Tomatoes for Neea
by Padma Lakshmi
Illustrated by Juana Martinez-Neal
Viking (Penguin Random House)
2021
40 pages
ISBN: 9780593202708
Beautiful, ethereal illustrations (acrylic paints and colored pencils on hand-textured papers) lovingly capture a young girl learning to cook and her relationship with her amma (mother) and her paati (grandmother) who lives far away in India. Through cooking, the mother and daughter embrace their family's heritage.
Neela loves cooking with her mother and writing down each recipe in her notebook. A cloth-covered book Neela is sure, "...belonged to a wizard," sits on a shelf in the kitchen. It is her paati's recipe book. Amma takes Neela to the market on Saturdays where they buy ingredients for the week's meals. The market is alive with people selling and buying all sorts of fresh produce. Neela is excited to learn more about the tomatoes they will need to cook paati's favorite tomato sauce.
Neela learns to use produce that is in season and to can the rest for the long winter. Young readers will learn the names of types of tomatoes and their history. Top Chef judge Padma Lakshmi includes two of her family's recipes: Neela's Tomato Chutney and Paati's Tomato Sauce and fun facts about tomatoes and a note about farmworkers with a brief bibliography of books about farm workers for children.
Caldecott Honor Winner illustrator Juana Martinez_Neal will likely win another honor with her work on the lovely picture book.
Highly, highly recommended ages 3-7.
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