2024 Children’s Book Council of Australia, Book of the Year Award – NOTABLE book.
Longlisted in the 2024 inaugral DANZ – The Diversity in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand Children’s Book Award – Children’s Book Award. Read more here.
Reshma loves dinnertime with her family. Her family eat with their hands – not just finger food type–eating, but hands-on squishy eating. When she’s invited to stay for dinner at her friends’ places, she finds out that they all eat in different ways. Some go ting ting with their cutlery, and others go click clack with their chopsticks. So what will her friends say when they see her family eat with their hands?
Books+Publishing Review
28 March 2023
“If ever Australian publishers needed inspiration to produce more diverse picture books written by own voices authors, Sandhya Parappukkaran’s Stay for Dinner is a perfect example. It is an entertaining story laden with representations of Kerala Indian, Italian, Asian and Australian cultures. “
Read full review here.
Books+Publishing reviewer: Meyrnah Khodr is a Lebanese-Australian writer and educator from Bankstown. Books+Publishing is Australia’s number-one source of pre-publication book reviews.
“Stay for Dinner is a requirement on every bookshelf as a resource that teaches vital social skills and cultural appreciation—it’s a salve for everyday anxieties any child may feel in regards to fitting in with their peers. This picture book is a wonderful revelation of the true diversity evident within Australia.”
Books+Publishing
PLAY SCHOOL READING!
A defining moment of my picture book life!
Stay For Dinner was read on Play School by journalist, TV presenter and author – Indira Naidoo. An icon of my childhood, as one of the only women of South Indian descent on Australian television at the time. A proud and epic moment!!
Catch the reading on iView here.
ART!
Some incredible artwork from Stay For Dinner reading & craft time!
Book Reviews:
YOUR KIDS’ NEXT READ – MEGAN DALEY “A gorgeous celebration of food and culture.” Read full review here.
STORYLINKS – MIA MACROSSAN “This is the third time these two have teamed up and it is always a wining combination. Their latest collaboration has produced Stay for Dinner, a joyous, inclusive and exuberant celebration of the many different foods that people eat and the ways it is consumed. A gorgeously produced book recommended to schools as a valuable resource for any study on food, families and other cultures.” Read full review here.
READING OPENS DOORS – ELISE ELLERMAN “Their stunning books empower, include and validate the way children see themselves and are greatly influenced by Sandhya’s Kerala Indian heritage. This book celebrates difference and highlights that we are all richer when we learn about diverse ways of being; models prosocial behaviour and empowers readers to expand their thinking. ” Read full review here.
To see more of this gorgeous craft activity, head over to Wildflowers and Reading hours Instagram page here.
