10 Gulab Jamuns is a delightful children’s book written by Sandhya Acharya and illustrated by Vanessa Alexandra. Young readers will make acquaintance with a treasured South Asian sweet treat while engaging in basic math(counting and subtraction).
Two brothers, Idu and Adu, are having a tough time keeping their hands off of the sweet treats that their mom makes for the guests they are expecting later that day. The brothers end up eating most of the gulab jamuns and help their mom make more.
My four year old loves counting the gulab jamuns as he follows the brother’s on their little adventure. He chuckles every time one of the brothers gulps down the sweets. He is fascinated by the actual making of the sweet that the entire family partakes in later. This is a good book for not just kids of South Asian descent but for anyone interested in introducing their kids to new cultures. This is also an amusing way to practice subtraction before bedtime. Math becomes easy when it is fun and interactive.
The illustrations are charming and an accurate depiction of an Indian household. To my delight, my kid has been curious about some of the other objects in the book too, such as diyas and idols. It warms my heart that he can see himself and his home represented in a book.
The only downside is that my kid has been insisting on us making gulab jamuns in our kitchen and this mama is a bit challenged in the culinary department.
Book Broad 