<p>Ever since I was a kid, food mentions in books have driven me to distraction. For instance, a picture of a man in Tinkle magazine sitting before a plate piled high with rice, with a dollop of pickle on it, meant that I just had to recreate it during dinner that night. This has continued into my adulthood. When I read about Charlie floating down a river of chocolate in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, I just had to put the book down and make myself a cup of hot chocolate.</p>.<p>Festival season brings with it so much talk about food that of course, I just had to draw up a list of food-themed children’s books.</p>.<p><span class="bold">I Can’t Eat That</span> by Lavanya Karthik, illustrated by Pia Alize Hazarika: A story with delicious words (and food) in which Chinna’s father cooks all sorts of interesting dishes for her, but why does Chinna want to eat only bread and butter?</p>.<p><span class="bold">What’s Neema Eating Today?</span> by Bijal Vachharajani, illustrated by Priya Kuriyan, beautifully introduces the concept of seasonal foods.</p>.<p><span class="bold">The Grand Chapati Contest</span> by Asha Nehemiah, illustrated by Chetan Sharma, is a Hook Book, a fun new series of books to hook the young reader. This is a hilarious story with laugh-out-loud illustrations, about a king who loves fluffy-puffy chapatis and a little girl who knows just the very person who can make them for him. At the end, it had me craving fluffy-puffy chapatis.</p>.<p><span class="bold">Thukpa for All</span> by Praba Ram and Sheela Preuitt, illustrated by Shilpa Ranade: Tsering invites everybody he meets to his home to eat his grandmother’s delicious noodle soup. But, there’s a power cut! This lovely picture book tells us how Tsering helps his grandmother cook Thukpa in the dark.</p>.<p><span class="bold">The Good Indian Child’s Guide to Eating Mangoes</span> by Natasha Sharma, illustrated by Shreya Sen: A rollicking adventure with mangoes — and detailed instructions on how to eat them. </p>.<p><span class="bold">Machher Jhol</span> by Richa Jha, illustrated by Sumanta Dey, contains the most gorgeous illustrations combined with a beautifully layered story about a boy who sets out into the busy streets of Kolkata to arrange for fish curry for his sick father.</p>.<p><span class="bold">The Deadly Royal Recipe</span> by Ranjit Lal. This is for older kids, a book that I’m convinced would be great as a movie. It is populated by a fabulous princess and her friends, a top-secret book with highly coveted royal recipes, scheming kings of neighbouring lands, lots of action — and the most delightful descriptions of exotic food.</p>.<p><span class="bold">Bookworms and Jellybellies</span> by Ranjini Rao and Ruchira Ramanujam: After reading about food in your favourite books, if you wished you could make some of those at home, then this book is for you. It contains recipes inspired by Winnie the Pooh, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Peppa Pig, Diary of the Wimpy Kid, Percy Jackson, Malgudi Days, Petu Pumpkin, A Series of Unfortunate Events — with notes about all those books and easy-to-follow instructions.</p>.<p>Bon Appetit!</p>.<p><em><span class="italic">The author got a master’s degree in energy engineering and worked in the IT industry until her daughter dragged out the writer lurking inside her. She has written eight books for children and can be reached at www.shruthi-rao.com </span></em></p>.<p><strong><span class="bold">GobbledyBook</span></strong> <em><span class="italic">is a fortnightly column that gives you a peek into the wondrous world of children’s books. Hop on! Or as Alice did, plunge into the rabbit hole.</span></em></p>
<p>Ever since I was a kid, food mentions in books have driven me to distraction. For instance, a picture of a man in Tinkle magazine sitting before a plate piled high with rice, with a dollop of pickle on it, meant that I just had to recreate it during dinner that night. This has continued into my adulthood. When I read about Charlie floating down a river of chocolate in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, I just had to put the book down and make myself a cup of hot chocolate.</p>.<p>Festival season brings with it so much talk about food that of course, I just had to draw up a list of food-themed children’s books.</p>.<p><span class="bold">I Can’t Eat That</span> by Lavanya Karthik, illustrated by Pia Alize Hazarika: A story with delicious words (and food) in which Chinna’s father cooks all sorts of interesting dishes for her, but why does Chinna want to eat only bread and butter?</p>.<p><span class="bold">What’s Neema Eating Today?</span> by Bijal Vachharajani, illustrated by Priya Kuriyan, beautifully introduces the concept of seasonal foods.</p>.<p><span class="bold">The Grand Chapati Contest</span> by Asha Nehemiah, illustrated by Chetan Sharma, is a Hook Book, a fun new series of books to hook the young reader. This is a hilarious story with laugh-out-loud illustrations, about a king who loves fluffy-puffy chapatis and a little girl who knows just the very person who can make them for him. At the end, it had me craving fluffy-puffy chapatis.</p>.<p><span class="bold">Thukpa for All</span> by Praba Ram and Sheela Preuitt, illustrated by Shilpa Ranade: Tsering invites everybody he meets to his home to eat his grandmother’s delicious noodle soup. But, there’s a power cut! This lovely picture book tells us how Tsering helps his grandmother cook Thukpa in the dark.</p>.<p><span class="bold">The Good Indian Child’s Guide to Eating Mangoes</span> by Natasha Sharma, illustrated by Shreya Sen: A rollicking adventure with mangoes — and detailed instructions on how to eat them. </p>.<p><span class="bold">Machher Jhol</span> by Richa Jha, illustrated by Sumanta Dey, contains the most gorgeous illustrations combined with a beautifully layered story about a boy who sets out into the busy streets of Kolkata to arrange for fish curry for his sick father.</p>.<p><span class="bold">The Deadly Royal Recipe</span> by Ranjit Lal. This is for older kids, a book that I’m convinced would be great as a movie. It is populated by a fabulous princess and her friends, a top-secret book with highly coveted royal recipes, scheming kings of neighbouring lands, lots of action — and the most delightful descriptions of exotic food.</p>.<p><span class="bold">Bookworms and Jellybellies</span> by Ranjini Rao and Ruchira Ramanujam: After reading about food in your favourite books, if you wished you could make some of those at home, then this book is for you. It contains recipes inspired by Winnie the Pooh, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Peppa Pig, Diary of the Wimpy Kid, Percy Jackson, Malgudi Days, Petu Pumpkin, A Series of Unfortunate Events — with notes about all those books and easy-to-follow instructions.</p>.<p>Bon Appetit!</p>.<p><em><span class="italic">The author got a master’s degree in energy engineering and worked in the IT industry until her daughter dragged out the writer lurking inside her. She has written eight books for children and can be reached at www.shruthi-rao.com </span></em></p>.<p><strong><span class="bold">GobbledyBook</span></strong> <em><span class="italic">is a fortnightly column that gives you a peek into the wondrous world of children’s books. Hop on! Or as Alice did, plunge into the rabbit hole.</span></em></p>
