Welcome to Top Grade: CanLit for the Classroom, a blog and preview video series that features new releases from Canadian book publishers ideal for use in K-12 classrooms and school library collections. Throughout the year, we dive into new titles, highlighting relevant curriculum links and themes.

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Written by secondary school teacher Spencer Miller

Happy New Year! I’ve been digging into previews of what’s coming in 2025. A picture book with a spring release I’m excited about is Our Ancestors’ Kitchen by author Willie Poll. This book beautifully expresses the role that food plays in culture, family, and community.

Reflecting on food is a meaningful way for students to explore a connection to their family history. At the end of Our Ancestors’ Kitchen, Willie Poll invites readers to think about their families and the lands that once fed their ancestors by asking these four questions:

1. What was food like there?
2. Where did the food come from?
3. Are there foods that evoke memories for you?
4. What are your stories in your food?

Stories and memories tie us together. Exploring these questions together will allow teachers to better connect with students and their families. Continue your conversations about the foods we eat with these new and upcoming Canadian picture books all about food:

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Bannock in a Hammock (ages 3-5) is a sweet and simple rhyming book that explores bannock, a popular food with Inuit and other Indigenous people. The book also includes a recipe to make your own bannock.

In Class: This book is perfect to read aloud with its rhyming rhythmic text and delicious illustrations.

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Sundays Are for Feasts (ages 3-6) explores how sharing meals can bring family together. In the story, a girl named Yasmine is visiting her family in Lebanon tasked with making the hummus for their Sunday family meal. Yasmine’s story reveals the importance of making your own traditions.

In Class: Plan for a feast. Make a grocery list of ingredients you would need to make a meal that feeds your whole family.

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Sometimes I Eat with My Hands (ages 3-6) teaches young readers that customs around food vary between families and cultures. In the story, a girl named Feven loves to eat with her hands, especially when her grandma visits and the whole family gathers to eat injera, an Ethiopian flatbread. Feven’s story sends a message that eating together is an act of love.

In Class: Have fun experimenting with different utensils (forks, spoons, chopsticks, hands, etc.) to eat different foods.

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Our Ancestors’ Kitchen (ages 4-7) is a poetic celebration of harvesting, preparing, and sharing food with our families. In the story, the young protagonist learns her grandfather’s favourite recipe from her grandmother. As the ingredients are prepared, readers are transported back to instances of gathering, hunting, and harvesting foods throughout the seasons.

In Class: Make a list of your students’ favourite foods. Then challenge your students to think about where each of these foods comes from. Which fruits and vegetables are grown nearby? How do we get ingredients from far away?

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Veena and the Red Roti: A Story of Hope During Partition (ages 4-8) is a moving story about a young girl who helps others during a difficult time by cooking and sharing her favourite dish. The story is based on the experience of author Namita Moolani Mehra's grandparents, who fled Sindh province in 1947 during the Partition of India.

In Class: This special story is an excellent starting point for classroom discussions about immigration, refugees, conflict and change. 

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What’s in Alanna’s Secret Sauce (ages 6-9) is a delightful tale of community and sharing. In the story, nine-year-old Alanna worries they will run out of food when her Nana keeps inviting neighbours over for dinner. In the end, Alanna learns that there will always be enough to eat when everyone’s willing to share.

In Class: Write a recipe for your classroom’s “Secret Sauce”? What “ingredients” make your classroom special? Include things like “a pinch of kindness” or “a generous amount of sharing”.

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Spencer Miller is a teacher, writer, reader, and fan of the Toronto Raptors. He is currently pursuing graduate studies at the University of Calgary (Treaty 7). You can follow more of Spencer’s passion for books on Instagram @SpencerBMiller.