When Grandmas Cook is a nostalgic treasure for adults who fondly remember the meals their grandmothers prepared. It’s also a delightful exploration of culinary diversity, introducing grandmas and grandchildren from nine different countries and showcasing the comfort foods unique to each culture. From the Indian grandma making palak paneer to the Italian grandma teaching her grandchildren how to make pasta, the book celebrates the universal joy of food and family.

The illustrations beautifully capture the changing kitchens and attire of the grandmas and children across different countries, adding a rich visual dimension to the story. Introducing everyday kitchen items and foods in their native languages is a wonderful way to spark children’s curiosity about the languages and cultures of the world. This heartwarming book will resonate with adults and kids, blending nostalgia, cultural appreciation, and joy.

This book was released in November 2024 by Sourcebooks, @sourcebookskids . Thanks to Netgalley for a free digital version of this book in exchange for a review.

This is a wonderful story that celebrates family and cooking, the best combination ever. In this story we see grandmothers from around the world cooking in their kitchens. They are creating dishes that are from their culture and history. Even better, they are sharing it with their grandchildren and the family. The illustrations are vibrant and capture the love and feeling of each family. Your family will love learning about great foods from all over the world. We loved this story. My little 2 year old loves everything about cooking and this book was a great way to show her new foods. It has become a favorite for her. We were excited to discover new foods that our family wants to try together, like palak paneer and jollof rice. Enjoy this wonderful story with your family.
1000 stars to this story

I received a copy of this eBook from netGalley for a honest review.

What a lovely look at families and cultures around the world. We all know when a Grandmother cooks she does it with love and tradition, this book honors that from many different cultures around the world and teaches words and foods from those cultures too.

This is a super heartwarming book that covers two main things: culture and language. The cultural aspect is fully thought-out, and executed really well. However, there was one thing that I didn't appreciate about it. The US shows up twice - first and last. I might be picky, but this shows a little bit of a "central country" in the story and subtly makes all of the other countries mentioned seem lesser-than. Other than that, though, I liked the diversity of countries represented. In turn, many dishes and languages were present in this book, and I even learned a thing or two! Cultural dishes and languages were accurate and made a lot of sense, while maintaining the core theme of the book, which is awesome! The last thing I appreciated was the labels on ingredients and cooking tools, with translations. This makes for a fun reading experience, tied in with an engaging learning experience, which is always great.

I wish I could give this book more than 5 stars! My children and I loved the different cultures and grandmothers. This led to discussion of friends and family that have grandmothers of different cultures and food customs.

This was definitely a sweet and empowering book about diverse cultures and nationalities across the world. It is very inclusive, and I can see this being a part of a library collection.

Loved reading this book with my 3yo! Thank you NetGalley for the ARC! I Love teaching my son other cultures. The pictures were fantastic and I loved the storyline. Definitely recommend!

A worthy read, thoroughly deserving of a place on a school library shelf. It concerns the love shown from grandma to grandkids through cooking traditional food, so we see a double-paged spread of one in Korea making mandu dumplings, one in Nigeria cooking up jollof rice (minus the boiled chicken), while a babusia in Ukraine rustles up some borscht. The kids in all the images collaborate and cooperate, the grandma wears something that might suggest at her traditional dress, perhaps, and the table has everything labelled, so we see the Brazilian Portuguese for chopping board, the Italian for rolling pin, and find out the Nigerian for ginger is, er "jinja". Yes the artwork is a touch static and has a great way of making everyone look quite ugly, but the spirit of the piece is there – that whoever we are and wherever we are there is a grandma, and food, and love. And food. As a primer for cultural differences, with a bit of international vocab thrown in, this is surprisingly pleasant. A healthy four stars.

I loved showing my kids how families eat in places all around the world! It even made me hungry and gave my ideas on new dinners to try! Definitely one to add to their library 🖤

Got to love a picture book about grandma's cooking as well as the family culture and history that can be passed down through food.

When Grandmas Cook is a such a treasure — a sweet look at grandmothers around the world who warm tummies with their delicious food and hearts with their love. The illustrations are gorgeous, and I love that there are translations for the cooking ingredients/utensils in each grandmother's native language!

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for providing me with a free eARC in exchange for an honest review.

“When grandmas cook for us, they make us happy. And that makes them happy.” This picture book shows a worldy perspective of grandmothers and what they enjoy cooking for their families, showing the differences by exploring eight different countries — Mexico, United States, Brazil, Italy, Ukraine, Nigeria, South Korea, and India. In each of the countries, the book details a specific recipe that is popular there, showing the ingredients laid out, with each ingredient name written in both English and that country’s language. The beautiful watercolors capture the characters and food across each double-page spread, adding a sense of warmth and closeness. This diverse book pays special attention to each culture, making sure they are represented properly through both the words and art. “Wherever they love — and whatever language they speak — when grandmas cook for us, they’re saying ‘I love you’ in their own special way.”

Thank you to NetGalley for this e-book-When Grandmas Cook by Margot Mustich in exchange for a honest review.This is a beautifully written and illustrated book about what grandmas from different countries are called and discusses some of the signature dishes they love to make for their families.As a grandmother who loves to cook for her family, I especially loved this book because it sheds light on the wonderful members of a family that are often forgotten and also shows the unique bond that grandmas and grandchildren share.

I love the idea of this book at that it teaches children about family traditions that can be the same (cooking together) but also look different through different cultural names for grandmothers and types of food that they could cook together.

The pictures are beautiful and it is a fairly quick and easy read that would be nice to have in a classroom.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebook kids for allowing me to review a copy of this book.

When Grandmas Cook shows the many things that grandmas might make for their families in various cultures and countries. I liked the illustrations showed the ingredients and the wide range of cultures featured. This would work as a great bedtime story due to length.

Thanks to Sourcebooks Kids and NetGalley for an eARC of this book for an honest review.