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.

Lion of the Sky by Ritu Hemani

"How can anyone draw a line

between neighbors?

between brothers?

between friends?"

"Even if all the Hindus

in the world stop liking

all the Muslims in the world,

I never will."

Raj is twelve. He is a Hindu boy who loves flying kites with his grandfather and his best friend. He dreams of winning the big kite competition. Iqbal is his best friend but he is Muslim and India is about to be divided by partition. Their precious friendship will be cut in half just as their country is divided and their homes now become places of danger and violence.  This is so confusing - it is all because some one from far away has drawn a line on a map.  

People smile with tight lips,

and it's no coincidence

that everyone is dressed in white

the colour we wear 

when someone dies.

Raj and his family become refugees and they have to move from Hyderabad in Sindh to Bombay. The train journey is dreadful and all their possessions are taken by thieves and then the most unimaginable thing happens - in the chaos and confusion Raj's sister Maja aged nine disappears.

This book is sure to make you curious about the partition of India and also about traditional Indian foods. 

We sit down

to a breakfast of dal pakwan,

the creamy-flavoured lentils,

spicy mint coriander chutney

and deep-fried crispy sweetbread

mingling in my mouth

before I swallow with relish.

... with our baskets filled with

diamond-shaped Kaju mithai.

I inhale the scent

of cashew nuts and cardamom

and hope there will be some left over ...

The blended scent

of saffron and cardamom

fills the air

as Amma prepares to slice

her freshly rolled varo.

With careful force

she cuts across the center,

and I lick my lips,

imagining the sweet crunch

of pistachios, almonds, 

cashew nuts, and poppy seeds

with hardened caramel.

The British have left India and Raj is also caught up in the politics of the times. His brother explains:

You would not be sad

if you knew what they have stolen

how they have treated us,

burning out fingers to serve 

them phulko, while they burn

our money and drink out chai. ...

They charge unfair taxes on salt,

take the cotton, spices, 

and crops from our land,

use the modern railways you boast of

to steal what is ours,

and sell it back at inflated prices ...

They keep every last rupee,

while our country starves,

they look at us like we're

uncivilized dogs ...

This is a complex story about a time in history that will be unfamiliar to most young readers aged 10+ here in Australia but it is well worth the reading journey. I am quoting in full the book description by the author:

An evocative historical novel in verse about a boy and his family who are forced to flee their home and become refugees after the British Partition of India. Twelve-year-old Raj is happiest flying kites with his best friend, Iqbal. As their kites soar, Raj feels free, like his beloved India soon will be, and he can’t wait to celebrate their independence. But when a British lawyer draws a line across a map, splitting India in two, Raj is thrust into a fractured world. With Partition declared, Hindu, Sikh, and Muslim families are torn apart—and Raj’s Hindu and Iqbal’s Muslim families are among them. Forced to flee and become refugees, Raj’s family is left to start over in a new country. After suffering devastating losses, Raj must summon the courage to survive the brutal upheaval of both his country and his heart. Inspired by the author’s true family history, Lion of the Sky is a deeply moving coming-of-age tale about identity, belonging, and the power of hope.

Listen to an audio sample here. I read Lion of the Sky as an ebook. The hardcover novel with 416 pages is way too expensive for your library here in Australia. It was published in 2024 so I imagine there will eventually be a paperback edition. 

There are some powerful words of wisdom in this book:

"Holding on to your anger is like drinking poison and expecting your enemy to die."

"Because we don't need your kind and my kind ... only kindness."

Ultimately this is a tale about being lion-hearted, soaring after falling many times, and still reaching for the sky. It’s also about lines that divide, that cut across hearts and countries, and that are seared into memories. An exquisite, memorable story about new beginnings and the quest to belong. Kirkus Star review

Here is an interview with the author. Lion of the Sky is her debut book. 

Companion book:

The Night Diary

Shooting Kabul

Stay for Dinner by Sandhya Parappukkaran illustrated by Michelle Pereira

 

"I love dinner time with my family, especially when friends are invited."

On special days Reshma eat sadhya, a traditional multi-course vegetarian meal served on banana leaves. This is very different from the meals she shares in the homes of her friends - Charlotte's mum serves roast chicken, carrots, peas, and pumpkin and the family use knives and forks to eat their meal.

"I wonder why we don't use cutlery. Papa always says the food tastes better when we eat it with our hands."

At Phoebe's place the family eat noodles, and dumplings using chop sticks. And the next day at Leo's Reshma joins them for spaghetti and meatballs - twirled around forks. 

Mama suggests they should thank everyone for taking care of Reshma. Everyone is invited for dinner. 

"Will my friends laugh? Eating with hands is not like ting-ting cutlery or click-clack chopsticks."

All of this reminded me of Amma's Sari and the anxiety of that little girl when she thought her mum looked different. Young Reshma is also worried about being embarrassed and she's worried about how the other parents will react to eating with their hands from banana leaves. Not to mention the burping!

Publisher blurb: Reshma loves dinnertime with her family. Her family eat with their hands – not just finger food type–eating, but hands-on squishy eating. When she’s invited to stay for dinner at her friends’ places, she finds out that they all eat in different ways. Some go ting ting with their cutlery, and others go click clack with their chopsticks. So what will her friends say when they see her family eat with their hands?

There is some delicious language in this book: keepie-uppies; jostle; ting-ting; prong; click clack; clickety-clack; swish swish; splatters; rice rains down; sambar splashes; pappadum smashes. 

Here are a set of teachers notes from the publisher. These notes also include a fabulous and extensive book list with terrific titles to source and share with your class. 

I thought of this one - long out of print but it might be in your school library:

Each page is a delight for ears and eyes, an invitation to explore and enjoy the richness and variety of the food eaten by these happy families ...  Storylinks

This story explores how kindness and being open to new ideas and possibilities, without judgement, can break down fears; empowering one to embrace new experiences, leading to an increased understanding and appreciation for diverse ways of being. Reading opens doors

Australia is a multicultural country and many schools or should I say the majority of schools in my state of New South Wales would have children from so many places around the world. Oddly though, my former school did not. There were only a handful of children across the school who came from UK, South Africa and one or two from USA - and that's out of a school population of 850+. My former school had a sister school relationship with another school in a different part of Sydney and that school had children from over 60 different countries. All of that means this book is an even more important one to share with students in any school - it will be affirming for many children and hopefully create awareness and empathy in others.  

This is the third book by Sandhya and Michelle.  I was on the CBCA (Children's Book Council of Australia) judging panel when their first book was submitted for the New Illustrator award. AND YES it was the winner! I am going to predict that Stay for Dinner will be on the CBCA Picture Book Notables list for 2024 and it has a good chance of reaching the shortlist too. (I am not a judge for this round). 

Read more about this book here. 

Amma's Sari