Summary
This beautifully illustrated children’s picture books tells the story of Omu’s delightful cooking. As she is cooking her famous red stew, the aroma attracts countless community members to her door, beginning with a little boy. In Omu’s kindness, she gave bowls of her stew to her neighbors. But as she opens the big fat pot of thick red stew, Omu comes to find out that it is empty. Just then, Omu heard a knock at her door- it was all the community members she had given thick red stew to.
Theme(s):
Friendship, teamwork, society
Personal Response
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. It restored my faith in humanity and the goodness in people. When Omu ran out of stew for herself, the community members stepped in and squeezed into her apartment where they ate, danced, and celebrated. The descriptive words Oge Mora used to describe her grandmother’s soup were phenomenal. Utilizing words such as scrumptious and wafted helped create a movie in the reader’s head of how the stew drifted through the air and even what it smelt like.
Teaching Ideas
An activity that could be tied into this book after reading it as a class would be to discuss who you are thankful for in your life and why. AFter having this discussion, students will go back to their seats and create a “pot of gratitude” for someone they are thankful for. After they finish filling in all the parts, you can have some students come up and share their “pot of gratitude” with the class. Attached is a link to the “pot of gratitude” teaching idea.
Recommended Reading Level
Birth-PreK, Grade 01
