Crabs by Romesh Dissanayake is a warm, reflective short story that explores family, friendship, and belonging through the eyes of Dev, a young boy navigating change in his life. When a rainy day disrupts his plans, an unexpected fishing trip with a friend and his grandparents leads to connection, cultural sharing, and a renewed sense of comfort at home. Blending contemporary New Zealand life with Sri Lankan food traditions, the text gently examines resilience, relationships, and the importance of community.

The text works well for guided reading, close reading, thematic study, and cross-curricular learning linking literacy, culture, and wellbeing.

Thanks to the Ministry of Education for producing this text. 

Key words include: belonging, change, community, connection, cooking, crab curry, crab fishing, crab traps, cultural identity, curry, empathy, family, fishing, food and culture, friendship, friends, grandparents, healing, homemade traps, identity, intergenerational relationships, migration, multicultural texts, parents, procedural text, recipes, relationships, resilience, separation, shared meals, Sri Lanka, Sri Lankan culture, Sri Lankan food, traps, wellbeing, wharf fishing