IN-PERSON EVENT at Local Roots NYC
Young readers and eaters are invited to join MOFAD and acclaimed writer Joshua David Stein for a storytime of books about food in the backyard of Local Roots NYC in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn.
There will snacks from Local Roots NYC and Joshua will be joined for storytelling and imaginative conversation by special guest Sarah Thomas, co-founder of the acclaimed Kalamata’s Kitchen books.
Joshua will be reading Solitary Animals and Sarah will be reading her newest book, Kalamata’s Kitchen: Taste Buds in Harmony.
Books will be available for purchase at the event from our partners at Books are Magic.
Recommended for children ages 3-7.
JOSHUA DAVID STEIN
Joshua David Stein is an author of both children's books and cookbooks. He is the co-author of My America and Notes from a Young Black Chef with Kwame Onwuachi; Il Buco: Stories and Recipes with Donna Lennard; The Nom Wah Cookbook with Wilson Tang and the cookbook, Cooking for Your Kids.
His children's titles include Can I Eat That?; What's Cooking?; Brick: Who Found Herself in Architecture; Can You Eat?; The Ball Book; The Invisible Alphabet, and, most recently, Solitary Animals. He is also the founding member of The Band Books, a band devoted to rocking out to children's books.
SARAH THOMAS
The former sommelier at acclaimed New York City restaurant Le Bernardin, Sarah Thomas is now the co-founder and Chief Imaginator at Kalamata’s Kitchen, where she brings together her lifelong passions for both food and books. The daughter of two south Indian immigrants, Sarah grew up in the rural town of Somerset, Pennsylvania, and was surrounded by food from a young age. Her parents very much kept their Indian culture alive through the food they cooked, and Sarah would spend summers in Kerala visiting her grandparents, forming some of her earliest food memories. Sarah’s love for food is what eventually led her to the hospitality industry, and after working at various bars in Pittsburgh, where she lived at the time, she obtained the prestigious Advanced Sommelier certification.
Through her storytelling work with Kalamata’s Kitchen, Sarah hopes to create a confident character that other children of color can see themselves in, while also encouraging all kids to look at different foods and cultures with a sense of curiosity and compassion.
Local Roots NYC is an independent, minority woman-owned business and grassroots movement building a community-driven, regenerative food system in New York City. Established back in 2011, we’re all about connecting our fellow neighbors with local family farmers, bringing the joy and nutrition of peak-flavor food to more and more neighborhoods, and supporting our local community to create a healthier, more just, sustainable and delicious future for all of us.
