Delicious!: Poems Celebrating Street Food Around the World

Opening with New York City's various food carts and closing with Boston's Fenway Park franks, this collection of short poems by Larios offers a playful look at street food around the globe, visiting Mexico, Israel, Morocco, Australia, Russia, Peru, India, Indonesia, South Korea, Greece, Senegal, and China in turn. The book feels arranged at random, but a variety of rhyming and free verse poems in simple diction keep the material accessible; "Winter Meal," representing St. Petersburg, Russia, reads: "Four pelmeni,/ three piroshki,/ two sweet blini--/ one big belly." Paschkis offers vibrant watercolor spreads for each location, with an array of people from each country shown within engaging themed borders, making for an intriguing first look at international bites. Back matter includes a brief, and unfortunately sometimes exoticizing, look at the poems' offerings. Ages up to 8. (Apr.)