CCBC Booklists

CCBC booklist are compiled from books we have recommended in various editions of CCBC Choices. Most of these booklists are updated annually. You can also select books from one or more booklists to create a custom list, which can also include additional books from the CCBC-Recommended Book Search.

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I'll Go and Come Back

by Rajani LaRocca

CCBC Review:

At first Jyoti finds India so different from home that she has a hard time enjoying her visit, especially during the day when her cousins are at school. But eventually she and Sita Pati, her grandmother, connect despite knowing little of each other’s language (Tamil and English). They make rangoli designs with sand, play games (competitive Pati sometimes “counts wrong”), and drink warm milk with saffron to encourage sweet dreams. By the time the visit is ending, Jyoti doesn’t want to leave. Sita Pati says “Poitu variya?” (Will you go and come?) And Jyoti replies “Poitu varen” (I’ll go and come back). When Pati arrives in America the following summer, she also feels out of place and lonely until she and Jyoti again connect over the same simple activities: shopping for and cooking food, playing games (this time it’s Jyoti who occasionally employs creative scoring), and sharing cocoa at bedtime to bring sweet dreams. When it is time for Pati to go home, Jyoti doesn’t want her to leave but they make the same reassuring promise, to go and come back. The tangible love that develops between a grandparent and grandchild who live far apart is demonstrated in moments that feel both culturally and geographically specific yet also universal. ©2022 Cooperative Children’s Book Center

Illustrated by Sara Palacios

CCBC Age Recommendation: Ages 3-8
Age Range: Babies/Toddlers (birth – 3) PreK-Early Elementary (Ages 4-7) Grades 3-5 (Ages 8-10)
Format: Picture book
Subjects: Asian Americans Bilingual Books Feelings/Emotions Grandmothers Indians and Indian Americans Tamil Language Travel
Diversity subject: Asian
On CCBC Booklist: Youth and Incarceration: Big Emotions, Personal Accounts, and Familial Experiences

Publisher: Candlewick
Publish Year: 2022
Pages: 32
ISBN: 9781536207170
CCBC Location: Picture Book, LaRocca

Can’t find what you’re looking for? Our Recommended Book Search includes access to CCBC-recommended titles based on subject headings created by our staff.

Please send questions or comments about CCBC booklists to ccbcinfo@education.wisc.edu.