Words that Taste Like Home by Sandhya Parappukkaran illustrated by Michelle Pereira

Learning a language is a skill I would like to have. I often think about the lucky children I meet in one of my volunteer jobs who have parents who speak to them in their native tongue. The mother of a young child in my apartment building comes from Brazil. I love hearing them speaking to one another in Portuguese. I know another family where mum speaks only German and dad speaks only English and so their three little girls are now fluent in both languages. 

There is a raw honesty to this book. Rohan has a happy life in southern India. He has an especially precious relationship with his grandmother but then he moves to a different country and he has to adjust to new ways of living and of course learn a new language. At first he is still able to talk to his grandmother on the telephone but gradually words begin to fail him.

When he gets a puppy "he wanted to describe its cute little paws, but the words were out of reach."

Riding his bike "he'd lost the words to tell Muthassi how the wind felt brushing against his cheeks."

"He didn't have the words to explain how he'd scored a goal or why his best friend wasn't talking to him."

Luckily the family make a return visit to their homeland and gradually his words return. There is also a hint that mum and dad will help when they return home because previously we read:

"Rohan's parents started talking to him more and more in their first language."

Image Source: Hardie Grant publishing

This book has been listed as a 2025 CBCA Picture Book of the Year Notable title. I am certain we will see this book listed as one of the six shortlisted books. 

You can see inside Words that Taste Like Home here.

Sandhya Parappukkaran and Michelle Pereria have DONE IT AGAIN. This will, as with their previous titles, will touch your heart. Children from multicultural families will relate to these stories and more importantly books like these will, as Jella Lepman hoped when she formed IBBY, build bridges to understanding. These books are not about world peace (that's what Jella Lepman aspired to) but in small ways these books build understanding about others and between each of us.

Words and pictures combine to make a complex situation accessible to young readers. Michelle’s immediately recognizable artwork here uses a rich colour palette to contrast the different elements that make up Rohan’s two worlds. Each page is rich in detail and a feast for the eyes perfectly complementing Sandhya’s sensitive text. This is an important story that will resonate with anyone who has left one culture and language behind to adopt a new, perhaps quite different culture and language. Storylinks

On the publisher page it says: Sandhya believes that when we explore and celebrate our cultural identities, we show one another greater respect and empathy.

I also love the way Sandhya Parappukkaran always includes the preparation and eating of delicious food in each of her books. In Words that Taste Like Home Rohan and his grandmother make mango pickles. I am not keen on eating mangoes (I know this shocks most people) but those pickles sure do sound delicious.

Stay for Dinner and Amma's Sari

I was one of the CBCA judges who selected The Boy who tried to Shink his Name 

as a CBCA New Illustrator winner. 

Sandhya Parappukkaran is an award-winning picture book author, library assistant and avid reader. She writes stories inspired by her childhood experiences that encourage readers to embrace their cultural identities. Her books have been published all over the world and, among Sandhya’s many accolades, Stay for Dinner (illustrated by Michelle Pereira) won the Multicultural NSW Award at the 2024 NSW Premier’s Literary Awards and The Boy Who Tried to Shrink His Name (illustrated by Michelle Pereira) won the 2022 CBCA New Illustrator Award. 

You can see more art by Michelle Pereira here.