I wanted to write an intergenerational tale centered on a brown-skinned family to reinforce for kids of color that they're valuable and their stories matter. When I was growing up, there were very few children's books that had characters who looked like me. These rituals help make her feel closer to her paati (grandmother) who lives far away in India. In it, the main character, Neela, is a young Indian American girl who loves cooking with her amma (mother) and jotting down the recipes in her little notebook. I started teaching her about when things grow through a story that would become Tomatoes for Neela. I realized then that, as a child growing up in New York City, Krishna wouldn't know what's in season unless I told her. "We don't eat pomegranates in the summer, kanna," I said. A treat in our family is pomegranate toast: silky peanut butter on toasted sourdough, sprinkled with pomegranate seeds on top for a tangy crunch. One July several years ago my daughter Krishna asked for pomegranates.
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