José Feeds the World

November 15, 2023
Jos� Andr�s Puerta, an award-winning Spanish American chef, uses his gift to help people in need. Ever since Jos� was a boy, he enjoyed cooking. Inspired by his parents, who showed him that he could help improve people's lives in different ways, he went away to cooking school in Barcelona at 15 and became a chef's assistant at the world-famous El Bulli. His professional journey eventually took him to Washington, D.C., where he opened his own restaurant. In 2010, an earthquake devastated much of Haiti. Jos�, by then an award-winning chef, gathered a group of friends and went there to cook for the survivors. When he returned to D.C., he founded a nonprofit, World Central Kitchen, dedicated to providing free meals to survivors of natural and human-made disasters, work that's enabled him to help affected communities all over the world. Vivid illustrations that depict compelling scenes rendered in rich color add tone and nuance to a flat, dry narrative that sticks to the facts at the expense of emotional depth. Condensing an entire professional life into a picture book means that the text eschews details, although some added information would have made for a more compelling story. Parts of the chef's life--such as when he asks the Ukrainian people to become "Food Fighters"--are dropped into the story without explanation, leaving readers with questions the text does not answer. Rich illustrations buoy a lackluster narrative. (list of some of Jos� Andr�s Puerta's awards, glossary) (Picture-book biography. 4-8)

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December 11, 2023
This factual, step-by-step biography of philanthropist chef José Andrés foregrounds how his background and career led to his founding World Central Kitchen. Born in Spain in 1969 to nurse parents who frequently hosted at home, he realized early on that “it was possible to make life better for others in big and small ways,” specifically through food. After attending cooking school in Barcelona, he worked in New York, then opened a tapas restaurant in Washington, D.C.: “He liked tapas because they created a community.” Volunteering at a D.C. soup kitchen, he once again noticed food’s effect on people, a concept that followed him to Haiti after its 2010 earthquake; there, he learned “to cook food in the local style to make people feel better cared for,” a practice he continued after founding nonprofit World Central Kitchen, a globally scaled soup kitchen providing for people in places affected by disasters. Miguéns’s digital illustrations, one of which seems to nod at Sendak’s In the Night Kitchen, depict Andrés cooking and collaborating around the world, including during Covid and in 2022 Ukraine. A list of Andrés’s honors and a glossary conclude. Ages 4–8.

December 22, 2023
Grades 1-3 The humanitarian work of chef Jos� Andr�s gives new meaning to the term soul food, and this picture-book biography shines a welcome spotlight on his efforts to ease hunger around the world. Born in Spain, Andr�s learned the joy of sharing food at the side of his parents, whose careers in nursing also taught him that "it was possible to make life better for others in big and small ways." The book quickly traces Andr�s' training and successes as a chef before a devastating earthquake in Haiti compelled him to become involved in disaster relief, namely by providing care and community support through food. This would lead him to form the World Central Kitchen organization, which helps provide food to people facing major disasters. Readers will be inspired by Andr�s' boots-on-the-ground commitment to others' well-being in the wake of hurricanes, volcanic eruptions, the COVID-19 pandemic, and, most recently, the war in Ukraine. Muted illustrations emphasize the warmth and comfort a good, home-cooked meal can bring, and the back matter includes a list of Andr�s' notable accomplishments.

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