with the loss of a loved one (especially a grandparent), to children who are interested in cooking, and to families who wish to incorporate bilingual books in their library.

I love the concept of Abuela’s Fideo: A Story of a Grandma’s Love by Gabriela Tijerina. The book opens with a little girl missing her grandmother who recently passed away. To comfort herself, the girl tries to make her Abuela’s homemade fideo soup which is filled with tender vegetables, skinny brown noodles, and juicy pieces of chicken bathed in a red broth. Her first attempt is a failure, but with the help of her mother, the second try produces the magical taste of Abuela’s fideo and helps the little girl to process her loss.

This book contains some nice touches including a glossary of Spanish words and a recipe for fideo. Children love to think about food and enjoy spending time with adults in the kitchen, so the recipe allows families to extend children’s interactions with the book even after the story is finished. The text of the book is simple and rather bland, and the illustrations fail to convey the emotional warmth of the story, but overall, this is a nice tale that will help children use food to remember the missing people in their lives.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was a very cute story that conveyed how often in Hispanic families memories are connected through food. I'm sure this will be able to connect with many children (even if they aren't Hispanic) as the themes of love and loss are universal in nature. There is a recipe at the end which I thoroughly appreciated. The child attempts to cook at one point though... and I was concerned about the casual knife usage lolol.. maybe as a parent, this would be a good spot to advocate for kitchen safety lol. Overall great with really expressive illustrations and good topics of discussion.

Read this one with my lovey, and we both adored it! Heartwarming and beautiful. I could smell the fideo, and I loved that a recipe was included for everyone to enjoy. The cute illustrations made it come to life. It was perfect! Most importantly, though, having her see the representation of our culture in a book means so much. I’m looking forward to see more from Gabriela Tijerina. 5 estrellas brillantes!

This is a cute picture book about a little girl who misses both her grandmother as well as the dish she used to make for her, Fideo, that she loved to eat, but she never actually cooked herself. She just helped to make it.

So, she figures if she just throws things in a pot that will duplicate what she used to love. Of course, it doesn’t work.

In the end, she tells her mother what she misses, and between the two of them, they remember what they helped cut up, and put in the pot, and they end up with the Fideo they used to love.
The book includes the recipe at the end.

It is so true that unless we make the dish beside the person cooking, we can’t duplicate it. We can write it down, but often it is by taste and smell, and not by measurement. And as the little girl says, you have to add love as well.

<em>Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.</em>

I loved this so much because MEMORIES!!! 😭😍

I just realized that I can request Children’s picture books on Netgalley! Oliver has become obsessed with reading. We are running through books so fast that I’m in the market for more. Anyways, I was browsing and saw this one. It instantly called out to me because this was me! Fideo is so good and now I want some.

Dulce is missing her grandmother, who has passed. She is craving her Fideo that she always helped her make. She tries to replicate it and it doesn’t even come close. Her mom comes in and they start to reminisce about helping Grandma make Fideo. They give it a go… is it the same? Absolutely not!

This book hits so close to home!! My grandma made amazing Fideo and so does my mom. One of the things about Mexicans is that we do not use recipes. We just do what we feel and make it with love (a nod to the book). It’s so true though. We try so hard to make it just like the ones who came before us, and it’s never the same. What matters is that we think of them and remember them when we do it. Food is such a huge part of my culture. Anytime we get together there is so much amazing food. We would visit my grandma in Mexico and get in so late. We always drove but it was always after my dad got off work on Fridays. We would get in at like 3 am and my grandma would get up to start cooking!! I always asked her why she would do that and it was always the same answer, “Because I’m happy you are here and I don’t want you to be hungry.” ❤

The art is so cute and beautiful too. The author added an extra touch with a recipe for Fideo at the end. I’m actually going to attempt it and see how close or far it is from our “non-recipe.” haha!

Anyways, this book is amazing if have ever had Fideo or if you have memories of loved ones connected to food. I loved this so much that I immediately pre-ordered it, and I can’t wait to read it with Oliver!

Many thanks to Netgalley and Del Alma Publications for an e-arc to review!

This book is the story of Dulce and her Abuela’s fideo soup. One day when she’s missing her Abuela, Dulce decides to try to make the soup without the recipe. What ensues is a lovely story about how food can help heal the soul, especially in times of grief and loss. I would recommend this book to all families, but especially to caregivers looking to support children through the loss of a loved one.

NetGalley ARC
Read-Aloud? No (topic)
Tags: grandparents, death of grandparent, grief, food, Mexican food, memories

From Laredo, TX born and raised Gabriela Tijerina comes a tale of grief and remembrance that is as funny as it is sad. Great for helping children dealing with the grief of a grandparent by remembering and recreating the foods they used to make. Includes a recipe for Fideo (noodle soup). I'll definitely be adding this one to the Lightbulb Heart Lending Library!

Available September 2022

Abuela's Fideo is a heart-warming tale of a child trying to recreate her grandmother's soup. I loved all the different spanish words, and the glossary at the end will help. I loved all the fun Dulce and her mother had making the fideo (soup) of her passed grandmother. Very heartwarming.

Dulce misses her Abuela a lot. She misses everything about her , but especially her special comfort food of Fideo. What can she do to comfort herself ? Try to make the fideo herself! This comes with a little mishap but maybe she should try again with her mom?

This is a wonderful book for children who have lost a loved one. It speaks to big feelings and how we can remember and find comfort in the things they leave us. I would recommend this book for any family.

I received this book in exchange for an honest opinion from #netgalley.

Abuela’s Fideo is a very cute children's book about a little girl missing her grandmother. She tries to recreate her grandmothers recipe but fails. Her mom was able to help her recreate memories of her grandmother along with the food. There is a great glossary in the back of the book that helps translate words from Spanish to English. The illustrations were fantastic as well!

I loved reading this book as much as I love my family's Sopa de Fideo recipe. This book allowed me to have a sensory experience where I could smell the fideo browning with onion and garlic; I could hear the tomato sauce sizzling. This book felt like home to me. The writing was heartwarming, and the artwork was cute. I am excited to read more from Gabriela Tijerina.

Cute story of a Granddaughter and her Mother honoring their loved one by making a special dish. I bet many can find much in common with this story and equation of food cooked by family with love

This was a really sweet book. I loved the illustrations, the story of finding ways to remember our loved ones after they pass and the recipe at the end was a great addition. I would change the solo cooking adventure to have adult supervision because I’d hate to see kids try to cook on their own and get hurt. Aside from that, this was a great book!