Review Detail

Maa and Meena are going to the weekly market - and oh how many colorful surprises there are in store! Bracelets and vegetables, mangoes and flowers, turmeric and all sorts of spices. Meena explores all of this and more before heading home, content with another fine day of shopping and eager to do it all again.

As a bilingual storybook, there's a lot to look at, with text shown in Hindi, phonetic alphabet, and English. Vibrant, full page illustrations offer a full backdrop of market stalls and shoppers to pause and marvel over. The scenes are wonderfully simple and ordinary, yet full of joy, and for many readers, a wonder for a culture that may feel different than their daily life. I personally love reminders of community and how neighborhoods interact beyond the sterility of modern supermarkets.

Inquisitive readers will enjoy the photo glossary and the chance to explore both languages side by side.