Winsome Bingham is a master cook and a US Army war and disabled veteran. She is an educator by trade having received both her Bachelor and Master of Arts Degrees in Education. Winsome also received her Master of Fine Arts in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College. She can typically be found on her deck writing about real life experiences in fictional settings. With that being the case, Soul Food Sunday is her magnanimous entrance into the literary world as a children’s book author.
A grandmother teaches her grandson the value of family and togetherness throughout this beautifully illustrated book, Soul Food Sunday. She does so by teaching him to prepare and cook the family meal of macaroni and cheese, greens, sausage, ribs, etc from a place of love. Anyone that knew my Granny, Beulah Moone, knew that I was the apple of her eye. They also knew that she was my heart. You could always find me near the hem of her skirt helping her cook, clean up, set the table, watching tv, or just talking and laughing. On that note, the scenes denoted throughout this book were very much an accurate depiction of my life as a young man. I generally didn’t want to go outside and play football or basketball with my cousins and friends because spending time with my Granny was more fun. I literally had to be forced by an uncle or someone else to leave her side in most cases. And I’m so glad that I chose her. The reason being is that I learned invaluable life lessons that I still carry with me today from spending time with her in the kitchen. The illustrator, Charles G. Esperanza, did an amazing job of conjuring up those fond memories hence the reason that I believe that Soul Food Sunday was chosen as a Coretta Scott King Honor Book for award year 2022.
Moving along, I would also like thank Brenda Hornsby-Heindl and the staff at Liberty Public Library for their continued commitment towards diversity in their books and community programming. I mention them because it's where I grabbed the copy of Soul Food Sunday. Given that sentiment, I urge everyone that's reading this to please visit their local libraries. They truly are hubs of diversity, education, and reflection.
Congratulations Winsome and Charles on a beautifully written and illustrated book. And thank you for reminding me of such fond times.
5 ⭐️’s
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