Hungry after work and play, Shelly-Ann asks her beloved grandmother to teach her how to make some of Shelly-Ann's favorite dishes. Each time, Granny replies with an enormous smile and a rousing, "GYAL, YOU BETTA CAN COOK!" They attempt four dishes uffy dumplings, ackee, herb-laced salt fish, and mouth-watering plantain slices that "popped and sizzled in the oil" t each time, Shelly-Ann's cooking is inedible. Granny consoles the frustrated child with a recipe book and affirmation: "If you try and don't succeed, try, try, and try again." Shelly-Ann does. One morning when Granny would rather sleep than get up and cook, Shelly-Ann successfully prepares a proud feast and serves Granny breakfast in bed. Daley (Aunt Luce's Talking Paintings, 2018) transports readers to Smith's clearly cherished Jamaica with joyous Photoshop illustrations that suit the setting wonderfully in a vibrant tropical palette with bold pops of turquoise and fuchsia. This multigenerational homage to home cooking and heritage cuisine serves up a sweet message of confidence-building and can-do assurance.

A rumbling tummy leads to intergenerational cooking lessons—and a message to keep trying—in this mouth-watering picture book. Stored in Granny’s cupboards and dangling from mango and ackee trees outside the house, good food surrounds Shelly-Ann, a girl living on the island of Jamaica, where, Smith writes, “the sun is always shining and the weather is sweet.” When hunger drives the child to ask for something to eat, Granny answers, “GYAL, YOU BETTA CAN COOK!” and teaches the child to make family favorites, both from memory and from recipe cards. Despite burning her first attempt at dumplins, cooking ackee that’s too soft, oversalting the saltfish, and making up mushy plantains (“I can’t cook!” she cries each time), Shelly-Ann keeps at it, internalizing perseverance alongside elements of cuisine, culture, and family. Daly’s candy-colored, sun-dappled digital illustrations, which portray the characters with brown skin, vividly visualize the call-and-response text. Recipes and facts about Jamaica conclude. Ages 3–6. (July)