Pandya, Meenal. Here Comes Diwali! The Festival of Lights. Masachussets: MeeRa Publications, 2000.
Diwali, the festival of lights, is one of the most celebrated ethnic Hindu festivals around the world. In Meenal Pandya’s Here Comes Diwali! The Festival of Lights, young readers can explore the customs and traditions associated with this festival. Through the eyes of a young boy, readers learn about the preparations for and the celebrations of this five-day holiday, beginning when the family cleans the house, up until going to temple. The story briefly gives an introduction to what this holiday means to Hindu people and why it is celebrated.
Although I feel that this book did a great job introducing the different customs and traditions experienced on Diwali, I did not think that the book was very exciting or grabbed the readers attention. The bright and colorful cover of the book is rather misleading, due to the dull illustrations on the interior. The poem on the title page led me to believe that this book would tell an interesting story. I found the plot to be very minimal and it could have been a more exciting book if it wasn’t so factual and to the point. It did not really tell a story, which is usually what a child is looking for when reading a picture book. When the text described the names of the different days of Diwali, it would have been nice to have the pronunciation in parenthesis as well as a description of what the different names meant.
One thing that I really enjoyed about the book was that the family was not always dressed in their traditional Indian clothes. Many of the pictures represented them wearing pants and shirts, which helps children understand that people of other cultures share common interests around the world. It also helps eliminate stereotypes that all Indian people always where sari’s and bright colorful clothing. The picture book also contains easy Indian recipes and fun crafts in the back that are designed for children, which can excite children’s learning about the Indian culture.
I also flipped through some other children’s stories about Diwali while I was at the library and I would recommend reading these books in addition to the one that I reviewed:
Lights for Gita by Rachna Gilmore
Diwali by Chris Deshpande
It was great to see that there were multiple stories about this holiday to choose from!
Diwali, the festival of lights, is one of the most celebrated ethnic Hindu festivals around the world. In Meenal Pandya’s Here Comes Diwali! The Festival of Lights, young readers can explore the customs and traditions associated with this festival. Through the eyes of a young boy, readers learn about the preparations for and the celebrations of this five-day holiday, beginning when the family cleans the house, up until going to temple. The story briefly gives an introduction to what this holiday means to Hindu people and why it is celebrated.
Although I feel that this book did a great job introducing the different customs and traditions experienced on Diwali, I did not think that the book was very exciting or grabbed the readers attention. The bright and colorful cover of the book is rather misleading, due to the dull illustrations on the interior. The poem on the title page led me to believe that this book would tell an interesting story. I found the plot to be very minimal and it could have been a more exciting book if it wasn’t so factual and to the point. It did not really tell a story, which is usually what a child is looking for when reading a picture book. When the text described the names of the different days of Diwali, it would have been nice to have the pronunciation in parenthesis as well as a description of what the different names meant.
One thing that I really enjoyed about the book was that the family was not always dressed in their traditional Indian clothes. Many of the pictures represented them wearing pants and shirts, which helps children understand that people of other cultures share common interests around the world. It also helps eliminate stereotypes that all Indian people always where sari’s and bright colorful clothing. The picture book also contains easy Indian recipes and fun crafts in the back that are designed for children, which can excite children’s learning about the Indian culture.
I also flipped through some other children’s stories about Diwali while I was at the library and I would recommend reading these books in addition to the one that I reviewed:
Lights for Gita by Rachna Gilmore
Diwali by Chris Deshpande
It was great to see that there were multiple stories about this holiday to choose from!
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