Hot, Hot Roti for Dada-ji

Review
By Kirkus Reviews

Food, family and storytelling set irresistible hooks in this high-spirited double picture-book debut. Grandfather’s rousing tales of a village youth spent tying cobras into knots, shaking mangos for the pickle jar from a giant tree and savoring the ‘fluffy-puffy roti that bubbled and wobbled in ghee on the hot, hot tavva pan’ inspire young Aneel to give his Dada-ji ‘the power of the tiger’ once again with a fresh batch of the unleavened treat. Min echoes the narrative’s exuberance with bright, blocky acrylic scenes of an Indian family in Western surroundings. After downing the roti with finger-licking enthusiasm, the two proceed outside to shake apples off a tree for Dadi-ma’s pie and tie their legs in knots to sit lotus fashion on a grassy hillside. A natural for reading aloud, laced with great tastes, infectious sound effects and happy feelings.