Where Three Oceans Meet

June 21, 2021
Inspired by the author’s memory of a similar childhood trip, this picture book follows brown-skinned Sejal as she goes on a family trek across India to Kanyakumari, “the very tip of India, where three oceans meet.” She travels alongside her bespectacled mother, who lives with Sejal in America, and Sejal’s gray-haired pati, who lives in India. Employing the first-person perspective, LaRocca subtly acknowledges cultural differences between generations as the trio packs: nine-yard-long silk saris for Pati, bright six-yard-long saris for Mommy, and “T-shirts and jeans, and langas and blouses for dressing up” for Sejal. The telling also engages the sensory details of their travels as the trio visit relatives, temples, and street vendors across India (“In the hot afternoon, we sip water straight from tender green coconuts with their tops sliced off”), richly accompanied by Sreenivasan’s digital art, which offers animation-style figures against vibrant backgrounds ripe with detail. A satisfyingly poignant close against expansive views from Kanyakumari concludes this warm intergenerational tale, which emphasizes how love transcends distance and endures across continents. Back matter includes author’s and illustrator’s notes. Ages 4–8.