Bright Light Books – Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing

Illustrated by Michelle Pereira

Words That Taste Like Home is a heartwarming picture book about how language can connect us to our culture and hold on to the people we love.

Rohan loves spending time with his grandmother, making mango pickle and sharing stories. But when he moves to a different country and learns a new language, words from his first language start slipping away until one day there are none left.

How will Rohan find the words to tell his grandmother a story again?

A much-anticipated follow-up to 2022’s CBCA award-winning The Boy Who Tried to Shrink His Name and 2024’s NSW Premier’s Literary award-winning Stay for Dinner, this story encourages young bilingual readers to take pride in their first language and retain strong ties to their family and culture. Perfect for ages 3 and up.

Themes: Language Attrition, First Language, Bilingualism, Migration, Family, Culture, Connection

Book Reviews

STORYLINKS – Mia Macrossan – “This timely resource is long overdue and will be invaluable for language and cross-cultural studies while both bilingual and monolingual families will find much to share, enjoy and discuss in this splendidly written and sublimely illustrated picture book.” Read full review here.