Plume: Global nibbler by Tania McCartney

Children of all ages will enjoy this wonderful new book with stunning illustrations by Tania McCartney. It follows on from the first in the series, Plume: world explorer. In this book, Plume: global nibbler, Plume is determined to introduce his penguin friends to foods with different flavours from across the globe. He and Ava the albatross travel on the Albatross Express to a myriad of countries, different from those he visited in his first book, to experience the tastes and flavours of wondrous new dishes.

First stop is Japan where Plume visits Kyo in a sushi bar. Here he learns how to make sushi with a fiery dash of wasabi and gari. From there they travel to Thailand where they taste pad thai. On they travel to Iran where they have roasted corn cobs and kebabs garnished with torshi. In Ethiopia they try injera flatbread and wat curry. In Italy, pizza, and in Sweden kanelbulle. In Morocco Plume is served a fragrant orange cake called meskouta and in Mexico he makes flautas with Valeria.  In Hawaii they are shown the art of the poke bowl and finally in Argentina they dip fruit and churros into dulce de leche. A sweet treat to end their gastronomic exploration!

When Plume returns to Antarctica, he and Ava set up a gourmet tasting table from all over the world for his penguin friends to share. They are not so convinced by the tastes on offer until Plume has a clever idea. He adds a secret ingredient to all the dishes and it’s a winning combination. 

This wonderful book is a great addition to a classroom and school library. A gorgeous introduction for younger students to the diversity of countries from around the world: the food, the people, the language and the culture.

Themes: Penguins, World Foods, Culture, Diversity.

Kathryn Beilby