"What is it, Maria?" Mrs. Ross gently prodded as she put her arm around Maria's shoulders. "I'm embarrassed. It's the food I brought for lunch. The kids might think I'm strange because I don't have a sandwich for lunch like they do." After moving to Colorado from California, eight-year-old Maria begins attending a new school. But she's afraid to let the kids in her third grade class see what's in her lunch box. She thinks that the burrito hiding inside makes her different from the other kids. Maria soon learns that everyone eats some kind of tortilla, whether it's lefse from Norway, piadine from Italy, Chinese pancakes from Beijing, naan from Persia and India, or many others from around the world. Through a fun class project, the kids learn a lesson in geography and cooking, and Maria discovers that she is more like her classmates than she is different. Author Dolly Calderon Wiseman has included twenty-three flatbread recipes from all over the world to help teach youngsters skills in following instructions and using math in the kitchen. Young chefs will learn that cooking with a family member or friend is fun and inspires self-confidence as well as a feeling of accomplishment-and that Everybody Eats Tortillas!
