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
Another quirky take on the series theme that it’s cool to be kind.
The cool beans again step up to do a timorous fellow legume a fava…this time at the pool.
Will a rash decision to tackle the multistory super-slide lead to another embarrassing watery fail for our shy protagonist? Nope, for up the stairs right behind comes a trio of cool beans, each a different type and color, all clad in nothing but dark shades. They make an offer: “It’s not as scary if you go with friends!” As the knobby nerd explains once the thrilling ride down is done, “They all realized that I just needed some encouragement and support.” Just to make sure that both cool and uncool readers get the message, the narrator lets us know that “there are plenty of kind folks who have my back. They’re always there when I need them.” The beany bonhomie doesn’t end at the bottom of the slide, with all gliding down to the shallow end of the pool (“3 INCHES. NO DIVING”) for a splashy finale. This latest early reader starring characters from John and Oswald’s immensely popular Food Group series will be a hit with fans. Fun accessories, such as a bean who rocks pink cat-eye frames, add some pizzazz to the chromatically and somatotypically varied cast.
Another quirky take on the series theme that it’s cool to be kind. (Easy reader. 5-7)Pub Date: March 26, 2024
ISBN: 9780063329560
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Feb. 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2024
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