Marianayagam, Maria. Curry Means More. Geeta Ladi, Illus. Astra Books for Young Readers, 10/2025. [40]pp. Picture Book. Trade $18.99. 978-1-6626-2029-4. GRADES Kindergarten–3. HIGH ADDITIONAL.
Shirin loves curry but has a hard time explaining to her friend Charlotte what curry is, launching a delightful afternoon when Shirin, Charlotte, and Shirin’s mother (or Amma) explore all the different ingredients and methods of making curry. Simple ingredients like fenugreek, mustard seeds, garlic, ginger, and onion are all given lush metaphors. Shirin is a curious and thoughtful protagonist and by framing the story through the explanation of curry to her friend, young readers will be naturally drawn into the meditative descriptions. In addition to Shirin and Amma, there are numerous depictions of brown-skinned characters that emphasize the importance of curry not only to Shirin but also her friends, family, and community. The author’s descriptions of each food item are both poetic and mouth-watering, as are the artist’s vibrant illustrations with colored pencil. The back matter includes spice information and a curry recipe. While some of the descriptions can be almost too figurative for young readers, the final pages emphasize Shirin’s own interpretation of her mother’s curry recipe and the wonderful ways traditions can be both cherished and reinvented.
Cherie Buenaflor Cheung—Pleasanton Public Library
About the media used for the illustrations, I found a quote from an interview with the illustrator online from June, 2025, speaking about her general process, although it was about a different book. The source is https://jenabenton.com/2025/06/27/simply-7-with-lindsay-leslie-geeta-ladi-gus-3-the-bus/ – and the relevant quote said;
“Geeta: I love drawing with pencils. There’s something about it that just lets me loosen up, it makes me feel bold and okay with making mistakes. Pencil sketches have this raw energy I find really hard to recreate digitally. They bring movement and life into the way characters sit or gesture.
Once I’ve done my initial sketches, I usually move them to my iPad and finish the rest in Procreate. That’s where I work out the colors, the composition, and all the final details. But honestly, when I spend too long working digitally, it can start to feel a little disconnected. So when that happens, I go back to my sketchbook, sometimes I’ll use colored pencils to draw certain elements, scan them in, and blend them into the digital piece.
That back and forth between traditional and digital keeps me grounded and away from getting bored. It helps the process stay playful. I worry that if I ever rely completely on digital tools, I might lose that spark, the messy, tactile, spontaneous feeling that got me into illustration in the first place.”
Erica Siskind