As blind Tsering walks along the mountain path from the temple to the home he shares with his grandma, he invites their neighbors to join them for thukpa - Ladakhi noodle soup, while demonstrating his ability to navigate his neighborhood, interact with members of his community, and help cook, while showing readers what it’s like to live in the mountains of the Ladakh region of India.

We see a cooperative community of simple means, apparently authentic to the Ladakh region and recognizable to the cultures nearby, such as the Tibetan Buddhist Americans who enjoyed this story at our library.

Onomatopoeia and a repeating pattern of inviting neighbors works well to carry the attention of younger audiences toward a predictably comforting conclusion, with an inclusive twist.

Full-page illustrations using cheerful crayon lines and brightly colored markers depict a cozy mountain environment, with friendly farm animals and unique regional specifics including traditional clothing, architecture, furniture, and prayer flags.

When the lights go out in a power outage, Ranade shows a pitch-black room, with light only from the stove below the pots - effectively allowing young readers to feel “blind” while the blind character feels empowered.

The Indian authors’ and illustrator’s apparent familiarity with both the culture depicted and Westerners’ assumptions makes them valuable interpreters, giving readers the details and format they need to be receptive to the uniqueness, universality, and child-appeal of this story.

The brief glossary unfortunately lacks a pronunciation guide, and the soup recipe assumes there is no difference between Ladakh and Tibet, but these are minor quibbles in a book that will work well for storytime.

This review originally submitted to The Association of Children's Librarians of Northern California, in January, 2020.

A little long for a storytime, but a sweet story of community and food nonetheless. Tsering walks home one day, inviting others to dine with him and his grandmother on noodle soup. It's not until a power outage threatens the meal preparation that I even realized Tsering is blind. In hindsight it should have been obvious, as he walks through his village with a cane. The little hungry group navigates the brief power outage and has a great time sharing a meal.

Shot through with onomatopoeia and little rhymes, the story celebrates family and community and care.

Recipe for noodle soup included.