When is Mom Coming Home? – children picture book
en is Mom Coming Home?
children picture book
Author: VeronicaW
Illustrator: Nur Shanti Indriani
Publisher: The Asia Foundation – Let’s Read
Level 5
read this story in Arabic:
متى-ستعود-أمي-إلى-المنزل-قصة-مترجمة-للأطفال
About the story: When is Mom Coming Home?
Alia and Bagas have to live with their grandfather, Mbah Kung, while Mom goes to Jakarta to work. At first they’re excited. They think they’ll be able to do whatever they want. But living with Mbah Kung turns out to be harder than they expected. Will they all be able to get along?
When is Mom Coming Home?
Mom was going to Jakarta to work as a babysitter. While Mom was away, Alia and Bagas were staying with Mbah Kung, their grandfather.
Alia was nervous, but she was also excited.
*Mbah in the Javanese language means grandpa or grandma.
“How fun, we can play all afternoon. No one’s going to tell us to come home!” said Bagas. But Mbah Kung came to pick them up. They had to stop playing and go home at once.
After only one day, Alia missed Mom.
Alia and Bagas had to get up early, even on the weekends.
“Help me sweep the yard! Weekends are no excuse to be lazy,” Mbah Kung scolded.
Mbah Kung even made them take baths on the weekend.
“Do we really have to take a bath?” Alia grumbled. Mom used to brush Alia’s hair and put it up with pins or ribbons. Now, Alia had to do all that herself. What a hassle!
“Come here, let me help you!” Mbah Kung said. Alia did as she was told.
“But why is one of my pigtails higher than the other?” Alia complained. But Mbah Kung told her not to fuss over such small matters.
Alia was upset! This made her miss Mom even more.
When Alia and Bagas climbed the guava tree, Mbah Kung scolded, “Hey, get down from there! You’ll fall!”
“Don’t do this, don’t do that,” Alia mocked.
When it was time for lunch Mbah Kung cooked the same meal every day. Either vegetables with peanut sauce, stir fry, or vegetable stew. “Just eat, don’t be picky!” Mbah Kung said.
Today, Alia and Bagas didn’t want to eat. When Mbah Kung went back to his room, they took their bikes and left.
They saw their neighbor Mbah Tum drying grain. Her movements made it seem like she was playing a game. Alia and Bagas wanted to try for themselves.
“Even it out, back and forth!” Alia instructed Bagas.
However, Mbah Kung came to pick them up. “Why haven’t you two eaten? Eat first, then you can play!” Mbah Kung ordered.
Alia and Bagas reluctantly went back home.
“I’m bored of eating vegetables and peanut sauce,” Bagas whispered.
“Let’s cook for ourselves. We’ll put some vegetables in eggs, just like Mom does,” Alia said.
“Yes!” Bagas agreed.
Alia prepared the ingredients. She peeled garlic and cut up vegetables. She ground some pepper. She added the vegetables to the eggs and mixed them together. She had just started to fry the egg batter, when Bagas called for her.
Bagas’ bicycle chain had come off. Alia helped him fix it.
Suddenly, a strange smell wafted through the air. “Oh, no!’ Alia shrieked.
“The eggs are scorched!” Alia cried.
“The heat was too high! Never leave the stove when you’re cooking, it’s dangerous!” Mbah Kung scolded again. “What were you trying to make?”
“Vegetable omelettes,” Alia answered. “I don’t want to eat vegetables with peanut sauce anymore,” Bagas added.
Mbah Kung sighed and invited Alia to cook with him.
“Slice the carrots to the shape of matches,” ordered Mbah Kung. “Round cuts also work!” Alia said.
“The garlic should be grounded,” Mbah Kung suggested. “Slicing them is easier,” said Alia.
Alia and Mbah Kung kept arguing.
Finally, the vegetable omelettes were ready to be served. Would it taste like Mom’s cooking?
“Bagas, let’s dig in!” Alia called. However, Bagas was nowhere to be seen.
“Bagas must have run away because you’re so strict, Mbah Kung,” said Alia quietly.
Mbah Kung didn’t say anything.
Ring, ring! Bagas was back. “Are the omelettes ready? I don’t like hearing you two argue,” Bagas said.
Alia brought Bagas to the table to eat. But where was Mbah Kung? Why wasn’t he eating with them?
Alia went to look for Mbah Kung in his room. Mbah Kung was looking at a photo of Mom. His eyes were full of tears.
It turns out that Alia wasn’t the only one who missed Mom.
They ate together in silence. “We all miss your mom’s cooking,” said Mbah Kung.
“Yes. I miss when Mom reads to me, too,” Bagas added.
Mbah Kung read them stories. Mbah Kung brushed Alia’s hair. Mbah Kung also asked them to cook with him.
When would Mom come home? She’d be happy to see that Alia and Bagas made a new friend, Mbah Kung.
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©2022, The Asia Foundation.This book was created through a book creation workshop in Indonesia involving mostly female writers, illustrators, editors, and art directors to produce stories featuring mighty girls and women. The workshop was a collaboration between Litara Foundation and The Asia Foundation and supported by Estée Lauder Companies Charitable Foundation. The workshop and professional development, along with the editing and design of this book, was conducted by Litara Foundation. Litara Foundation is a not-for-profit organization that develops children’s literacy through children’s literature.
Brought to you by
Let’s Read is an initiative of The Asia Foundation’s Books for Asia program that fosters young readers in Asia and the Pacific. booksforasia.org
To read more books like this and get further information, visit www.letsreadasia.org
Original Story When is Mom Coming Home? . Author: Veronica W. Illustrator: Nur Shanti Indriani. Editor: Dian Kristiani, Eva Y. Nukman, Maretta Gunawan, Anna Farida.
Published by The Asia Foundation – Let’s Read, https://asiafoundation.org © The Asia Foundation – Let’s Read. Released under CC-BY-NC-4.0.
This work is a modified version of the original story. @The Asia Foundation – Let’s Read, 2022. Some rights reserved. Released under CC-BY-NC-4.0.
For full terms of use and attribution, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Contributing translators: Wulanita Kuswotanti, Sebening Nurani
source: digitallibrary
