Books about fun and life lessons in the lunch box
To learn to cook is to gain a life skill and get a hands-on lesson in science, history and living well
There is a line in Jolly LLB 3 (2025) about the urgent need for children to study agricultural systems, otherwise they would assume that food comes straight from online apps and not farmlands. I remember chuckling at this scene in the theatre—it seemed a tad hyperbolic. Until I watched a group of 11 and 12-year-olds enact Shark Tank-like pitches at a social gathering recently. One set had an idea for a tea-related startup, as part of which they wanted to cultivate plantations in the heart of Haryana. I am pretty sure hundreds of tea plants in the hills somewhere self-combusted into dust at the very thought of being shifted to hot plains. While some future tech might make this possible, at this point of time, all I can think about is the disconnect between urban childhood and food systems.
Cooking is still not seen as a life skill by parents and kids but as a hobby—a flex at birthday parties, something to pepper conversations with. “My son uses only imported flour for pasta", “my daughter only cooks with matcha", so on and so forth. This is still a leap from a few years ago, when parents would proudly claim that their kids didn’t even know how to boil an egg. The idea was to show off a battery of cooks in the kitchen so that the family didn’t need to get its hands messy.
Today, its encouraging to see children embrace the joy of transforming ingredients into dishes that offer both sustenance and taste. But there is more to food than that—each ingredient carries stories of tradition, skill, sustainability, provenance and the resilience of people who grow them. Different scientific concepts come into play every time you cook. History, geography, sociology, chemistry, biology—all of these disciplines come together in the kitchen.
At a time of climate change, global hunger and food scarcity, it becomes more important than ever to learn about sustainable cooking as early as possible. Parents and kids need to ask critical questions. Why do we get cauliflower and peas in the market all year round when they are essentially winter veggies? Which fish to avoid during which season? What about saving up on carbon points by using locally grown ingredients instead of those that travel thousands of kilometres in cold storage to reach you?
Learning about food traditions and production systems also offers a peek into diverse food cultures. The seemingly ubiquitous lunch boxes often contain reasons for othering in the classroom. Pungent sauces, dried fish and dairy substitutes in the tiffin often lead to wrinkled noses and disparaging comments. These days, to help parents answer critical questions about what we eat and why, there are thoughtful books and resources. It has become easier than ever to introduce kids to the vibrant world of cooking, farming and food futures.
One such book is Dumpling Day (Barefoot Books) authored by Meera Sriram and illustrated by Ines De Antuano. Meant for readers aged 4-8, the story told in rhyme, follows ten households as they cook dumplings and various other dishes for a neighbourhood potluck. The book focuses on diversity and inclusivity as families with roots in India, China, Nigeria, Japan, Mexico and other countries whip up fufu balls, shish barak, apple dumplings and samosas for all to share. Dumpling Dayalso contains a map showing countries of origin and recipes that parents can make with their kids.
An upcoming book, The Great Indian Tiffin Box: Food, Stories and Flavours from across the Country (Penguin), follows in a similar vein. Swarnavo Datta, a corporate trainer by day and an illustrator-author by night, aims to introduce young adults to different cuisines from India, which often feature in tiffins that we share with friends and colleagues at school and at work. No dish is simply a coming together of ingredients, rather it embodies stories of migration, adaptation and innovation. The book comes packed with recipes, trivia and little-known histories.
An interesting title, which my daughter and I return to time and time again, is History Dishtory (Hachette).It offers a deep drive into history and associated culinary practices in a narrative fiction format. Authored by two best friends, Ranjini Rao and Ruchira Ramanujam, the book follows the adventures of twins, Siya and Samar, who are gifted a unique gaming device by their aunt, which simulates a historical event through virtual reality. In an unexpected turn, those events come to life and take the twins through kitchens of the past and culinary histories associated with WWI,the Renaissance period, menus of the Titanic, the Great Depression, the Salt March, and the first ascent of Mount Everest. The book simplifies complex historical events into “digestible bites" for young readers.
Another title that steps back into time is Tribhuvan Patel: A Story of a Farmer and the Milkmen (Tota Books) about the father of the cooperative movement in India. Inspired by M.K. Gandhi, Patel led farmers against unfair trade practices and established Kaira District Co-operative Milk Producers’ Union in 1946 and opened it to milk producers irrespective of caste or community. The book combines food practices with a sociological portrait of the times.
For parents struggling with fussy eaters, there are engaging books with illustrations to hook kids not just to the story but to the importance of healthy eating as well, like Superfoods for Superheroes (HarperCollins) about a boy who discovers ten ingredients, including pomegranates and turmeric, that are not just beneficial but tasty as well.
Nothing works like connecting an ingredient or a dish with everyday lives of children through a story. Two books, A Little Spice is Extra Nice (Talking Cub) and A Bounty of Chillies (Tota Books) introduce kids to vibrant marketplaces and beautiful landscapes where certain spices are grown. The former, authored by Shruthi Vijayan and illustrated by Sanjana Ranjit, follows Annie and her grandfather, Appoopan, to the market in Mattancherry, Kerala, as they shop to fill up their empty spice box. Meant for 6 to 9 year olds, the book introduces kids to the smells, flavour profiles and stories of spices as the duo looks for turmeric, cinnamon, Malabar pepper and star anise. The story also brings the producers and sellers, who bring these aromatic ingredients into our kitchens. The other one, A Bounty of Chillies by Niyatee Sharma and illustrated by Vibha Surya chronicles the tussle between young Veer, who avoids chillies, and his father, who simply loves them. In the process, the reader gets introduced to the chilli map of India and where this household staple comes from.
A lot of kids wonder if being a chef or a cook is the only profession in the food industry that they can pursue? For those aged 4 to 8, there is now an insightful book titled, If You Love Cooking, You Could Be… (Simon Spotlight) authored by New York-basedElizabeth Dennis and illustrated by architect-turned-illustrator Natalie Kwee.It offers a glimpse of the many roles you can take up, from a food stylist to recipe developer, if you have a passion for food. “Being a recipe developer is like being a scientist. Each recipe begins with an idea. Then the recipe developer experiments with ingredients, cooking times, and temperatures. It might take fifteen or more tries before the dish tastes just right," reads an excerpt.
A book I have enjoyed immensely is Biji’s in the Kitchen (Hook Book, Duckbill), which goes against the stereotype that all grandmas have to be great cooks. Why not free them from this baggage? Biji is a terrible cook who makes lauki halwas that make your teeth stick together, but that does not stop her from sharing her love of food with her granddaughter. Together, they vroom their way to the market on a bike to share pakoras from the best shop. For many of us, food and cooking carry deeply gendered connotations—they confine and isolate women to certain roles within the household. It was only while living alone during my first job that I learnt to look beyond these gender norms, surrendering myself to the love for cooking. Nothing unites the mind, body and soul like whipping up a hearty meal—why not share this unfettered joy with the kids too?
Raising Parents is a monthly column about art and culture to inspire both children and adults.
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