Welcome to Litsy!

This picture book, published in 2025, uses soft lines, warm colors, and gentle textures to reflect the story's emotional depth and nostalgia. The illustrator's use of space and the feeling of love that radiates around her is very impactful.

I think this book could be great for any elementary Classrooms. I think it could be relatable for a lot of students especially during big transitions in their lives.

“In every bite, she tasted a place she couldn't return to - but never truly left.“

This Caldecott award winning book captures the feelings of a little girl going to her first week of school in the USA. This book highlights the challenges she faces with the language barrier, and how the food in her lunch box has reminded her of the comfort of home. I would use this book to talk about the emotions we may feel in a new place, and create conversations about how we can help each other feel more comfortable in our new classroom.

This picture book is a Caldecott Honor featuring a little girl immigrating to the USA from Hon Kong. The illustrator uses color to captivate the emotion of the book, you can see how the vibrancy of the book is greater at the end when Jun begins to enjoy her time at school with new friends. The illustrator uses shapes to captivate the love and comfort Jun feels from the food in her lunchbox when everything else around her feel unfamiliar.

“Thank...you, Rose, Juan, and Dan...iel!“

This book could help inspire a discussion about identity and culture. We can discuss how June's food and home in Hong Kong make her proud. This could then lead to discussing what makes the students proud.

“Thank…you, Rose, Juan, Dani…el!”

Home in a Lunchbox by Cherry Mo is a picture book published in 2024. It was the Caldecott Honor Book for 2025. The illustrations in the story help create lots of meaning. When June opens her lunchbox, the illustrator decides to use warm colors to emphasize a feeling of comfort while the background (where June feels out of place) is cool. Also, the illustrator added great detail to June's face to clearly convey the emotions she is feeling.

You could use this book in a classroom to begin a discussion about cultural differences, specifically food culture.

Picture Book, published in 2024

This book uses a contrast of colors that correlate with contrasting feelings. Darker blues and greys portray sadness and loneliness at the main characters new school while the brighter oranges and pinks portray warm feelings when reminded of home.

Picture book (2024)- Jun has just moved from Hong Kong to America, and everything at her new school feels confusing and unfamiliar. She doesn't know much English and feels nervous about fitting in.

The illustrations use watercolor and pencil, with soft, expressive images that highlight the character‘s emotions. The warm tones around the lunchbox and family scenes contrast with the cooler tones of the school setting, visually reinforcing the theme of home as a place of safety.

In the classroom, this story can support lessons on diversity, empathy, and cultural understanding, helping students appreciate differences and discuss ways to make everyone feel included.

“Through lush art and spare dialogue, Cherry Mo's breathtakingly beautiful debut picture book reminds readers that friendship and belonging can be found in every bite.”

“Thank you?“

Ideal for grades 1–3, this book can be used to discuss themes of belonging, cultural diversity, and empathy. Activities I would do would be sharing personal stories of food and family or creating art inspired by favorite meals.

I can use this book in a classroom by teaching my students how nervous and uncomfortable children that move from out of the country to the US could feel. This book can teach them the importance of being kind to people and spread empathy for children that are struggling to fit in. Also, this story teaches children to focus on something that they love to get through hard times such as food.

This book is mainly wordless. I would add words that describe how Juan felt as she took bites of food and would be cool to see her use her home language as well.

“Hel...lo!“
“What's your name?“
“Th...ank you...“

I think it did a great job incorporating different culture. This was a caldecott winner and was June 11, 2024

“In every bite, she tasted a place she couldn‘t return to—but never truly left.”

A young immigrant child feels embarrassed bringing traditional food to school. Over time, she learns to embrace her culture and find pride in her identity through the meals that remind her of home.

I think this book could be great for any elementary classrooms. I think it could be relatable for a lot of students!

“Thank.. you, Rose, Juan, Dani..el!“

This would be a great book for 1st-3rd grade. This story can help students see and understand how scary it can feel for a new student who comes in and does not speak English as their first language. They then can also share our foods that make them feel like Jun when she gets to eat her lunch.

There are very few words in this book but the illustrations capture and tell the story.

This book can be a great way to help students from immigrant families that are experiencing or have experienced being in a new school where they do not know the language, school, or people around them. It can also show students the importance of culture and tradition (in this example food) that makes a student feel more “at home“.

“Toilet“

“Home isn't so far away after all“

This book is a Picturebook. It also won a Caldecott in 2025. It was published in 2024. Cherry Mo uses soft, organic, and flowing lines throughout the illustrations. This conveyed warmth and emotion throughout the book. The story explores immigration, cultural identity, and the power of food to bridge differences.

Picture Book! Soft lines, warm colors, and gentle textures reflect the story‘s emotional depth and nostalgia. The illustrator‘s use of space—often showing the character small in large environments—beautifully conveys feelings of displacement and longing. It‘s a quiet, heartfelt tale where every visual choice enhances the emotional tone.

Home in a Lunchbox can be used in a elementary classroom. You can use this book to spark conversations about diversity, cultural pride, and empathy. Students could share foods or traditions from their families. This helps build community, celebrate differences, and promote inclusivity.

I would use this book in an elementary school classroom. I would use this book to help build empathy and help celebrate diversity. It shows how Jun finds comfort in her lunch because it reminds her of home and it shows how her classmates try to connect with her through food. This is how they are forming a friendship.

Home in a Lunchbox is a picturebook that was published in 2024. It is about a child from Hong Kong who moves to to school in the US and does not speak English. She struggles to converse with others but loves eating lunch because it is full of her favorite foods from her home. One day, she finds friends to share food with and starts to communicate with them.

Picture Book - Caldecott Honor - Home in a Lunchbox by Cherry Mo (2024) tells the story of a young girl who immigrates to the U.S. and feels different at school—especially at lunchtime, when her food sets her apart. Over time, she learns to embrace her culture and discovers that sharing it helps her feel at home.

Home in a Lunchbox can be used in class to teach about culture and diversity. Students can share their own lunches, discuss family traditions, or draw and write about special meals. It encourages empathy, respect for differences, and appreciation of others‘ experiences, while supporting social-emotional learning and storytelling skills.

I love how this book allows me to discuss different cultures in regards to cuisine. Children love food and talking about food, and I think this text is a great way to bring up cultural differences in an area they enjoy and would be more curious about as well. I also think the element of color will encourage students to get a more realistic idea of what foods from different cultures look like too.

Genre - picture book, caldecott honors
publication year - 2024

Home in a Lunchbox by Cherry Mo is a picture book that explores culture, family, and food. It follows a child who notices the differences between their own lunch and classmates‘ lunches, learning to appreciate both their own traditions and others‘. The story is gentle, relatable, and filled with colorful illustrations that celebrate diversity.

Students can share foods that help them feel at home and can bring in different types of familiar foods that they love to share. This book can also facilitate discussions about belonging and welcoming others.

I would use this book to represent different cultures and to celebrate diversity in the classroom. It allows students to view the world through a new lens that they may relate to or open their eyes to. This book helps students understand their peers on a different level. It helps students see the story through its beautiful and thorough illustrations.

As a teacher, I would use this book to show students how imagery can tell a story. This could also be used to show how to be kind to new students and do a lesson on culture and what food is important in your family. This would show the similarities and differences in culture and what is important to each student and their family. Students could also create a picture of what food is love to them.