Jalapeno Bagels

Jalapeno Bagels by Natasha Wing was a beautifully written picture book that celebrates multicultural students and how they can combine their different ethnicities to create something new. The main character is asked to bring something that represents his culture to school, and he decides he wants to bring something from his parents bakery. His mother is Mexican while his father is Jewish, and they combine their different culinary skills to create something different: jalapeno bagels. The young boy decides to share those with his classmates because they represent his heritage. I really loved this book because there are so few like it that are easily assessable to children. I believe that these are the types of books we should be reading show more to our students in order to promote our differences in a positive way. show less

This book illustrated how two different cultures blended well and how a little boy, Pablo, in the middle of two cultures, strive his best to fit in the current society. This book introduced many refined foods that are representing their identities, and it can open up many student's thinking cabs to describe what it is mean to them. Pablo had to bring particular food for the international day at school, Pablo helps his Mexican mother's Mexican pan dulce and Jewish father's bagels and challah bread at their bakery and discovers food that represents both his parents' backgrounds.

I will use this book with Pre -K to 1st grade.
Source: FP ELC Reading Book Collection (Teaching Strategies Gold)

This is a story about growing up in a multicultural household, and how sometimes it is really hard to understand who you are, and what culture you should identify with. This is what I would use this book for.

“Jalapeno Bagels” was a very good book with a great message. First, I liked how the author used food to help the little boy in the story discover his heritage. The little boy’s parents owned a bakery and the story chronicles him helping them bake one day as he was trying to figure out what to bring to his school for International Day. The story first shows the little boy making Mexican sweets with his mother like pan dulce, empanadas de calabaza, and chango bars. The little boy then goes on to make Jewish baked goods with his father such as bagels and challah bread. The author described what all of these unique treats were, which is also something I liked because I wouldn’t have known what they were otherwise. At the end of the show more story it shows the little boy, his mother, and his father all making jalapeno bagels together. The boy’s father made the dough and his mother chopped the jalapenos up to put into the dough. When they were all finished baking for the day the little boy’s parents asked him what he was going to bring to school for International Day. After much consideration, the little boy said, “Jalapeno bagels. Because they are a mixture of both of you. Just like me” I really liked how the author had the little boy discover his heritage through food, because I believe food has the power to do this. Food is such an important part of culture and I believe the author exemplified this through the little boy learning about himself as he baked with his parents of very different cultural backgrounds. Secondly, I really liked how the author made the little boy have two parents from very different cultures. It was interesting to read about a child who was Mexican and Jewish because that is a cultural combination that I have never read about. It was also really interesting to read about the different foods Mexican and Jewish people eat, and how a jalapeno bagel is a mixture of the two cultures. The main idea of “Jalapeno Bagels” is to emphasize to readers to be proud of who they are and where they come from. The main idea is also to show readers how each culture has their own delicious foods and valued customs, but they also can be mixed together to create great things like the little boy (and the jalapeno bagels). show less

I enjoyed reading “Jalapeno Bagels” by Natasha Wing. The story does a great job of showing the differences of a non-traditional American family. I liked how the author used a young boy, Pablo’s, indecision to show demonstrate the uniqueness of his family. Pablo tests food items trying to decide which he should take to school from his family’s bakery, where both his Hispanic mother and Jewish father produce baked goods specific to their culture. The language used is simple and straightforward describing with detail how Pablo feels each new baked good offered is his favorite, further adding to his indecision. When both parents are involved in the process of making the jalapeno bagels, having characteristics of both cultures, Pablo show more decides to choose this particular item to take with him to represent his family. I especially enjoyed the fact that this is a great analogy for Pablo himself, being a product of and influenced by the unique cultures of both his parents. I enjoyed the illustrations in this picture book they use earth tones similar to those you’d see in Hispanic artwork to again emphasize a piece of Pablo’s culture. This book does a great job challenging a reader to see more than the simple story of a young boy’s indecision, it tells. It asks that the reader be able to make the connection that each unique baked good and Pablo’s ultimate decision are analogous to the dynamic that exists in this non-traditional family. show less

Great book about a two culture families bringing together to make a blended recipe. The recipes actually sound really good and I would try to have the recipe cooked to go with the book when we read it. I liked the options that the parents gave to their son and then he blended the two recipes to make both his family cultures show. I think this would be a great book to show diversity inside the classroom as it is using food, and who doesn't like food? I would keep this inside my classroom library as an option for my students to read and/or to use as a teaching tool for a subject of diversity.

I like this book for the way that it celebrates culture. The boy in the story needs to bring something into school that represents his family and heritage. The family owns a bakery, so he knows he wants to take food from there. He just doesn't know if he should take something hispanic and spicy from his moms side or if he should do some thing like bagels and lox for his dads side. While he is trying to decide they make his favorite, Jalapeno bagels. That when he realizes that he should take those, which show both sides of his family.
This story was very warm with great illustrations describing how Pablo felt. It was also very culturally diverse. I didn't just let us into one culture, but two.