There’s something about bread. Just about every culture has a different take on this staple, and almost everyone I know has their own version. Over the last year, I’ve encountered several picture books that remind me that bread is so much more than a tasty food. It’s childhood memories of baking alongside a loving adult passing down a generations-old recipe. It’s an opportunity to slow down, waiting for dough to rise. It’s a deep connection to heritage and identity. In short, it’s a way to nourish the soul.

Don’t be fooled by the title of Cristina Quintero’s The Only Way To Make Bread (Tundra Books, 2023); the author makes clear that there are as many ways to bake bread as there are people. As diverse families converge on a single apartment to whip up arepas, focaccia, bannock, and more, the text—collectively narrated by the children—expounds on how to prepare bread. Some people use a wooden spoon to mix; others rely on their hands. Some braid the dough; others roll it into balls. But there’s one essential ingredient: love. Making inspired use of perspective, Sarah Gonzales’ earth-toned illustrations exude warmth, joy, and a sense of community.

As Sidura Ludwig’s Rising (Candlewick, May 14) opens, a pregnant mother and her child awaken early one morning to make challah for Shabbat dinner. They bond as they knead, stir, and roll, but just as crucial are the moments they take to pause and reflect as the bread bakes and, later, cools. Ludwig’s meditative text homes in on ordinary but heartening sensations such as the feeling of wet dough, while Sophia Vincent Guy’s elegantly composed artwork is rife with details that will reward careful readers. Nudging little ones to savor the little things, this languidly paced tale is a much-needed counter to the frenzy of modern life.

“Nana’s mama taught my mama when she was my age, and now Nana is going to teach me.” The young narrator of Lisl H. Detlefsen’s Still There Was Bread (Harper/HarperCollins, Oct. 15) can’t wait to learn how to make “Nana rolls.” As they work, Nana explains that baking was an all-day affair for her own grandmother, who grew up during the Depression. David Soman’s painterly illustrations alternate present-day scenes of grandmother and child relying on modern conveniences such as an electric oven with images of Nana’s grandmother gathering eggs and using a wood-burning oven. The narrative sets a reassuring tone as Nana notes that bread has always anchored the family through hard times, including the Covid-19 pandemic.

With Mama’s Roti (Little, Brown, Oct. 29), Raakhee Mirchandani demonstrates that this South Asian flatbread is so much more than the sum of its parts. The members of an immigrant family building a new life in America preserve a connection to their homeland through a love of roti, while farmers in India spend long hours planting and harvesting the grains used to create this bread. Brimming with emotion, Shreya Gupta’s artwork seamlessly shifts between settings as Mirchandani’s text conveys moving truths about the power of food: “Roti is home, even when the streets are full of strangers…Roti is life.”

Mahnaz Dar is a young readers’ editor.