WHEN ALEXANDER GRACED THE TABLE

James Beard Award–winning chef Smalls, acclaimed author and editor Millner, and celebrated illustrator Morrison team up for an ode to Sunday dinner.

After church each week, young Alexander’s whole family gathers on the porch for a sumptuous feast. To prepare, this tightknit Black family crowds into the kitchen on Saturday night; Alexander helps his mother peel eggs, shred cheese, and shell pecans. He also gathers garden-fresh ingredients with his grandfather, who reminds him, “Water and patience—that’s all anything living needs to grow.” But what Alexander wants most of all is to contribute something of his very own—something his often-preoccupied father will love. When Alexander cooks franks and beans one Saturday evening after the meal prep, his creation is so tasty that Mom tells him to whip up a dessert with which to grace the table that Sunday. Highlighting a young boy’s entree into the culinary arts, this delightful tale frames cooking as an important rite of passage—and a way to cement familial bonds. Smalls and Millner’s pitch-perfect dialogue imbues the various characters with life. Relying on his signature oil paintings, Morrison adds energy and verve; he captures Alexander’s nervousness in an especially captivating close-up of Dad gazing at the child’s lemon icebox pie, one eyebrow raised. Dad’s appreciative smile and words (“That’s some good pie”) say it all.

The joy of cooking—and family—brought to brilliant life.