My Breakfast With Jesus: Worshipping God Around the World

Happy Book Birthday to Tina Cho’s and Guy Wolek’s My Breakfast with Jesus: Worshipping God Around the World!

In keeping with her earlier and upcoming publications, Tina’s latest picture book provides yet another glimpse into the lives of children around the world, this time centered around the breakfast table.

There’s a lot to love about this book!

For starters, Tina takes us on a journey around the world, and on each spread, we get to join a different child or family to see what they are eating for breakfast. As a bonus, she also takes us to Antarctica…and outer space!

We read this book as a family over the weekend, and it was fun to compare and contrast our breakfast with the breakfasts we saw in the book.

There are many opportunities to discuss kindness and generosity built into this story, and I can only begin to imagine the many conversations that could be jumpstarted by the words and images packed into this little book.

Tina’s word choice is vibrant and lovely to read, and even as she illustrates our differences, she expertly ties us together by finishing each spread with this refrain: A _____ way to start the day. A breakfast blessing.

(The blank there is filled by a different adjective on each page, adding yet another layer to this story.)

And that refrain gets at the heart of this multi-faceted book: Just as Jesus shared breakfast with his friends many years ago, so also can we enjoy a breakfast blessing with him and each other each day.

You may already be thinking about how you could put this book to use, but I’ll give you some ideas to add to your own here!

• Compare and contrast breakfasts. Look for similarities and differences as you read. Ask questions like: What breakfast foods seem familiar to you? Which breakfast is most like your own breakfast? Which breakfast seems most different? Which foods show up in many breakfasts? Take this a step further and ask: Whom do the different characters eat breakfast with? Whom do you eat your breakfast with?

• Read with a globe. While reading, find each country on a map or globe.

• Flag matching. Try to identify the flag of each country found on the cover of the book. Use this link to help!

• Adjective lessons and writing practice. An adjective is a word that describes a noun. Look at the adjectives used to describe each breakfast, and come up with an adjective to describe your own. Take this a step further and add your own spread to the story! Use the book as a model to write about your breakfast and finish with the refrain “A _____ way to start the day. A breakfast blessing.” Draw a picture and then share your spread with me and Tina on Instagram: @tinamcho and @joypitcairn

• Start a conversation. There are a lot of conversations you could have based on the pages of this book, but here are a few questions to get you started
  • Which characters show kindness in the story? How do they show it?
  • Which breakfast would you want to try? Why would you want to try that breakfast?
  • What do you notice about the different people in this book? How are they the same? How are they different?
  • How do different characters spend time with Jesus and each other during breakfast?

• Try something new! Are you curious about any of the breakfasts you read about? Look up a recipe (like this one for balaleet) or find a restaurant that serves one of the meals in the book! Take a picture and share it with me so I can see what you decided to try! Instagram: @joypitcairn

I hope you enjoy reading My Breakfast with Jesus soon, and keep your eyes peeled for Tina’s next book, The Ocean Calls, when it debuts August 4.

Your turn! What do you eat for breakfast?

P.S. Celebrate life!