Beautiful way to show culture the never ending story of Grandparents showing Culture, Tradition, Love and Patience in a way only Grandparents can ( )

This delightful story, about a boy and his Dada-ji, left me with a smile.

I have a curious craving for hot, salty roti cooked in some ghee. Don't understand a lot of what I just wrote? Good! That means you'll get the chance to learn as much as I did from this fantastic book.

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Aneel’s grandparents have come from India to stay with them in America. Dada-ji, as you learn in the Hindi glossary at the end of this book, means paternal grandfather. Aneel loves learning from Dada-ji how to stand on his head and sit like a lotus plant. He also loves hearing about his grandparents’ village while he sits “on his grandfather’s lotus lap.”

Dada-ji has great stories. He avers that eating “hot, hot roti” gives him superhuman strength. (Roti means “bread” in Hindi, and is basically a round, flat, unleavened bread cooked on a griddle.) Like Popeye and spinach, when Dada-ji eats roti, he claims he can wrestle water buffalos and tie cobras in a knot!

Aneel decides he needs to make some roti and everyone helps. Dada-ji eats one after another, all the while saying how good it is and how powerful he feels. Together, he and Aneel go outside and have some adventures. Dada-ji says to Aneel:

"The power of the hot, hot roti came back to the lad from a village far, far away. Thank you, my tiger. Thank you!”

Evaluation: I love Dada-ji! Everyone needs a fun, supportive grandpa like him! It’s a great story, and the illustrations by Ken Min are very entertaining! As a bonus, there is a glossary of relevant Hindi terms in the back, and on their website, Lee & Low provides a recipe for "hot hot roti." ( )

A lively, enjoyable story and a great debut by both author and illustrator. ( )

This would be another great read aloud book. Could also be good because of the action words.