Every summer, Yasmine visits her family in Lebanon, and every Sunday, the whole family comes over for lunch. This summer Sunday, Yasmine is making the hummus!

But hummus is harder to make than she expects, and Yasmine has all sorts of questions: How much garlic should she add? Is it lemon juice or vinegar? And where does the sesame flavor come from? With a little help from Baba, Yasmine mixes in a bit of this, and a bit of that … and hummus à la Yasmine is ready! But when grumpy Ammo Farouk arrives with the rest of the family, Yasmine worries — will he hate it? What if her hummus doesn’t taste like the real thing?

Sundays Are for Feasts is a celebration of how meals can bring family together, and the importance of making your own traditions. Includes an author’s note, glossary of Arabic terms used in the story and a recipe for hummus!

Key Text Features

illustrations

author’s note

recipe

glossary

definitions

Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.1

With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about key details in a text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.3

With prompting and support, identify characters, settings, and major events in a story.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.4

Ask and answer questions about unknown words in a text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.6

With prompting and support, name the author and illustrator of a story and define the role of each in telling the story.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.7

With prompting and support, describe the relationship between illustrations and the story in which they appear (e.g., what moment in a story an illustration depicts).

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.2

Retell stories, including key details, and demonstrate understanding of their central message or lesson.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.3

Describe characters, settings, and major events in a story, using key details.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.7

Use illustrations and details in a story to describe its characters, setting, or events.

A winsome ode to Middle Eastern food and families.

Sundays Are for Feasts ... will have readers salivating. A story not to be read on an empty stomach!

LEILA BOUKARIM is a children's book author and freelance editor. Her recent books include the picture book Lost Words: An Armenian Story of Survival and Hope, illustrated by Sona Avedikian; and the graphic novel Zips and Eeloo Make Hummus, illustrated by Alex Lopez. She was born in Lebanon, raised in several countries and now lives in Berlin, Germany. RUAIDA MANNAA is a Colombian/Lebanese illustrator and designer who lives in Barranquilla, Colombia. Her work has been featured in publications such as the New York Times, and been awarded by 3X3 Magazine, Applied Arts, Latin American Illustration and the Bienal de Ilustración.