Feast of Peas
Author: Kashmira Sheth
Illustrator: Jeffrey Ebbeler
Peachtree Publishing Company
1 March 2020
32 pages
Book description from Goodreads: “Hard-working Jiva might not be the only one anticipating a delicious feast of peas from his garden. Every morning, Jiva works in his garden until the sun turns as red as a bride’s sari. He plants peas and beans, potatoes and tomatoes, eggplants and okra in his vegetable patch. When his friend Ruvji admires his plants, Jiva sings,
Plump peas, sweet peas,
Lined- up-in-the-shell peas.
Peas to munch, peas to crunch
A feast of peas for lunch.
But each time Jiva is ready to pick the peas for his feast, they’re already gone. What has happened?”
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Educational Activities inspired by Kashmira Sheth’s Feast of Peas:
- Before Reading–From looking at the front and back cover:
- Where does this story seem to take place?
- What do you think this book will be about?
- Why are they having a feast?
- What feast foods do you recognize?
- What do you think of when you think of peas?
- If you could ask the author any question before you read the book, what would it be?
- After Reading–Now that you’ve read the book:
- Who was the ghost? Who was the scarecrow? At what point in the story did you figure those things out?
- Why do you think Ruvji took the peas?
- How much did you enjoy the repeating song lyrics?
- Which of the pictures did you appreciate the most? Why?
- What other story does Feast of Peas remind you of?
- Writing–The main story of Feast of Peas is the mystery of Jiva’s disappearing peas. Has anything of yours ever disappeared under mysterious circumstances? Write a story about it that offers an explanation–silly, serious, or something else entirely. (If you’ve never had something disappear in this way, make up that part of the story, as well.) Perhaps, too:
- Add your own artwork by using crayons, markers, or colored pencils? Or clipping images from a newspaper/magazine, and gluing those to a printed-out copy of your story?
- Enlist friends or family members to act out the events in your story, with each person taking on a single role. Costumes and funny voices might be worth trying, too!
- Recipes–With an adult’s help, try the following fun-to-make and fun-to-eat recipes:
- No-Bake Energy Bites–Tasty even when frozen!
- Peanut Butter Granola Pinwheels–Filling enough to help kids get through the post-school gap until dinner.
- Puffed Rice Snowballs–A healthier version of everyone’s favorite rice cereal marshmallow treat.
- Sloppy Joe Sliders–Messy but tasty!
- Soda Bread–Kids can get a healthy boost from linseeds and yogurt.
- Further Reading–Which of these other picture books about food have you read? (Click on the book cover for more information on any of these titles!)
