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.

What a Wonderful Word by Nicola Edwards and Luisa Uribe

In our Sydney Morning Herald newspaper columnist David Astle often talks about new words, invented words and words from other languages. This week he talked about a word for a plank that slides over your takeaway coffee across a counter needed in this time of social distancing. People sent in all sort of funny and insightful words such as cafeuplt; telescoffe; and jenga dispenser.

Sometimes in English we need a lot of words to explain a simple concept while other languages might have developed one, often quite powerful word, for the same thing.

Here is a sentence I created using words from What a Wonderful Word and below is a translation:

I was so happy to gokötta today. Of course it is winter here so I knew it was a gluggavedur day. I was thinking about the lady I met yesterday because my tartle was awkward. She has such pretty hair but in this time of COVID-19 I guess no one in her family can cafuné. Anyway it was so good to see my friends yesterday. After all the weeks of lock down I felt retrouvailles.

gokötta - to wake up early in the morning so you can go outside and hear the birds singing SWEDISH
gluggavedur - weather that looks beautiful while you're inside but is much too cold when you step outside ICELANDIC
tartle - to hesitate because you have forgotten someone's name SCOTS
cafuné - the act of running one's fingers through someones hair - PORTUGUESE
retrouvailles - the happiness of being reunited with someone after a long time apart. FRENCH

It's nice to know that other people have given a name to a feeling you've had: whether you've tartled at a party (hesitated when you forget a person's name) or had abbiocco because your eyes were bigger than your stomach (drowsiness after eating a big meal).  Book Trust

I am very sad to report that this book - What a Wonderful Word - appears to be out of print. It was only published in 2018. I am shaking my head that a book as wonderful as this one has had such a short life in print and therefore in bookshops - thank goodness for great libraries! In this book you will marvel at the words from around the world and you are sure to enjoy all the extra 'facts' provided on each page. I was thrilled to see one of my favourite words included - gobbledygook! And to learn about the power of simply holding hands.

Here are some other books I treasure on this topic. I especially love the book Words Borrowed from other languages. It is a large format or big book which you can share with a whole class. I often made use of it in my former school library.