New dual-language picture book launching at Dudley library
A book by new author Jesse Kaur will launch at Dudley library on 31 August.
Jesse’s semi-autobiographical book, ‘When Nani, When?’ tells the story of young girl Jaya who learns the value of patience from her beloved grandmother, Nani.
Whether pruning trees, planting bulbs, or baking delicious treats for the holidays, Nani is always active. With a grounded wisdom that impatient Jaya finds frustrating, Nani teaches that good things are worth waiting for, even though it is sometimes difficult to be patient.
Jaya’s long wait for Nani’s cherry pie through the four seasons leads to sweet rewards. Fiona Rose’s illustrations capture the beauty of seasonal changes through winter, spring, summer, and autumn.
Jesse is launching the Punjabi- English, French-English and Spanish- English versions which will be available at the library in August, but the book is available in 17 other translations.
Councillor Ian Bevan, cabinet member responsible for libraries, said:
Publishing in 19 languages is a remarkable achievement, especially for a first book. Jesse’s sweet tale about the value of patience and Jaya’s love for her grandmother is thoroughly relatable and will speak to children of all nationalities.
Jesse’s will be the third children’s book launch our libraries have hosted this summer. As a service we’ve keen to nurture new local talent and help give them a platform to reach new readers. Copies of the book are available to borrow from borough libraries.
Jesse will be launching her book with a talk and book signing. There will also be the chance to make a badge and a colouring and card game activity. The book is aimed at 4 to 7 year olds.
The free event runs from 10.30am – 11.30am on Thursday 31 August.
Jesse’s book is available in 19 languages: bilingual English with Arabic, Bengali, Chinese Traditional, Chinese Simplified, Dari, Farsi, French, Hindi, Kurdish, Panjabi, Pashto, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish, Tamil, Ukrainian, Urdu or Vietnamese.