Thank You, Omu!

I love how this is a picture of sharing with your community. The help that is given is also returned, sometimes in unexpected ways.

When a child sees this loving example from his Omu, to give her delicious soup to others, it shows me, even as an adult, a picture of “sharing is caring.”

I loved reading Thank You, Omu! because Omu’s stew reminded me of my own grandma’s menudo, which is a Mexican soup.

I was instantly transported to memories of holiday gatherings when my grandma would make a large pot of menudo that could fill a whole bunch of bowls to the top. Plus, it’s red like Omu’s stew! In my family, it’s common for cousins to bring significant others or friends who may not have family close by to our holiday dinners, so seeing the mix of characters who visited Omu felt very familiar.

I love how people of different ages… show more.

On the first pages of Thank you, Omu! a grandmotherly character, Omu, is cooking a thick red stew in a big fat pot for a nice evening meal. The smell wafts out the window and door and around the neighborhood…and soon people are knocking on her door wondering what the amazing smell is. Omu sees how they want some, so she shares. All day long, everyone who arrives at Omu’s door gets a bowl of her thick red stew.

When the day draws to a close, Omu goes to her big fat pot on the stove to scoop out some… show more.

One day Omu cooks a thick red stew in her apartment. It smells so delicious that her neighbors and people on the street can’t resist knocking on her door to ask about the delicious scent. Omu generously gives away bowl after bowl to people of all stripes until she has no more stew, not even a bowl for herself. All ends well though and the author drives home the point that kindness begets kindness. The use of repetition in the book works well for children and the illustrations are gorgeously done in what looks like acrylic paint and collage style.