Self-acceptance is on the back burner for one anthropomorphic package of ramen in I Want to Be Spaghetti!, the debut picture book of food writer and recipe developer Kiera Wright-Ruiz and ceramic artist and apparel creator Claudia Lam. Their grocery store is a lively place, and the food packages in the pasta aisle are sprightly and fiercely opinionated.
One starry-eyed, kawaii ramen longs to be spaghetti after witnessing how many shoppers seem to be enamored with classic Italian pasta. "Everywhere I look, there is some story about spaghetti--what goes on it, where it's from, and how tasty it is," the little square laments. The other ramen packets disagree ("Ramen is very popular! And cool!"), and try to expand their forlorn peer's perspective: "Our noodles tell many stories of different, colorful places. Beauty can be found in diversity." However, the doubtful packet is eventually purchased, with its fantasies of being used like spaghetti still firmly intact.
It is not until the protagonist's inevitable fate is underway and edible accoutrements (such as soft-boiled egg and nori) are added to the bowl that it embraces its own true culinary delight. The entertaining message is further solidified through Lam's digital art, which infuses life into each product through expressive facial features and generous color saturation. I Want to Be Spaghetti will leave readers craving for every self-love journey to be as delightfully delectable as Wright-Ruiz and Lam's playful tale. --Rachel Werner, author and teaching artist at Hugo House, Lighthouse Writers Workshop and The Loft Literary Center