{"id":2101,"date":"2024-05-25T16:49:21","date_gmt":"2024-05-25T06:49:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.readingopensdoors.com.au\/?p=2101"},"modified":"2024-05-25T16:49:23","modified_gmt":"2024-05-25T06:49:23","slug":"taytas-secret-ingredient","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.readingopensdoors.com.au\/?p=2101","title":{"rendered":"Tayta\u2019s Secret Ingredient"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Title<\/strong>: Tayta\u2019s Secret Ingredient<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Author: <\/strong>Amal Abou-Eid<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Illustrator<\/strong>: Cara King<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Publisher<\/strong>:\u00a0MidnightSun Publishing<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Publication date<\/strong>: March 2024<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Themes<\/strong>: Diversity, Harmony Day, intergenerational family bonds, Lebanese culture, baking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Teachers’ notes<\/strong> are available on the MidnightSun Publishing website here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Tayta\u2019s Secret Ingre<\/em>dient by Amal Abou-Eid, illustrated by Cara King and published by MidnightSun Publishing is a gentle and heart-warming intergenerational story that invites the reader into Billy\u2019s Tayta\u2019s (grandmother) cosy kitchen as she fulfils Billy\u2019s request to make kaak for Harmony Day. This is a story about family bonds, love and celebrating culture. It highlights the power of baking, how it is an intuitive, immersive, rich sensory experience that is a conduit for passing on rich cultural heritage and creating treasured times to cherish forever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Billy\u2019s favourite day of the year is Harmony Day. At his school it is such a festive and exciting celebration full of colour, sound and food.\u00a0 It is a special and memorable day to celebrate diverse cultures and traditions. Each year, Billy shares a piece of his Lebanese culture. One year he wore a tarboush and sherwal to school and another year he brought in a Lebanese flag.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Billy has a plan for the upcoming Harmony Day and he knows just the right person to help him achieve his goal of sharing Lebanese food with his school community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Billy\u2019s Tayta obliges and sets about making kaak, \u201cso everyone can have a taste of Lebanon\u201d and shares with Billy that she will be including her special secret ingredient. This piques Billy\u2019s interest and he is highly curious as to what this ingredient could possibly be. He is also fascinated to learn that his Tatya does not follow a recipe, she explains how she uses her senses to guide her and more importantly how she cooks from her heart. Billy\u2019s desire to find Tatya\u2019s secret ingredient sees him rummaging through his Tatya\u2019s kitchen, searching every nook and cranny. Together they finish the treat and they are ready to bake. It\u2019s at this point that Billy is perplexed as he questions the secret ingredient. A secret of this magnitude, one that is passed down from grandmother to grandson\u00a0 must stay in the family and not be divulged to anyone else, including Billy\u2019s teacher who is very impressed with Billy\u2019s biscuits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The watercolour illustrations add another layer to the story. Together with the text, they bring to life the joy of Harmony Day, the love that Billy and his Tayta have for each other as well as Billy\u2019s emotions and reaction to the secret ingredient. These illustrations demand to be revisited as there are many stories to unpack within them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Amal Abou-Eid was inspired to write this story after discovering she was unable to find stories where her children could see themselves, stories that were about and\/or featured characters that reflected their Muslim-Lebanese Australian identity. While this story serves as a mirror for her children and community, a story they can identify with and relate to, it is also a window for all readers into the everyday life of a Muslim Lebanese Australian family. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This story would make an invaluable addition to any collection and could contribute to an increased understanding and appreciation for diverse cultures.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Title: Tayta\u2019s Secret Ingredient Author: Amal Abou-Eid Illustrator: Cara King Publisher:\u00a0MidnightSun Publishing Publication date: March 2024 Themes: Diversity, Harmony Day, intergenerational family bonds, Lebanese culture, baking. Teachers’ notes are available on the MidnightSun Publishing website here. Tayta\u2019s Secret Ingredient by Amal Abou-Eid, illustrated by Cara King and published by MidnightSun Publishing is a gentle and heart-warming […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2102,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[13,87,140,22],"book-category":[342,341,313,327],"yoast_head":"\nTayta\u2019s Secret Ingredient - Blog - Reading Opens Doors<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.readingopensdoors.com.au\/?p=2101\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Tayta\u2019s Secret Ingredient - Blog - Reading Opens Doors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Title: Tayta\u2019s Secret Ingredient Author: Amal Abou-Eid Illustrator: Cara King Publisher:\u00a0MidnightSun Publishing Publication date: March 2024 Themes: Diversity, Harmony Day, intergenerational family bonds, Lebanese culture, baking. 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