Nana’s New Soul Food: Discovering Vegan Soul Food

Theater pioneer Will Power inspires families to connect through healthy eating choices, vegan soul food, and community in this heartwarming story of a boy’s love for his grandmother--and good food! Includes a vegan recipe!

Can healthy food be delicious food, too? A young boy helps us discover that yes, it can! Nana’s New Soul Food follows this energetic boy on an adventure with his mom to find healthy food in his neighborhood. Motivated by his love for his nana, who has to change the way she eats because of her health, the boy rediscovers his neighborhood while finding tasty vegan soul food.

Award-winning playwright, pioneer of hip-hop theater, and performer Will Power injects masterful rhythm into this uplifting story of family and community, which teaches us that healthy food can be a joy. The pages are graced with beautiful, vibrant illustrations from Coretta Scott King Award Honor and Caldecott Honor illustrator R. Gregory Christie, who captures the loving relationships within a family as they connect through their mission to make better eating choices. Back matter includes a fun recipe for Mango-Coconut-Lime Ice Pops courtesy of Chef Bryant Terry, along with a letter from Will Power.

Will Power is an internationally renowned playwright, performer, lyricist, and educator. Called ＂the best verse playwright in America＂ by New York Magazine, Will is an innovator and dramatic explorer of new theatrical forms. He is known as one of the pioneers and cocreators of hip-hop theater, a late-twentieth-century art form that led the way for future iconic works such as Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton, as well as dozens of hip-hop education programs being established throughout the country. Will is also a master craftsman of traditionally based plays and musicals. His straight play, Fetch Clay, Make Man, directed by the Emmy Award-winning director and dance icon Debbie Allen, will debut in 2023. Will lives in Los Angeles with his wife and two kids.

R. Gregory Christie has illustrated more than sixty books for young adults and children, including Freedom in Congo Square by Carole Boston Weatherford, which was awarded a Caldecott Honor and a Coretta Scott King Honor. He has also received two New York Times Best Illustrated Book awards, six Coretta Scott King Honors for illustration, the NAACP Image Award, the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, and the Theodor Seuss Geisel Award. In addition, Greg has designed John Coltrane album covers and animated films on Netflix, and he operates his online store of autographed children’s books, GAS-ART Gifts. He lives and works in the Atlanta area.