V. Malar: Greatest Host of All Time

This year’s festival will be different because her aunt, uncle, and cousins from Seattle will be visiting and celebrating with them. Feeling both excited and nervous, Malar promises to be a great host to her cousins. But when Priya and Kamal talk about all the things they have back home, or when they’re not interested in the animals on the farm, Malar finds it hard to keep her patience and be the gracious host she promised she’d be. The cousins clearly don’t start off on the right foot, but after a few clashes, there are some laughs, and Malar realizes that her cousins might just become friends after all. Family and celebrations big and small await in Suma Subramaniam’s sweet story, brought to life by Archana’s Sreenivasan’s friendly illustrations. A glossary of Indian terms and an author’s note about Pongal can be found in the back matter.