POPPY'S FAMILY RECIPES

The family that cooks together stays together.

Poppy and Granddad’s Sunday tradition involves whipping up recipes from scratch. Not only does Granddad cook, he also collects memories and recipes from the whole family, which he documents in a scrapbook. Poppy loves hearing his stories about the rest of the family—and is especially excited to try making Great-Great-Granddad’s famous sweet potato pie. So this Sunday, Poppy and Granddad head to the farmers market for the necessary ingredients. Semmer’s warm, flat, digitally rendered illustrations let the colorful patterned pages of the family recipe book and Poppy’s hand-drawn shopping list pop off the page. And the farmers market—with its large sunflowers and freshly baked breads—offers a delightful detour. Back in the kitchen, Poppy sports a green-and-white polka-dotted apron and Granddad a cream-colored one as they begin baking. Characters in this loving Black family differ in hairstyle and skin tone; shifts from closeup spot illustrations of Granddad and Poppy prepping the meal to an overhead full-page spread of the dinner table make for a visually dynamic depiction of family. Appended are two recipes (sweet potato pie and a perhaps much easier sweet apple heart).

Delectable family fun.