Bilal Cooks Daal

by Aisha Saeed, Anoosha Syed (Illustrator)

Overview

A Kirkus Reviews Best Picture Book of 2019
An Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature Honor Book 2019

Six-year-old Bilal introduces his friends to his favorite dish—daal!—in this charming picture book that showcases the value of patience, teamwork, community, and sharing.

Six-year-old Bilal is excited to help his dad make his favorite food of all-time: daal! The slow-cooked lentil dish from South Asia requires lots of ingredients and a whole lot of waiting. Bilal wants to introduce his friends to daal. They’ve never tried it! As the day goes on, the daal continues to simmer, and more kids join Bilal and his family, waiting to try the tasty dish. And as time passes, Bilal begins to wonder: Will his friends like it as much as he does?

This debut picture book by Aisha Saeed, with charming illustrations by Anoosha Syed, uses food as a means of bringing a community together to share in each other’s family traditions.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781534418103
Publisher:	Salaam Reads / Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Publication date:	06/04/2019
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	42,089
Product dimensions:	9.00(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.60(d)
Lexile:	AD520L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Aisha Saeed is the author of Written in the Stars, which was listed as a Best Book of 2015 by Bank Street Books, a 2016 YALSA Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers, and named one of the Top Ten Books All Young Georgians Should Read in 2016. She is also the author of the middle grade novel Amal Unbound, which has received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly and Kirkus Reviews and is a Global Read Aloud for 2018. Her other picture books include Bilal Cooks Daal and The Together Tree. Aisha is a founding member of the nonprofit We Need Diverse Books. She has been featured on MTV, HuffPost, NBC, and the BBC, and her writings have appeared in publications including the journal ALAN and the Orlando Sentinel.

Anoosha Syed is a Pakistani-Canadian illustrator and character designer for animation, based in Texas. She graduated with a BFA in illustration at Ceruleum: Ecole d’arts Visuels in Lausanne, Switzerland. Bilal Cooks Daal is her first picture book.

Editorial Reviews

04/29/2019

Saeed, a founder of We Need Diverse Books, offers a relatable story about trying new foods and introducing friends to family traditions. Bilal loves daal and couldn’t be happier to share it with his two friends, Elias and Morgan. The kids—who, in Syed’s friendly digital art, show just what they are feeling in their facial expressions—help out with the spices: “Bilal breathes in the scent of turmeric, chili, cumin. Morgan sprinkles salt.” But when Morgan and Elias express uncertainty (“ ‘It smells funny,’ whispers Elias”), Bilal worries, thinking that maybe “his friends won’t like daal at all.” After an afternoon of fun, and with more friends in tow, it’s time to eat. Readers worried about how their family meals will be received can take heart: Bilal’s friends eagerly try and enjoy the meal. Ages 4–8. (June)

Publishers Weekly

"Refreshingly innovative...a lovely picture-book debut."

Booklist

"Refreshingly innovative...a lovely picture-book debut."

Booklist

08/16/2019

PreS-Gr 1-Bilal is excited to introduce his favorite food, daal (South Asian lentils), to his friends. As the story unfolds, it maintains a flow of events that keeps readers in step with the time it takes to cook the dish. The anticipation builds throughout the story and keeps the interest focused on the result. The aim being the finished product and how it will taste to someone who has never tasted this dish before. Each child's reaction is unique and each child has a reaction to contribute. The author uses food as a way to create common ground and bridge cultures. The illustrations are charming and the facial expressions of the children are endearing. The recipe itself, diversity of the characters, and the father taking on the role as a cook and enlisting his son to help prepare dinner are interwoven themes that make this book perfect for reading discussions among preschoolers. The book also shows that the deepest flavors come with ingredients that simmer gently. This teaches patience to youngsters. The story can prompt discussions about patience, friendship, expanding your palate, measurements, and spices. A fun introduction to cross cultural sharing but any South Asian cook will testify that it takes no more than two hours to produce the perfect daal, not four to five hours as stated.-Noureen Qadir-Jafar, Syosset Library, NY

School Library Journal

★ 2019-02-17

Novelist Saeed makes her picture-book debut with this delicious tale about a boy and his beloved daal.

When Bilal's father begins to make the South Asian legume stew, Bilal and his friends Morgan and Elias are eager to help, but Abu tells them, "This dish takes patience.…This dish takes time." The children choose to make chana daal (with split chickpeas) and line up the spices: turmeric, chili, cumin. But when Morgan and Elias wonder aloud why the daal "looks" and "smells" funny, Bilal becomes concerned that his friends won't like his favorite food at all. The daal simmers all day—as Bilal, Morgan, and Elias play hopscotch, swim, and hike and other friends join them—and once the sun begins to set, Bilal's father calls them all home. They break naan around the table and share the steamy, soupy, garlicky, salty, sweet, creamy daal. "Bilal, you were right—daal tastes great!" they say. The tale centers on a situation familiar to many children of immigrants—the othering of the foods of their homes—and validates young readers' cultural experiences. Saeed's inclusion of a South Asian father engaged in domestic work is radical and welcome, and Syed's inviting, bold, cartoonlike illustrations depict brown-skinned Bilal surrounded by children of a variety of skin tones (Morgan presents white and Elias presents black).

A quietly radical, eminently delightful book. (author's note, recipe) (Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews