Cora Cooks Pancit by Dorina K. Lazo Gilmore
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
This book was a 2009-2010 Asian Pacific American Literature Award (APALA) Picture Book Winner. There are not many children’s books out there focused on Filipino heritage and food. In this picture book, Cora’s older siblings usually help their mother with the cooking of the traditional Filipino dishes. She’s left with the “kid” jobs like licking the spoons. But one day, Cora’s brothers and sisters are all out and she is able to help her mother cook. Cora decides that she wants to make pancit, a popular, Filipino noodle dish. As Cora and her mother make the pancit, the reader is taken through all the steps in preparing this dish. Cora is able to help with all of the grown-up jobs like shredding the chicken and stirring the noodles. The real test for Cora is when her family tries the pancit. Will they like it?! Besides all of the food and cooking, this book also touches upon what it’s like to be the youngest in a family and relegated to “kid tasks.” A glossary is provided in the back with definitions of words like adobo and lumpia A recipe for pancit is also included. I don’t believe that we have ever eaten Filipino food, but this book has made us interested in trying it!
