Here are some wonderful stories about multigenerational Black families enjoying special meals, and special times together. These stories of family love and delicious food will make you hungry while they warm your heart, and make you want to host a meal with your own nearest and dearest. As a bonus, many of these books include a recipe.

Bring Me Some Apples and I'll Make You a Pie: A Story About Edna Lewis by Robbin Gourley

Edna Lewis championed purity of ingredients, regional cuisine, and the importance of bringing food directly from the farm to the table. With lyrical text and glorious watercolor illustrations, Gourley lovingly traces the childhood roots of Edna's appreciation for the bounties of nature. The story follows Edna from early spring through the growing season to a family dinner celebrating a successful harvest. Folk rhymes, sayings, and songs about food are sprinkled throughout the text, and five kid-friendly recipes and an author's note about Edna's life are included at the end.

Full, Full, Full of Love by Trish Cooke; illustrated by Paul Howard

For the youngest member of an exuberant extended family, Sunday dinner at Grannie's can be full indeed: full of hugs and kisses, full of tasty dishes, full to the brim with happy faces, and full, full, full of love. With a special focus on the bond between little Jay Jay and his grannie, Trish Cooke introduces us to a gregarious family we are sure to want more, more, more of.

 

Peeny Butter Fudge by Toni Morrison and Slade Morrison; illustrated by Joe Cepeda

Even though Mom leaves behind detailed instructions for Nana, the grandmother and the kids have a different idea—dance time, story time, nap time, and fudge-making time—in a book that includes the Nobel Prize-winning coauthor's top-secret family fudge recipe.

 

 

 

The Get-Together by ChristineTaylor-Butler; illustrated by Lonnie Ollivierre

When the Johnson family gathers for a family reunion to celebrate the birthday of Uncle Wesley, the family's patriarch, it becomes a day filled with fun and games, favorite foods, a little arguing, and lots of dancing. Readers will leave this picture book feeling like they just spent the day with a family they will want to visit again and again and again.

 

 

Soul Food Sunday by Winsome Bingham; illustrated by C. G. Esperanza

While he is at Granny’s on a Sunday, the narrator helps cook the family meal and even contributes his own sweet surprise, in this loving celebration of food, traditions and gathering together at the table. Recipe for deliciously cheesy Mac 'N' Cheese included at the end of the story.

 

Sweet Potato Pie by Kathleen D. Lindsey; illustrated by Charlotte Riley-Webb

The summer a great drought sweeps across the county, the only crop Sadie’s family is able to save is the sweet potatoes. Money is tight, and if Papa doesn’t pay back his loan soon, the bank will take away the farm. Suddenly Mama comes up with an idea—sweet potato pies! The family can sell her pies at the Harvest Celebration that starts the very next day. Sweet Potato Pie is a delicious affirmation of strong family ties and creative problem solving. This lively story will capture your heart, as well as your taste buds

Tea Cakes for Tosh by Kelly Starling Lyons; illustrated by E.B. Lewis

Tosh has spent many days in the kitchen with his grandmother, Honey, watching her bake special tea cakes and listening to tales about their slave ancestors, so when Honey's memory starts to fail, Tosh is able to return the gift of tea cakes and stories. Includes a recipe for tea cakes.

 

 

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Summaries provided via NYPL’s catalog, which draws from multiple sources. Click through to each book’s title for more.