P Is for Poppadoms!: An Indian Alphabet Book

by Kabir Sehgal, Surishtha Sehgal, Hazel Ito (Illustrator)

Overview

From New York Times bestselling authors Kabir Sehgal and Surishtha Sehgal comes a charming and unique alphabet book celebrating the rich culture, delicious foods, and fascinating animals of India.

From C for chai to Y for yoga, this fresh alphabet book takes young readers on a spirited journey to discover the people, places, lifestyles, and language of India. Lush illustrations from debut illustrator Hazel Ito bring to life the beauty, wonder, and diversity of this vast and vibrant country.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781534421721
Publisher:	Beach Lane Books
Publication date:	11/05/2019
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	10.20(w) x 9.90(h) x 0.60(d)
Lexile:	AD780L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Kabir Sehgal started his class newspaper in second grade and has been writing ever since. A bestselling author of several books, he is also a jazz bassist and Grammy Award–winning producer. Kabir and his mother, Surishtha Sehgal, are a mother-son writing team whose books include Festival of Colors, illustrated by Vashti Harrison, and Seven Samosas and the New York Times bestselling A Bucket of Blessings, both illustrated by Jing Jing Tsong. He lives in Atlanta. To learn more about the Sehgals’ books, visit Bucket.art.

Surishtha Sehgal was a university professor for many years and now enjoys reading to children during story time. She is the founder of a nonprofit organization that promotes social responsibility among students, and she serves on the boards of two universities and a national arts center. Surishtha and her son, Kabir Sehgal, are a mother-son writing team whose books include Festival of Colors, illustrated by Vashti Harrison, and Seven Samosas and the New York Times bestselling A Bucket of Blessings, both illustrated by Jing Jing Tsong. She lives in Atlanta. To learn more about the Sehgals’ books, visit Bucket.art.

Hazel Ito is a Scottish-born illustrator from Australia, based in Hawaii. Her graphical and whimsical style is influenced by favorite childhood books, printmaking, animals, architecture, and all the people and amazing culture she sees around her. P Is for Poppadoms is her first book.

Editorial Reviews

12/01/2019

Gr 1–3—While introducing Indian culture and language, this book gives a brief introduction to Indian crops, holidays, currency, places, and culture with each letter of the alphabet. For example, A is for aam, or mango, the national fruit of India. Some of the explanations of the words are too long and ambiguous, such as J is for jangal (jungle), the basis of the classic The Jungle Book, which was published in 1894. N is for nirvaan, a state of being at peace in which you have no feelings or desires. At the end of the book, an authors' note is helpful to teach children about different languages spoken in India and how the words mentioned in the book are written in Hindi. It would have been helpful to include the pronunciation of those Hindi words to make it easy for the adults who might be unfamiliar with them. For example, the word for L is "ladakee," pronounced lar-ki. M is for "machhalee," pronounced mach-lee. VERDICT Though this book has beautiful illustrations, the text is too challenging and sophisticated for young audiences, yet might be off-putting to older readers.—Noureen Qadir-Jafar, Syosset Library, NY

School Library Journal