From Publishers Weekly
Carrie canvasses the neighborhood, trying to round up her younger brother in time for dinner. Every household she visits represents a different ethnic heritage--Fendra Diaz's grandmother lives in Puerto Rico, Madame Bleu hails from Haiti, the Huas have emigrated from China, etc. All the families are either preparing or consuming dinner, and Carrie discovers that despite divergent backgrounds, "everybody cooks rice." The multicultural smorgasbord she samples includes rice and black-eyed peas from Barbados, biryani from India, Vietnamese nuoc cham . However correct politically, Dooley's first book is like food for an invalid: wholesome indeed but numbingly bland. Her plot unfolds in an atmosphere of vacant inevitability and her writing lacks style. Thornton's static illustrations, meanwhile, recall the false harmony of Sally, Dick and Jane. Recipes for the rice dishes are included, but most young readers will prefer to sink their teeth into a more highly seasoned story. Ages 5-8. Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
Grade 2-4-- Carrie travels from one house to another, looking for her brother at dinnertime. Each family invites her in for a taste of what they are cooking; thus, she samples the ethnic diversity of her neighborhood through the rice dishes they prepare. At home, her own Italian family is indulging in risi e bisi . All the recipes are included at the end of the book. Thornton's illustrations have that flat, depthless look of primitive art. Colors are strong and brilliant primaries with very little black shading. The geometric forms displayed in the multihued houses of the street are especially nice. Yes, everybody cooks rice, and everybody eats rice--these commonalities do bring us together, a lesson worth repeating again and again. --Ruth Semrau, Lovejoy School, Allen, TXCopyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Card catalog description
A child is sent to find a younger brother at dinnertime and is introduced to a variety of cultures through encountering the many different ways rice is prepared at the different households visited.

ANNOTATION

A child is sent to find a younger brother at dinnertime and is introduced to a variety of cultures through encountering the many different ways rice is prepared at the different households visited.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Carrie canvasses the neighborhood, trying to round up her younger brother in time for dinner. Every household she visits represents a different ethnic heritage--Fendra Diaz's grandmother lives in Puerto Rico, Madame Bleu hails from Haiti, the Huas have emigrated from China, etc. All the families are either preparing or consuming dinner, and Carrie discovers that despite divergent backgrounds, ``everybody cooks rice.'' The multicultural smorgasbord she samples includes rice and black-eyed peas from Barbados, biryani from India, Vietnamese nuoc cham . However correct politically, Dooley's first book is like food for an invalid: wholesome indeed but numbingly bland. Her plot unfolds in an atmosphere of vacant inevitability and her writing lacks style. Thornton's static illustrations, meanwhile, recall the false harmony of Sally, Dick and Jane. Recipes for the rice dishes are included, but most young readers will prefer to sink their teeth into a more highly seasoned story. Ages 5-8. (Feb.)

Children's Literature - Beverly Kobrin

A young girl discovers that differently in a multicultural neighborhood in Norah Dooley's story. Ms. Dooley conclude with recipes for nine different rice dishes, including Vietnamese nuoc cham, Indian biryani and Haitian rice and beans.

School Library Journal