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It's time for Onam, a 10-day harvest festival celebrated widely in the Indian state of Kerala with a lot of fun, food and festivities! Travel with Riya to "God's Own Country" and learn how and why we celebrate Onam. Join her at the enchanting snake boat races, watch a beautiful flower arrangement take shape, and enjoy the delicious Onasadya feast while learning about the great King Mahabali. Step into this book and watch Onam come alive!
Written beautifully in the author’s poetic style, the story takes us through all the cultural elements, music song and dance of Onam! Being a partial Keralite myself, I loved all the attention to detail in the book, from the Pookolams to the Onasadya to the Vallamkalli! The book also has an Onam dictionary at the end - very thoughtful indeed! The colorful illustrations add a great flavour to the rhythmic verses. We love all of the books in From the Toddler Diaries series but I think this one is my favorite. Well, I may be biased!
Don't miss our beautiful Onam boxes for kids! Our Onam Box for 3-5 year olds has the following:
Book: Celebrate Onam With Me by Shoumi Sen and Illustrated by Rudra Bose
Travel with Riya to "God's Own Country" and learn how and why we celebrate Onam. Join her at the enchanting snake boat races, watch a beautiful flower arrangement take shape, and enjoy the delicious Onasadya feast while learning about the great King Mahabali. Step into this book and watch Onam come alive!
Toka Junior Activity - Make a Pookolam
Unstructured shapes that lend themselves to various kolam formations ready to be filled in with flowers and leaves. What kolam will you make?
Our Onam box makes for a Onam gift for your child. For the 6-8 years old, our Onam Explorer Box has:
Book: Meera's Flowers written by Amy Jivani, Illustrated by Ana Oseynn
It was Friday afternoon at school, and Meera could hardly contain her excitement. She couldn't wait to get home and start helping her mom and dad with preparations for Saturday's Onam celebration. All of her family and friends would come together to celebrate what was known as South India's Harvest Festival.
Toka Explorer Activity - Make a Pookolam
Unstructured shapes that lend themselves to various kolam formations ready to be filled in with flowers and leaves. What kolam will you make?
In this masterful and hilarious picture book, Sumi Chandrasekharan writes about an absent-minded foodie in Kerala who just can't remember the name of a food item that is soft and white but oh my, it is so yummy!
Ammachi's Glasses is about a Malayali grandmother who can’t find her glasses one morning and everything goes topsy-turvy! She starts doing some strange things - washing and drying out a cat, cooking a sipper, and wearing her granddaughter's dress. Every page in this book will make you laugh -- right from the father reading a newspaper titled 'Hindoo' to the ambiance of Kerala in the sights and sounds of the house - kappa puzhukku and fish, for instance. We also love how Ammachi reads Franz Kafka's short stories.
But hey what's the mystery of Ammachi doing such strange things? You must read till the end to find out! There are many wordless books but this one will surely make you and the kids talk and laugh out loud!
Eecha Poocha is a cumulative tale from Kerala about Eecha the fly and Poocha the cat who make some delicious rice soup. While Eecha flies off to fetch a jackfruit leaf with which to spoon out the soup, Poocha watches over the pot. But Poocha is hungry, so hungry...! Children will love the lilting cadence of the text. The illustrations take on the quality of moving pictures.
Don't miss our Malayalam book bundle! These bilingual English-Malayalam books from Tulika are of excellent quality both in writing and translation. They are also wonderful ways to raise bilingual kids. In this bundle you have:
Follow the Ants
Author: Amrutha Satish Illustrator: Soumya Menon
Anita loves all small things – pebbles, insects, shells, and worms. One day she sees a long line of little ants. Curious, she decides to follow them. They take her along things she sees every day. But where do they take her finally?
Balu's Basket
Author: Chitra Soundar Illustrator: Uttara Sivadas
One day, Balu finds a basket. What does he do with it. Bright, clean pictures create a cheerful backdrop for this fruit-filled book.
Monday to Sunday
Author: Sowmya Rajendran Illustrator: Pratik Ghosh
On Monday Mani is a monkey, on Tuesday he's a crocodile, on Wednesday… A days-of-the-week-book that gives a real ride to the imagination!
Have You Seen This?
Author: Arthi Anand Navaneeth Illustrator: Roomani Kulkarni
It's a very mixed-up world where flowers talk and trees fly!
India is a country of myriad festivals! Not a month goes by in which we don't have something to celebrate. This book invites you to rejoice in India's rich culture through the simple stories of two young twins, Natasha and Nikhil, as they experience an entire year of festivals and celebrations - starting with Lohri in January and ending with Christmas in December! The detailed descriptions and wealth of detail about each festival that Natasha and Nikhil record in their blog and journal will make this a book to treasure and return to every time a festival comes by. So come celebrate with us!
A tablespoon of coconut oil, a dash of mustard seeds, and a handful of coriander leaves. Little Annie and her dear grandfather Appoopan are cooking up a storm in the kitchen. But wait, they have run out of spices!
After a hearty breakfast, Annie and Appoopan dash off to Kerala's amazing spice market in Mattancherry to refill their spice box. Here Appoopan introduces Annie to the flavors, smells, and stories of the wonderful world of Indian spices: bright yellow turmeric, sweet and spicy cinnamon, the Malabar pepper known as black gold, and star anise and so much more. As they walk through the lanes of the market, a mesmerized Annie also meets the people who work hard to bring these spices to our kitchen and table.
Filled with illustrations as colorful and flavourful as the spices it describes, A Little Spice Is Extra Nice is a perfect introduction to delicious Kerala and the world of food for the youngest readers.
Cousins Arj, Tam, and Mira are spending their summer vacation in Elathoor, a little village in Kerala when their family home, Lili Villa, is broken into and some jewelry is stolen. The Terrific Three set out to solve the mystery but soon discover that there is no shortage of suspects. Is it Pinching Kodavis or Dumdumchecchi, the milking lady? Is it the mean fisherwoman who starves the cat or the retired nurse who owns a luxury car? Or is it Mani with his upside-down Russian secret? Who could the thief possibly be? This chapter book brings Kerla alive by way of summer holidays, food, local flavor, people, family values, and traditions. We absolutely love it!
Namukku Pokaam (Let's Go) is a board book written in Malayalam and English with English transliteration and is perfect for the 0-3 age group of children. In the book, Rocky and Rosy go on a fun-filled trip to Kerala. There are many animals and birds to explore. Who will they meet on the way? Kids will love this interactive and fun lift-the-flap book.
In this Nature book, a little girl Rosy and her dog Rocky explore bilingual language development. Interactive book with lift-the-flap feature to make the reading time both entertaining and productive. Delightful illustrations and funny moments in this book take children on a sensory journey. English transliterations included for reading in Malayalam to help non-Malayali speakers. Safety tested and suitable for babies.
Photo courtesy: Pixabay
Avial is a popular dish from Kerala and it is one of the must-have dishes on the Onam Sadya/feast. It is a rich and creamy recipe loaded with coconut and coconut oil and loads of vegetables. Sounds complicated? Nahhh!!! It is one of the easiest recipes to prepare, even on a weekday. I swear! It's just a three-step process.
Boom you are done! If you notice, the first step is the time-consuming part here. Traditionally for avial, loads of vegetables like drumstick, raw banana/plantain, carrots, potatoes, ash gourd, peas, brinjals, and much more are added. But on a busy day when we don't have sufficient time, how about just using carrots and zucchini. Both are easy to cook and chop. :-)
Here is the recipe,
Ingredients:
Steps:
That's it. Yummy and easy avial is ready. Serve hot with rice.
Notes:
