Let Me Fix You a Plate: A Tale of Two Kitchens

by Elizabeth Lilly

Overview

Whether you're settling in for a heaping plate of Mamaw's banana pudding or Abuela's arepas and tostones, a good meal always brings family together.
 
A Charlotte Zolotow Honor Book
An ALSC Notable Children's Book

This tale of a family road trip highlights the author's joy in both her American and Colombian heritage, and captures all the warmth and love of her family's two distinct cultures.
 
Once a year, on a Friday night,
My family leaves the city
And drives hours and hours . . .

After a long drive to visit family—whether in the mountains of rural West Virginia or the sticky heat of Florida—what could be a better welcome than a homemade meal?
 
Inspired by Elizabeth Lilly's childhood vacations and the sense-memories of late-night journeys down the coast, Let Me Fix You a Plate is a vivacious exploration of family traditions old and new— from toast with homemade blueberry jam, to fresh orange juice and arepas with queso blanco, to midnight waffles at home. 
 
Vivid illustrations explore the heart of the home—the kitchen—and the treasures found when a family gathers to celebrate their culture, and one another. Joyous, bright, and mouth-watering, this celebration of family and our diverse, delicious traditions is sure to leave readers hungry for more!
 
A Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year
A CCBC Choice

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780823444090
Publisher:	Holiday House
Publication date:	09/07/2021
Sold by:	Penguin Random House Publisher Services
Format:	eBook
Pages:	40
File size:	101 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Elizabeth Lilly is an author-illustrator, animator, and graphic designer. Elizabeth was a reading, doodling daydreamer in high school, and, unsure of her path, went to architecture school at Virginia Tech for college. Her debut picture book, Geraldine received three starred reviews. She lives in Baltimore, Maryland.

Editorial Reviews

★ 10/04/2021

A road trip leads to two different kitchens—and a shared kind of love—as a narrator, two sisters, and their parents visit their grandparents. After “hours and hours” of driving from their city home, the car arrives in the “cool, dark night” of rural West Virginia, where the children’s white paternal grandparents live. Mamaw serves them breakfast the next morning: “sausage sizzling in the skillet, blackberry jam on toast, and tractors on cups.” Three days later, the family heads to Florida and the children’s Latinx maternal grandparents: “Hay comidita adentro. Comense,” Abuela says; “There’s food inside. Come and eat.” In West Virginia, the quiet house holds only Mamaw and Papaw; in Florida, “aunts and cousins and uncles and neighbors talk over each other above my head” while eating tostones and arroz and flan. Lilly’s sharp eye notes the way the parents respond to being home (“my mom still laughing”) and to leaving it ( Daddy “missing... quiet mountain tops”). With clear, bighearted text and an expressive ink line drawing the variously shaped bodies of her characters, Lilly (Geraldine) pays tribute to familial richness across generations and cultures. Ages 4–8. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

"Written and drawn with a refreshingly droll realism, like the best offbeat documentaries. . . . the love they share is evident on every page."—New York Times

★ "The journey is told on multiple levels across pictures and text that entice readers, like the mouthwatering portrayals of home-cooked meals prepared and served by two extended families and two cultures. Lilly’s loose yet warm illustration style, awash in a rainbow of colors and textures, captures the love in these families. . . . A storytelling feast for the whole family, no matter where you live."—Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review

★ "With clear, bighearted text and an expressive ink line drawing the variously shaped bodies of her characters, Lilly . . . pays tribute to familial richness across generations and cultures."—Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

★ "Like a cozy cuddle from a beloved family member, Let Me Fix You a Plate is a warm squeeze that leaves you grinning and a little bit breathless."—BookPage, Starred Review

"The warmth and love of the family and their relatives is abundantly clear in colors and lines that evoke emotion and details of the two different cultures that are also similar to one another. The end papers are full of details that invite readers to think about the artifacts that are part of their family’s heritage. . . With rich sensory details in the text to accompany detailed and inviting illustrations, this title is a wonderful and celebratory addition to all library shelves."—School Library Journal

"Colombian American author-illustrator Lilly takes readers along on a family road trip in this 'tale of two kitchens' (and two cultures). . . . Layering color and shadow over a loose pen-and-ink line, Lilly's illustrations convey warmth, atmosphere, and a wealth of detail."—The Horn Book

"This is a warm, loving look at the homes and families of parents who come from two cultures. . . . The story exudes warmth and love without being cloyingly sweet. Illustrations burst with energy and detail while the colors used for each house and setting suit the areas and the people. This book is truly a delight for eye and ear alike."—School Library Connection

"Each gemütlich scene is vibrantly hued and cozily dense with detail; two double spreads in map form feature elements from each grandparent home, which presents a golden opportunity to examine scenes carefully for a seek and find. Particularly observant viewers will also enjoy seeing mismatched elements of decor—the cat plate; the tiny house with key hooks—testify to a family that finds comfort in tradition even as they cherish their own homey rituals."—The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

From the Publisher

09/01/2021

K-Gr 2—Lilly's second picture book is full of warmth, good food, and most importantly, the love of grandparents and extended family. A young girl and her family leave their home in the city after school one Friday and drive for "hours and hours" to visit grandparents in two distinct locales. Traveling first to the mountains of West Virginia, the narrator and her sisters are welcomed late at night to Mamaw and Papaw's house with the greeting of "Let me fix you a plate." After several days in the mountains with her father's white family they travel to Florida where they are greeted by their Spanish-speaking Abuela who invites them in with "Hay comidita adentro. Comense. There's food inside. Come and eat." The warmth and love of the family and their relatives is abundantly clear in colors and lines that evoke emotion and details of the two different cultures that are also similar to one another. The end papers are full of details that invite readers to think about the artifacts that are part of their family's heritage. This title would be an ideal writing or art prompt for students to encourage them to share stories of the cultures that comprise their family. VERDICT With rich sensory details in the text to accompany detailed and inviting illustrations, this title is a wonderful and celebratory addition to all library shelves.—John Scott, Baltimore County P.S.

School Library Journal

★ 2021-07-14
A feast for the eyes prepared in kitchens brimming with familial love.

Three children with light-brown skin and dark brown hair join their parents (Mommy resembles the kids; Daddy’s White) on a family vacation. They drive first to West Virginia mountains filled with misty morning fog, Papaw’s coffee with cream but no sugar, and Mamaw’s vanilla wafer cookies. A few days later, they proceed to a little orange house in Florida with Spanish-speaking Abuela and Abuelo and naranjas to pick. Each set of grandparents greets the family with open arms, a welcoming kitchen, and familiar, comforting interactions that demonstrate a persistent closeness despite miles and time apart. Though the visits are short, the experiences are deep and continue to resonate throughout the long drive home. The journey is told on multiple levels across pictures and text that entice readers, like the mouthwatering portrayals of home-cooked meals prepared and served by two extended families and two cultures. Lilly’s loose yet warm illustration style, awash in a rainbow of colors and textures, captures the love in these families. A third, hybrid kitchen is revealed at home, when the family returns and mixes the journey’s experiences into a big plate of waffles to be gobbled up before bed. Various important family items are portrayed and labeled throughout the book to encourage readers to go back and find them in the story.

A storytelling feast for the whole family, no matter where you live. (Picture book. 4-7)

Kirkus Reviews