For ages 7 to 10 (or older) Rickshaw Girl by Mitali Perkins (and illustrated by Jamie Hogan) is a story of a young girl, Naima, a talented alpana painter. She wants to help earn money for family like her friend Saleem does for his. She soon grows frustrated that girls cannot help this way. After crashing her father’s rickshaw, Naima disguises herself as a boy and apprentices herself as a painter with a woman rickshaw maker.

Rickshaw Girl is a wonderful book for both boys and girls though girls will relate to Naima more. It shows children the value of wanting to help their family, thinking things through, being resourceful, and finding ways to use your talent.

Rickshaw Girl also includes a glossary of Bangla words and an author’s note about how microfinance – small loans to women’s businesses – are changing Bangladesh. The Charlesbridge website has a terrific discussion and activity guide (PDF). The activities include making your own rice paste to paint alpanas and drawing your own alpanas.

You can read an interview with Mitali Perkins at HipWriterMama. Mitali also blogs at Mitali’s Fire Escape (she’s on break and will be back in September).

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Recipes from Bangladesh
India has its own regional cuisine with Bangladesh being no exception. According to Virtual Bangladesh, over 80 percent of the “Indian” restaurants in the U.K. serve Bangladeshi food. I’m guessing it’s probably a similar number in the U.S., so you’ve probably already tried Bangladeshi food without even knowing it. The Virtual Bangladesh website gives recipes for meat dishes like Vindaloo. I was also intrigued by the recipe for Sandeesh, a sweet cheese dessert.

If you’re looking for something “Indian” but a little more Americanized, try Cooking Light’s Chunky Red Dal Soup or Weight Watcher’s Sweet and Sour Slow Cooker Chicken Curry.

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