Diwali

by Hannah Eliot, Archana Sreenivasan (Illustrator)

Overview

Learn all about the traditions of Diwali with this third book in the delightful board book series Celebrate the World, which highlights special occasions and holidays across the globe.

Each autumn we gather with our friends and family and light our brightest lanterns. It’s time for Diwali, the festival of lights! In this lovely board book with illustrations from Archana Sreenivasan, readers learn that the five days of Diwali are a time to pray for a bountiful season, celebrate the special bonds between siblings, and rejoice in the victory of light over darkness and good over evil.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781534419902
Publisher:	Little Simon
Publication date:	08/28/2018
Series:	Celebrate the World Series
Pages:	24
Product dimensions:	6.50(w) x 6.90(h) x 0.60(d)
Age Range:	2 - 4 Years

About the Author

Hannah Eliot is a children’s book editor who lives in Vermont. Her favorite activities include editing (of course), writing, drawing, and spending time with her family!

Archana Sreenivasan is an illustrator based in Bangalore, India. Her illustrations have been published in numerous magazines, children’s books, book covers, and comics. She studied animation film design at the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, and participated in a summer residency at the School of Visual Arts in New York, where she studied illustration. She finds the natural world and people-watching most inspiring and is endlessly fascinated by cats.

Editorial Reviews

2018-09-02

Diwali, the festival of lights, a five-day celebration that has many different forms, is celebrated in different ways across India and in many other countries.

This board book cursorily presents the different rituals associated with this celebration of the Hindu New Year, including getting the house ready to welcome Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth; decorating the house with rangoli and diyas; and celebrating with family, friends, fireworks, and good food. The text is simple and gives only very basic information. "On the fifth and final day of Diwali, we celebrate brothers and sisters. The lifelong bond between siblings is special, and we honor that." The illustrations show four different sets of siblings celebrating each other in different ways, none of which are mentioned in the text, making it difficult for younger readers to understand the complexity of the celebration. Sreenivasan's illustrations are colorful, detailed, and authentic, and they carry the book. They feature happy and smiling dark-haired people with a range of skin tones, diverse in ethnicity and dress. In bright, vivid colors, intergenerational families and friends from different regions come alive, dressed up in their colorful best, celebrating and enjoying the festival together in different ways. The board format of this title does not match the age range and conceptual level of the text.

Amid inconsistencies of format and information, the illustrations end up giving the most clarity about this festival. (Board book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews