Tomatoes for Neela, Padma Lakshmi
Tomatoes for Neela, Padma Lakshmi
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Tomatoes for Neela

Author: Padma Lakshmi

Narrator: Padma Lakshmi

Unabridged: 18 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 08/31/2021

Categories: Children's Fiction


Synopsis

Padma Lakshmi, bestselling author and host of Bravo's Top Chef and Hulu's Taste the Nation, presents a celebration of food and family.
 
“Some of my fondest memories from childhood are of cooking with the women in my family. It is the foundation for all I have spent my life working on.” –Padma Lakshmi

Neela loves cooking with her amma and writing down the recipes in her notebook. It makes her feel closer to her paati who lives far away in India. On Saturdays, Neela and Amma go to the green market and today they are buying tomatoes to make Paati's famous sauce. But first, Neela needs to learn about all the different kinds of tomatoes they can pick from. And as Neela and Amma cook together, they find a way for Paati to share in both the love and the flavors of the day.

Bestselling author and host of Bravo's Top Chef and Hulu's Taste the Nation Padma Lakshmi takes young readers on an intergenerational journey full of delicious flavors and fun food facts that celebrates a family's treasured recipes. Tomatoes for Neela lovingly affirms how we can connect to other cultures, as well as to our own, through food.

About The Author

Padma Lakshmi is the creator and host of Hulu's Taste the Nation and host and executive producer of the Emmy-winning Bravo series Top Chef. She is the bestselling author of two cookbooks, the Encyclopedia of Spices and Herbs, aswell as her memoir Love, Loss, and What We Ate. Lakshmi is also cofounder of the Endometriosis Foundation of America, an artist ambassador for the ACLU, and a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations. She lives in New York City with her daughter. Her favorite kind of tomato is a San Marzano.Juana Martinez-Neal is the winner of the Pura Belpré Illustrator Award for La Princesa and the Pea by Susan Middleton Elya and the Caldecott Honor Award for Alma and How She Got Her Name, which she also wrote. Originally from Lima, Peru, she lives with her husband and three children in Arizona where she cooks with lots of Roma tomatoes.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Jon

Mother and daughter make tomato sauce together while also making new memories. The memories also connect both to grandma; soon they will share the sauce with her when she comes to visit. A very sweet book about how recipes passed down through the generations bind families closer. Plus a great recipe......more

Goodreads review by Deborah

Neela and Amma love to cook. Both Neela and her mother copy recipes into their notebooks. Saturday is green market day. The abundance of tomatoes in their tomato sauce reminds Neela of her paati who lives distantly away in India. Neela loves cooking with her amma listening to the clinking of the ban......more

Goodreads review by Emily

I think this is my favorite picture book of 2021! 🤩 I adored the sweet, multigenerational story and the illustrations are stunning! *Bonus - there are interesting facts all about tomatoes!......more

Goodreads review by Renee

Really loved this one! It’s a simple story about cooking and canning tomatoes to store for winter when tomatoes are no longer seasonal. But the book is much more than that, capturing the intense closeness of cooking and eating together, the way that a sense of family and culture are transmitted thro......more


Quotes


“The sweet, lushly illustrated tale succeeds in showing the importance of food as connection within one Indian American family.” Publishers Weekly

“Martinez-Neal’s warmly textured, beautifully detailed illustrations are the perfect celebration of intergenerational love.” –Kirkus Reviews

“Exquisite illustrations by Caldecott Honor Book author-illustrator Martinez-Neal make this title one that belongs front and center on shelves everywhere.” --Booklist

"The intergenerational warmth and pleasure in cooking together are palpable. Part informational, part family story, this attractive book will speak to young kitchen helpers and those with loved ones in far-off places.” –School Library Journal