Cooking with Serenity

Winner of the Jerry Craft Award, Cooking with Serenity: Gumbo's on the Menu is a heartwarming children's book that blends family, culture, and hands-on learning through the joy of cooking. When Serenity spends the day in the kitchen with her dad, she learns how to prepare a beloved New Orleans favorite-gumbo-while discovering the importance of patience, teamwork, and family traditions. Designed for young readers, this story introduces children to the basics of cooking in a fun, age-appropriate way while celebrating cultural heritage and shared experiences around food. The book encourages curiosity, confidence, and connection as Serenity follows simple steps, learns new kitchen words, and experiences the pride that comes from helping create a meal for loved ones. Perfect for classrooms, libraries, and home reading, Cooking with Serenity supports early literacy, life skills, and social-emotional learning. It also serves as a gentle introduction to multicultural food traditions, making it an excellent resource for family engagement, school enrichment programs, and community reading initiatives. Adult supervision is encouraged for all cooking activities.