DigeeBooks

Padma Lakshmi, bestselling author and host of Bravo's Top Chef and Hulu's Taste the Nation, and Caldecott Honor-winning illustrator Juana Martinez-Neal team up in this 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 LakshmiNeela 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. And Caldecott Honor-winning illustrator Juana Martinez-Neal brings this circle of women to life with vivid detail and warmth. Tomatoes for Neela lovingly affirms how we can connect to other cultures, as well as to our own, through food.

Tomatoes for Neela by Padma Lakshmi is a heartwarming and inspiring story about a young girl's journey to discover her roots and find her place in the world.

Neela is a young Indian-American girl who has always felt like an outsider. She doesn't fit in with the other kids at school, and she feels like she doesn't belong in her own family. When her grandmother, Amma, comes to visit from India, Neela is excited to learn more about her heritage. But Amma is a traditional Indian woman, and she has very different ideas about how Neela should live her life.

Neela and Amma clash over everything, from Neela's choice of clothes to her friends. But as they spend more time together, they begin to understand each other better. Neela learns about the struggles that Amma faced when she was growing up in India, and Amma learns about the challenges that Neela faces as a young Indian-American girl.

Together, Neela and Amma find a way to bridge the gap between their two worlds. They learn to appreciate each other's differences, and they find a common bond in their love for cooking. Neela discovers that she has a talent for cooking, and she uses her culinary skills to bring her family and friends together.

Tomatoes for Neela is a story about family, identity, and the power of food to bring people together. It is a heartwarming and inspiring tale that will appeal to readers of all ages.