Bread is Love is very much a modern picture book, and it isn’t just the 2026 publication date that makes it modern.
Oh, the topic and focus and classic. The book is told from a child’s point of view about a weekly family ritual: every week the kids make bread with their mother. The book gives a child’s eye view of many of the stages in the baking process, with discussions of the ingredients and little lessons along the way. One of the loaves made, the main one the story follows, comes out “Deflated!” Mama, however, explains that this doesn’t matter, because “Bread is delicious.”
Household routines, food as love, and teaching about life while doing everyday activities would be found in many books. However, the end pages address tradition creation consciously, which is very modern. So are the recipe, instructions, and notes about making gluten-free bread.
Another aspect that makes this modern is the smooth blending of cultures. The story blends mentions of Frisbees with a chanted “OM!” The family blends tradition and science in their baking, and bakes baguettes and focaccia–which might be served with oil, butter, marmalade, or chutney.
Lavanya Naidu’s illustrations are warm and colorful, and Pooja Makhijani’s voice welcoming. Some of Makhijani’s work, like Mama’s Saris, accent Indian culture more explicitly. This one is more quietly inclusive, promoting inclusion just through the skin tone of the family celebrated.
