Riya loves Diwali for the tasty treats called ladoos, but not for the dark night and the very loud fireworks. Mama says that Diwali is more than treats. She goes on to explain that it’s about the celebration of light over darkness and good over evil. Riya’s Papa decorates the house with lights and candles. Her sister makes rangoli, which are decorations of patterns made with powdered rice and colorful sand or flowers. Riya helps her. But she still is afraid of the darkness and the spooky, loud fireworks. So Mama tells the legend of why lights are used on Diwali. Riya listens and learns about Ram, the crown prince, who, with his wife and brother, was banished from his kingdom. There was a terrible battle. Ram won and returned to his kingdom on a path with glittering diyas (oil lamps) and glowing lights. Riya understands, becomes a bit braver, and asks to bring her own lantern to the celebration, just in case. Brightly colored cartoon-style artwork further distinguishes the storytelling. An author’s note, an illustrated glossary, a recipe for ladoos, and instructions for a Diwali paper diya craft are included as back matter. mjw |
| Title: Once Upon A Diwali Author: Anita Mishra Illustrator: Diah Chakraborty Publisher: Soaring Kite Books, LLC. Washington D.C. Copyright: 2024 Original Language: English ISBN: 978-958372-44-9 Hardcover pages: 32 Age range: 4-8 Genre: Picture Book Book setting: India Author’s ethnicity: Indian Author’s residence: El Paso, Texas Illustrator’s ethnicity: Indian Illustrator’s residence: Assam, India Subjects: Celebrations, Differences, Diversity, Fireworks, Folktales, Holidays. Religions, Sweets |
Tag Archives: Friends
Papa’s Butter Chicken: A Celebration Of Family And Community
Monica loves the butter chicken that her father makes. It’s been a family favorite since her father ate it as a young boy in a wonderful restaurant in Delhi. The two have fun preparing the meal, and they set the table for two. But then the doorbell rings and Grandma, Uncle Jai, Uncle Arjun, Cousin Anya, and so many more appear with food for everyone – fresh mangoes, channa masala, palak paneer, naan, dumplings, and cupcakes. They all share the feast that was made with love. Brightly colored artwork in reds, oranges, and blues features South Asian arches and arabesque designs. This celebration of family, food, and Indian heritage includes a foreword by renowned chef José Andrés and the author’s own recipe for butter chicken. mjw |
| Title: Papa’s Butter Chicken: A Celebration Of Family And Community Author: Monica Saigal Illustrator: Abeeha Tariq Publisher: Tiger Tales Copyright: 2024 Original Language: English ISBN: 978-1-6643-0044-6 Hardcover pages: 36 Age range: 3-7 Genre: Picture Book Author’s ethnicity: Indian Author’s residence: Washington, DC Illustrator’s ethnicity: Pakistani-Irish Illustrator’s residence: UK Subjects: Celebrations, Communities, Cooking, Father-daughter relationships, Indian heritage, Recipes |
The House On The Canal: The Story Of The House That Hid Anne Frank
The Golden Necklace: A Darjeeling Tea Mystery
The Paper Bridge
Music Of The Mountains: A Story In Pakistan
The Yellow Road
Pavlo Gets The Grumps
![]() Pavlo is a cat with the grumps. His mother suggests going to the park, but Pavlo says the swings are too swingy and the slide is too slidey. How about swimming? says Mama, but the water is too wet and the fishes will nibble Pavlo’s toes. Going to the movies isn’t right either for Pavlo. Finally, Pavlo hears his friend Mila calling him. She knows just what to do to get rid of Pavlo’s grumps. The simple comforting text is printed in an extra-large font, making sharing easy, especially for children who have difficulty reading regular-sized print. The brilliantly created illustrations have a soft, fuzzy quality, were rendered in acrylic paint and watercolor pencil, and were finished digitally. mjw |
| Title: Pavlo Gets The Grumps Author: Natalia Shaloshvili Illustrator: Natalia Shaloshvili Publisher: Candlewick Press Copyright: 2024 Original Language: English Original Publisher: Walker Books Ltd. UK Original Copyright: 2024 ISBN: 978-1-5362-3554-8 Hardcover pages: 32 Age range: 3-7 Genre: Picture Book Author’s ethnicity: Ukrainian Author’s residence: UK Illustrator’s ethnicity: Ukrainian Illustrator’s residence: UK Subjects: Anger, Cats, Feelings, Love, Sadness |
