Reviewed by Paige Pagan
Review Source: Teaching for Change
Book Author: Suma Subramaniam
V. Malar: Greatest Host of All Time is the first book in an early chapter book series featuring a Tamil protagonist from a remote farming village in India as she embarks on new experiences.
This first installment revolves around Pongal, a four-day Hindu harvest festival. Malar is determined to be the best host to her aunt, uncle, and cousins who will be visiting from Seattle to celebrate the holiday. Malar has only ever seen her cousins, Priya and Kamal, through a phone screen and is excited to meet them in person at last, but she also worries about how different they will be from her given their different lifestyle across the world. Malar must help Priya and Kamal acclimate to not only ranch life in India, but also to the traditions of Pongal. But will Malar’s differences be too great to befriend her cousins?
While this narrative presents an authentic and informative look into Pongal and offers an engaging and relatable enemies-to-friends cousin tale, Subramaniam missed an opportunity to spread awareness on the treatment of animals like elephants during festivals. On Maattu Pongal, the third day of the festival reserved for honoring cattle for their vital role in raising crops, Malar visits a local fair with her family. There, they admire and feed an elephant adorned with a caparison and carrying a howdah with an umbrella on its back. Recent conversations throughout South India, particularly in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, have raised concern about the mistreatment of festival and temple elephants and its contribution to the dwindling elephant population.
These conversations have been so significant that they’ve led to more conservation efforts, including building and utilizing mechanical elephants for festivals of this nature instead of live ones. These advancements have sparked debate about the precarious balance between progression and tradition and have undoubtedly changed the way many celebrate. However, with a protagonist who cares so much about animals, the lack of commentary in the book seems like a major oversight.
For a better representation of free animals that roam and the beauty of nature in South India, I recommend the second book in the V. Malar series, Greatest Ranger of All Time.
Paige Pagan is a Social Justice Books program specialist at Teaching for Change.
Find more recommended books on this topic on our Asian American and our South Asian American booklists.
V. Malar: Greatest Host of All Time by Suma Subramaniam
Published by Candlewick Press on November 5, 2024
Genres: Asian American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, South Asian
Pages: 128
Reading Level: Grades 3-5, Grades 6-8
ISBN: 9781536240054
Review Source: Teaching for Change
Publisher's Synopsis:
V. Malar can’t wait to celebrate the harvest festival Pongal with her cousins from Seattle. But will they have enough in common to make it enjoyable? An illustrated chapter book about extended family and holiday traditions, kicking off a charming new series.
V. Malar loves living on a farm with her parents in a small town in India. And Malar’s absolute favorite time of year, the harvest festival known as Pongal, is finally here! 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.
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