Feast of Peas

by Kashmira Sheth, Jeffrey Ebbeler (Illustrator)

Overview

“Delicious!” —Kirkus Reviews

A vibrant and deliciously amusing #OwnVoices mystery set in India about food and gardening, anticipation, and generosity. From award-winning author Kashmira Sheth and illustrator Jeffrey Ebbeler.

Every morning, Jiva works in his garden until the sun turns as red as a bride’s sari. He plants peas and beans, potatoes and tomatoes, eggplants and okra in his vegetable patch. While his friend Ruvji admires his plants Jiva sings,

“Plump peas, sweet peas,
Lined-up-in-the-shell peas.

Peas to munch, peas to crunch

I want a feast of peas for lunch!”

But each time Jiva is ready to pick the peas for his feast, they’re already gone. He tries making a scarecrow and a fence, but it’s no use. Who might have taken them this time?”

From award-winning author Kashmira Sheth and illustrator Jeffrey Ebbeler (Tiger in My Soup) comes this original #OwnVoices story set in India, featuring a deliciously amusing mystery about gardening, anticipation, hard work, and generosity.

Teacher’s Guide available!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781682631355
Publisher:	Peachtree Publishing Company
Publication date:	03/01/2020
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	10.40(w) x 9.40(h) x 0.40(d)
Lexile:	AD540L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Kashmira Sheth was born in India with Guajarati as her mother tongue, and began learning English in fifth grade. She had lived in Bhavnagar and Mumbai before moving to United States when she was seventeen to attend Iowa State University, where she received a BS in microbiology. Before becoming an author Kashmira had many different jobs, including running a dance school and choreographing and performing Indian dances, working in a bakery, and working as a food microbiologist. She is the author of several picture books, chapter books, and middle grade and young adult novels. Taking inspiration from her own life and experiences, much of Kashmira’s work centers on Indian culture and features Indian and Indian-American characters.

Jeffrey Ebbeler, a graduate of Art Academy of Cincinnati, has been creating art for children for almost a decade. His books include Snow Day for Mouse, April Fool, Phyllis, and Jingle Bells.

Interviews

“Sheth's use of language (poetry and repetition) is a singular delight. Equally charming are Ebbeler’s illustrations, which include lots of funny details, with exaggerated and elongated cartoon-style figures that make the most of the story's humor. Delicious!” —Kirkus Reviews

Editorial Reviews

02/17/2020

Collaborators Sheth and Ebbeler offer a lyrical fable set in India about Jiva, a man who tends to his vegetable garden daily and holds a special fondness for his peas. “Plump peas, sweet peas,/ Lined-up-in-the-shell peas./ Peas to munch, peas to crunch,/ I want a feast of peas to lunch,” he sings while planting them. As they grow, so do Jiva’s measures of protection, from hoeing and watering to constructing a sugarcane scarecrow. Jiva and his friend Ruvji admire Jiva’s appetizing peas on harvest’s eve, but the next morning, they are gone! Perchance the work of rabbits, Ruvji offers. A rapid cycle of anticipation and disappointment repeats until the thief’s unavoidable unmasking and fairness restored through a feast: peas shelled and boiled, “steamed and simmered,” “fried and spiced.” Sheth spins a yarn about greed and forgiveness in well-paced, poetic narration accompanied by Ebbeler’s expressive acrylic illustrations. Ages 4–8. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

Lyrical… Sheth spins a yarn about greed and forgiveness in well-paced, poetic narration accompanied by Ebbeler’s expressive acrylic illustrations.” —Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher

2020-01-12
Jiva, a hardworking gardener in India, eagerly anticipates his peas.

"Plump peas, sweet peas, / Lined-up-in-the-shell peas. / Peas to munch, peas to crunch, / I want a feast of peas for lunch." He hoes, he waters, he weeds—and he waits. As his pea blossoms become pods, he builds a scarecrow from sugar cane stalks, an old dhoti, and a red turban to keep the birds away. Jiva's neighbor, Rujvi, is mighty interested in Jiva's pea harvest: "Jiva, some of your peas look plump," he says. Jiva assures Rujvi that he will pick them the next morning, but when he goes to do so, they are gone! Rujvi suggests the rabbits might have eaten the peas, so Jiva builds a fence. When the same thing happens again a few days later, Rujvi suggests that a ghost might have eaten the peas. Jiva is perplexed: Neither a scarecrow nor a fence will keep out a ghost. Jiva finally realizes he has been tricked by Rujvi and concocts an elaborate ruse to catch him in the act. After a mad dash through the village, Rujvi apologizes and makes a feast of peas—"peas with rice and spice, peas wrapped in mashed potato pockets, and peas swimming in soup"—for Jiva. Sheth's use of language (poetry and repetition) is a singular delight. Equally charming are Ebbeler's illustrations, which include lots of funny details, with exaggerated and elongated cartoon-style figures that make the most of the story's humor.

Delicious! (Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews

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