Freedom Soup by Tami Charles (review)

Charles, Tami Freedom Soup; illus. by Jacqueline Alcántara. Candlewick, 2019 [32p] Trade ed. ISBN 978-0-7636-8977-3 $16.99 Reviewed from galleys R 5-8 yrs

It's New Year's Day, and this year Belle gets to help her grandmother make New Year's Day Freedom Soup, traditional in Ti Gran's home country of Haiti. While it may be snowing outside, it's warm inside as "Haitian kompa pours through the speakers," Belle and Ti Gran chop, mash, and boil, and Ti Gran tells Belle about the Haitian Revolution that the soup celebrates. The affectionate text is pleasingly jubilant, and the messaging about the revolution adds a touch of weight without overbalancing the story of food and family. Pencil, marker, and gouache illustrations are highly kinetic in some scenes, with Belle's braids and Ti Gran's earrings swinging joyously as they cook (and a lot of salt and pepper flung around), but the art is also tender in vignettes where Ti Gran guides Belle's little hands. Stylized flashbacks to the Haitian Revolution are safely distanced but still dramatic, with compositions deftly ramping up both the purposeful march of the fighters for freedom and the wild ensuing celebration. The exuberant food story can serve as a tasty entrée to history in the Americas or just to family celebratory traditions. An author's note gives more information about the Haitian Revolution and her own family connection to the soup; a recipe for the soup is also included.