A touching ode to a South Asian culinary staple.
Roti has great significance in Indian life, history, politics, and culture.
Though roti is made with flour, salt, oil, and water, it’s so much more than that, as Mirchandani explains. Similar in structure to Kevin Noble Maillard’s Fry Bread (2019), illustrated by Juana Martinez-Neal, the book relies on statements beginning with the phrase “Roti is.” Roti is the memories of mothers and grandmothers passing their recipes across continents and over generations. It’s the farmers who grow and harvest the grains—and who lie awake at night, worried about their crops. It’s the parents who fret about their children going hungry. It’s the agriculturalists protesting unfair laws and those who march beside them in solidarity. Roti is also a way for immigrants to bring their cultures with them when they leave home. “Roti is life,” as the author concludes. Gupta’s warm illustrations, dominated by earthy yellows and deep blues, alternately follow a family of farmers in India and a family of immigrants carving out new lives in America—both linked by their love of this South Asian flatbread. This tender, lyrical picture book is a clever, poignant look at the myriad ways food nourishes us. It also explores issues of systemic inequality, though readers may be confused about the demonstrations referenced in the narrative. The author’s note states that in 2020, Indian farmers, primarily from Punjab and Haryana, protested “unfair” laws—a vague explanation that will require additional context. Overall, though, this is a visual delight and a pleasure to read.
A touching ode to a South Asian culinary staple. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: Oct. 29, 2024
ISBN: 9780316339469
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2024
PERSPECTIVES
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story.
A home-renovation project is interrupted by a family of wrens, allowing a young girl an up-close glimpse of nature.
Renata and her father enjoy working on upgrading their bathroom, installing a clawfoot bathtub, and cutting a space for a new window. One warm night, after Papi leaves the window space open, two wrens begin making a nest in the bathroom. Rather than seeing it as an unfortunate delay of their project, Renata and Papi decide to let the avian carpenters continue their work. Renata witnesses the birth of four chicks as their rosy eggs split open “like coats that are suddenly too small.” Renata finds at a crucial moment that she can help the chicks learn to fly, even with the bittersweet knowledge that it will only hasten their exits from her life. Rosen uses lively language and well-chosen details to move the story of the baby birds forward. The text suggests the strong bond built by this Afro-Latinx father and daughter with their ongoing project without needing to point it out explicitly, a light touch in a picture book full of delicate, well-drawn moments and precise wording. Garoche’s drawings are impressively detailed, from the nest’s many small bits to the developing first feathers on the chicks and the wall smudges and exposed wiring of the renovation. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: March 16, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-12320-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021
A tale of intergenerational bonding to be shared by grandparents and grandchildren.
In talk-show host Fallon and illustrator Ordóñez’s latest picture-book collaboration, an elderly pooch waxes rhapsodic about a life well lived.
Observing Papa sitting in his chair watching TV all day, a young pup says, “I’m starting to think…you don’t do ANYTHING.” So Papa proceeds to list his accomplishments, both big and small, mundane and profound. Some are just a result of being older and physically bigger (being tall enough to reach a high shelf and strong enough to open jars); others include winning a race and performing in a band when he was younger. Eventually, the pup realizes that while Papa may have slowed down in his old age, he’s led a full life. The most satisfying thing about Papa’s life now? Watching his grandchild take center stage: “I can say lots of thoughts / but I choose to be quiet. / I’d rather you discover things and then try it.” Fallon’s straightforward text is sweetly upbeat, though it occasionally lacks flow, forcing incongruous situations together to fit the rhyme scheme (“I cook and I mow, / and I once flew a plane. // I play newspaper puzzles because it’s good for my brain”). Featuring uncluttered, colorful backgrounds, Ordóñez’s child-friendly digital art at times takes on sepia tones, evoking the sense of looking back at old photos or memories. Though the creators tread familiar ground, the love between Papa and his little one is palpable.
A tale of intergenerational bonding to be shared by grandparents and grandchildren. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: May 13, 2025
ISBN: 9781250393975
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2025
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