A Map For Falasteen: A Palestinian Child’s Search For Home
At school, a young Palestinian girl named Falasteen struggles to find her homeland on a map. She is troubled, confused, and curious when her teacher tells her she “thinks there’s no such place.” Falasteen asks her grandfather why Palestine isn’t on the map, and he draws her a colorful outline map showing various Palestinian cities and villages that she can take to school to show her teachers and classmates. She also asks her grandma, who is working in the kitchen. Grandma tells her of when soldiers, tanks, and guns forced her family from their home. Finally, Falesteen asks her mother why Palestine isn’t on the map. Mama replies that there are places you don’t need a map to find – their favorite trail, the bird’s nest in the chimney, their music and food, their names and language, and things that they haven’t seen with their own eyes. She says, “Palestine lives in you and me.” Beautiful, inspiring illustrations and thorough back matter round out this important and timely book. mjw
Title: A Map For Falasteen
Author: Maysa Odeh
Illustrator: Aliaa Betawi
Publisher: Henry Holt and Company. New York
Copyright: 2024
Original Language: English
ISBN: 978-1-250-89670-4
Hardcover pages: 40
Age range: 4-8
Genre: Picture Book
Author’s ethnicity: Palestinian
Author’s residence: California, USA
Illustrator’s ethnicity: Palestinian
Illustrator’s residence: Alexandria, Egypt
Awards: 2025 Carter G. Woodson Book Award. Elementary Honor
Subjects: Arabs, Family life, Homes, Israel, Maps, Middle East, Multigenerational, Palestine, Refugees
The Color Of Your Skin
Vega and her friend Alex are drawing pictures at an art table at school. Alex asks for the skin-colored pencil. Vega asks if he means the color of her skin or the color of his. Maybe he means the beautiful caramel brown skin color of his neighbor Vincent or the light apple shade of the new girl. With curiosity and creativity, they explore the diversity of skin colors of the people around them. They discover that skin color has many shades and that colors are like hugs: the more the better. The illustrations are brightly colored and rich. The book is printed on “stone paper,” a special paper made of limestone. The paper doesn’t come from cutting down trees, doesn’t use water, and doesn’t need chemical products. mjw |
| Title: The Color Of Your Skin Author: Desiree Acevedo Illustrator: Silvia Alvarez Publisher: Cuento De Luz. Madrid, Spain Copyright: 2021 Original Language: Spanish Translator: Jon Brokenbrow Original Title: El color de tu piel ISBN: 978-84-19464-43-9 Paperback pages: 32 Age range: 3-7 Genre: Picture Book Author’s ethnicity: Spanish Author’s residence: Huelva, Spain Illustrator’s ethnicity: Honduran and Spanish Illustrator’s residence: Seville, Spain Subjects: Colors, Crayons, Diversity, Multi-colored, Multiculturalism, Paints, Pencils, Skin color, Uniqueness |
The Gray City
![]() Robin has moved to a new city where everything is gray – buildings, traffic, people, streets, her school, and even all the paint in a paint shop. She sets out in search of color. At school, she meets Alani, who hates “all this gray business.” Together, they use their detective skills to discover that the faceless Gray Works is responsible for the lack of color in the city. She and Alani sneak into the building and adjust the company’s controls to colorful. The Gray City’s colors had been hidden. Now it’s full of color. This imaginative story has eleven chapters with quite a bit of text for a picture book. The illustrations are masterful in this introduction to color theory, which is explained in the back matter. mjw |
| Title: The Gray City Author: Torben Kuhlmann Illustrator: Torben Kuhlmann Publisher: NorthSouth Books, Inc., New York Copyright: 2024 Original Language: German Translator: David Henry Wilson Original Title: Die graue Stadt Original Publisher: NordSud Verlag AG, Zurich, Switzerland Original Copyright: 2023 ISBN: 978-0-7358-4554-1 Hardcover pages: 64 Age range: 6-10 Genre: Picture Book Author’s ethnicity: German Author’s residence: Hamburg Illustrator’s ethnicity: German Illustrator’s residence: Hamburg Awards: 2019 Batchelder for Edison Subjects: Cities, Color, Color Theory, Discovery, Imagination, Libraries, Mystery, Science |












