Cora Cooks Pancit

Written by: Dorina K, Lazo Gilmore

Illustrated by: Kristi Valiant

Themes: Helping, Family, Cooking, Growing up, Independence

Summary:

Cora wants to help her mom, but always gets the kid jobs. When her siblings are all out, her mom asks her to help make her favorite dish, pancit, a Filipino noodle dish. She gets to do the grown-up jobs of shredding chicken and stirring the noodles in the pot. She is so excited to hear what everyone thinks of her cooking!

Pre-Reading Activity:

Have a discussion about things the students wish they could do at home. Talk about how some things are dangerous and kids can't do them. Show pictures of dangerous things that only adults can do and have the students talk about why it would be unsafe for kids to do. Examples: fire, cooking on stove, swimming alone, driving!

Post-Reading Activity:

Students will list the ways they help out at home. They can write a sentence and then illustrate with a picture of what they wrote. These papers will be displayed around the room.

About the Author:

Dorina Lazo Gilmore grew up in a Filipino-Italian family in the kitchen with her mama, aunties and grandmas. She loves to create healthy recipes and share stories in the kitchen with her friends and daughters. Dorina has a B.A. in English and Journalism and is completing an M.F.A. degree in Children s Literature at Hollins University. She is also the author of two other children s books, Children of the San Joaquin Valley and Stone Soup: A Hmong Girl s Journey to the United States. Dorina is originally from Chicago and lives with her husband and two daughters in Fresno, California.

Reflection:

This is a lovely book about families that all children can identify with. Wanting to help out, and then waiting to hear everyones reaction to what one did is a universal theme. Wanting to be grown up enough for big-kid jobs is a theme all kids can relate to. I think this is a nice way to bring in another culture into the classroom, while identifying all the similarities we all share.